The Health Initiative held its 19th annual Garden Party on Sunday, May 17, at the Philip Rush Center to raise funds for the organization and also reward those in the community who are doing incredible work to serve the health care needs of Georgia’s LGBT population.
The Health Initiative programs include everything from providing support groups to breast exams to cultural training for health care providers to care for transgender individuals.
The Healing Angel Award this year went to The Equality Clinic of Augusta, which has made history as the first free LGBT clinic in the country. Their free clinics (in addition to LGBT, they have women’s and Hispanic clinics), all staffed by GRU medical students and staff, set a great example for other medical schools.
Also receiving a Healing Angel Award was Paul Plate, who is retiring as executive director of Positive Impact, an organization that offers mental health counseling and substance abuse counseling to those affected by HIV.
