National HIV Testing Day

Saturday, June 27th is National HIV Testing Day.

Every nine and a half minutes someone in the United States becomes infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS. And a lot of people that have HIV don’t know they are infected. There is help and treatment available – which is why it is so important to know if you have HIV.

You don’t have to wait until June 27th to take action. Here are a few ways to find an HIV testing center near you:

1. Visit http://www.HIVtest.org, the National HIV and STD Testing Resources web site from the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Enter your zip code to find a testing center near you. You can also find a lot of accurate information about HIV and the testing process.

2. Call 1-800-CDC-Info (1-800-232-4636). This is the National hotline for the CDC. You can call anytime and someone will answer your questions and help you find a free or inexpensive testing center.

3. Text a nearby ZIP code to “KNOWIT” (566948). If you have a cell phone and use text messaging, you’ll get a text message back with a local testing center (normal text messaging charges apply).

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to find out more about HIV and how to get tested. It’s better to know than to not know.

Please forward this email to you friends, family, and anyone else you think might benefit from this information.

Welcome to Community Voice Mail Skagit

Welcome to the first ever blog for Community Voice Mail Skagit. Community Voice Mail Skagit (or "CVM Skagit" for short) is a program that offers free, 24-hour voice mail to low-income homeless and unemployed people in Skagit County who are struggling to get by. The program is overseen by Skagit County Community Action Ageny in Mount Vernon, and over a dozen partner agencies in the county help deliver the service to those in need.

Getting a voice mail number from CVM is easy and it's free. A person can check their messages from any location, any time of day. The number can go on job and housing applications, and given to family, friends, doctors, teachers and case managers.

And thanks to dedicated case managers and partner agencies, we can send job openings directly to a person's voice mail with Broadcast Messaging. Each week hundreds of people in Skagit County are given extra help finding employment.

Interested in what Skagit County Community Action Agency does? Go to http://www.skagitcap.org/Services.htm