History In 1996, the availability of antiretroviral drugs was already having a profound impact on AIDS morbidity and mortality rates in the United States. The situation was bleak in less fortunate countries such as those in Latin America. With the mounting spread of HIV infections and AIDS deaths, access to lifesaving medications was difficult. Even more rare was education for health care providers on the proper use of medications and support mechanisms to monitor improvement and morbidity and to manage side-effects. One sunny summer day in early September 1996, an elderly woman who had journeyed from Venezuela showed up at St. Vincent's Hospital and Medical Center in the Greenwich Village area of New York City looking for a Venezuelan man who worked in the hospital with a large AIDS clinic. Her story was chilling. Her son and daughter-in-law had just found out they were infected with HIV and one was already hospitalized with AIDS-related pneumonia. Through an elaborate network of international and regional HIV/AIDS fighters, navigating by word of mouth and motivated by the impending situation of her family, she sold what few possessions she could, including the family cemetery plot, to purchase a plane ticket for New York to seek out his help. She found Jesus Aguais, the Venezuelan man she had been seeking, and received help to support and improve her family's situation. Her story spoke to the commonplace disparities in accessing adequate HIV/AIDS treatments, education tools and perspective to properly manage HIV/AIDS for many in less fortunate countries and for persons who had recently immigrated to the U.S. Her story motivated Jesus to confront the paradox of HIV/AIDS, where rich nations have transformed HIV/AIDS into a manageable disease as a result of powerful treatments, versus the mounting spread of HIV and AIDS deaths in poor nations without access. Jesus mobilized and developed a dedicated and determined group of bright, caring, giving, and resourceful men and women in September of 1996, an organization now called AID FOR AIDS. AID FOR AIDS now provides life-saving medications in a well organized public health approach and empowers people to be their own primary health care advocates. AID FOR AIDS remains a vital service for many living with HIV/AIDS, for their families, their caregivers and medical providers. AID FOR AIDS's growth in the number of clients and countries served is a testament to our effectiveness and value to public health service in the HIV/AIDS pandemic.