Hurricane Helene: Public Health Department Closures

Latest updates: Hurricane Helene

Our public health departments' hours of operation may be affected by power and staffing outages. This means that some closures may not appear on the state government office delays and closings map. The health and safety of our employees and our clients remains our highest priority. We are working to get services restored as safely and quickly as possible.

Learn more about DPH's role with hurricanes, floods, and weather emergencies.

I am a 53-year-old white gay male and I have been HIV positive for 18 years. I have been in and out of care during that time. I lost 3 classes of medications because I was not in care. I was dealing with the stigma of being HIV positive, which led me to start using drugs, then eventually harder drugs, including meth. I have been clean and back into care now for 3 years. I am now undetectable. I am a Peer Educator and a voting member on the South Carolina HIV Planning Council. I have been testing others and providing prevention services at Careteam+ for about 4 months now. It was a hard road but I am grateful for where I am today. I realized HIV wasn't killing me. The shame, the stigma within myself was what was killing me, but if my story helps at least one person get back into care, then I am happy.

- Kelly J. 

DTC flyer

I was diagnosed with HIV in December 2009 and that brought me many fears as a young college student. One fear was that I would have to take medication every day. I could not fathom having to take one or more medications each day for the rest of my life. Could I truly commit to it? Due to this fear I did not begin taking medication until 2013. I was advised by my doctor to stay on my medication and that missing doses could build up resistance to the drug I was taking at the time. I fell out of care because I started missing my doctors appointments, stopped getting my prescriptions, and fell out of case management. I was out of care for at least a year until one of my mutual friends realized that I was not seeing a doctor. He talked me into coming to the center where he worked so I could get back into case management. His persistence is why I am back in case management, back seeing my doctor, and now on medication.

- W.H. 

Tags
Health
HIV & STDs
Infectious Diseases