For nearly 40 years Sunburst Projects has supported the Northern California HIV/AIDS community and their families. What began as a summer camp for children with cancer quickly pivoted to fill the emergent need for children diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. In 1988, to address the unmet social, psychological, and emotional needs of the growing numbers of children infected with HIV, Camp Sunburst held the nation's first therapeutically designed summer camp program for children living with HIV and their families. Camp Sunburst has served as a model for other such programs around the world and continues to welcome HIV/AIDS impacted youth from throughout the state each summer.
Sunburst Projects later became incorporated in 1990 as a 501(c)3 organization to provide services to best meet the needs of children and families impacted by HIV/AIDS. In 2020 we expanded our reach to include men and the greater Sacramento HIV community as a whole. Today, we serve over 1500 unduplicated individuals in Northern California. As of 2021, over 136,000 individuals were living with HIV/AIDS in California, with 4,644 in Sacramento County. Each year over 5,500 people are newly diagnosed in our state.
In 2022, we opened the Sunburst Clinic, a barrier-free walk-in and confidential HIV/STI testing clinic that serves the public at no cost. HIV and other STIs carry societal stigma and our discrete services allow for clients to engage in treatment without this barrier. The clinic provides community education about HIV/STIs, access to condoms and harm reduction approaches such as PrEP.
Since 1982, thousands of HIV/AIDS positive youth, women, men and families have been supported through our dedicated, professional, and compassionate staff. Our Programs include medical case management, mental health services, social support services, childcare assistance, HIV/AIDS education and prevention, support groups and more. Clients have access to our clothing closet, assistance with food bags, 340b pharmacy program, AIDS Drug Assistance Program (ADAP) enrollment, and housing assistance. Targeted at low-income individuals and families impacted by HIV/AIDS, our goal is to strive every day to break down the barriers of stigma and respond compassionately to the needs of the community that we serve. By helping our clients access medical care and life-saving HIV medications, we contribute to reducing the spread of HIV and supporting our clients in living their healthiest lives and reaching their highest potential.