Houston Area Community Services, Inc. records
Scope and Contents
The Houston Area Community Services records document the merged efforts of Bering Memorial United Methodist Church and Omega House to serve indigent and underserved patients of HIV/AIDS who could no longer be helped by the traditional medical community. The records are a comprehensive, but not all-inclusive, accounting for the functions of the administrative, financial, committee, business- and service-oriented areas for HACS primarily for the period 1998-2014 as overseen by President Ann Read.
Dates
- Creation: 1986 - 2014
Conditions Governing Access
Materials are open to the public.
Conditions Governing Access
Stored off-site at the Library Service Center. Please request this material via woodson@rice.edu or call 713-348-2586.”
Conditions Governing Use
Permission to publish from the Houston Area Community Services, Inc. must be obtained from Woodson Research Center, Fondren Library, Rice University.
Biographical / Historical
HACS was established in 1998 as a minority-based AIDS service to African American and Hispanic/Latino people living with HIV/AIDS. Objectives were to provide affordable, quality medical care, a pharmacy, behavioral health services and living assistance to individuals and families residing in Harris County and the surrounding areas. In 1997 the founder Joe Fuentes realized the need for an expanded health organization that would provide essential and specialty health services to patients living with chronic conditions such as HIV/AIDS. Mr. Fuentes was then able to extend the approach to all eligible residents of Harris County who were faced with the same social determinants that contributed to poor health.
In 1986 volunteers from Christ Church Cathedral and Bering Memorial United Methodist Church established Bering Community Service Foundation to provide compassionate care to people living with challenges posed by the new epidemic of HIV/AIDS. The same year, Eleanor Munger, founded a residential hospice, Omega House to provide a safe and caring environment for those living through the final stages of HIV/AIDS. Omega House joined with Bering to offer a holistic approach to care for those with HIV/AIDS and formed Bering Omega Community Services to offer a wide range of healthcare and social services for indigent, under-served clients in the greater Houston area.
In November 2016, Houston Area Community Services and Bering Omega merged as a Federally Qualified Health Center under the name Avenue 360 Health & Wellness.
Extent
3.5 Linear Feet (4 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
The Houston Area Community Services records document the merged efforts of Bering Memorial United Methodist Church and Omega House to serve indigent and underserved patients of HIV/AIDS who could no longer be helped by the traditional medical community. The records are a comprehensive, but not all-inclusive, accounting for the functions of the administrative, financial, committee, business- and service-oriented areas for HACS primarily for the period 1998-2014 as overseen by President Ann Read.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged in four series, with subseries as appropriate: Series I Administrative/operational; Series II Committees; Series III Financial/budget/insurance; Series IV Organizations/business- and service-related
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The collection was donated by Avenue 360, formerly Houston Area Community Services, Inc., Joe Fuentes, Executive Director, on Oct. 26, 2016.
Source
- Fuentes, Joe (Person)
Genre / Form
Geographic
Topical
- Title
- Guide to the Houston Area Community Services, Inc. records, 1986-2014
- Status
- Completed
- Author
- Lee Pecht
- Date
- 2017
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- English
Repository Details
Part of the Woodson Research Center, Rice University, Houston, Texas Repository
Fondren Library MS-44, Rice University
6100 Main St.
Houston Texas 77005 USA
713-348-2586
woodson@rice.edu