Since 1988, volunteers have put in more than 462,000 hours helping a total of 1,498 patients. While care teams in Houston are operated exclusively through churches, nonchurch members who are interested in joining a team are welcome. FIRM coordinates the teams, trains and recruits church members and matches up nonchurch volunteers with a group in their area. People who aren't church members can join the same way. Care teams are not religious, and that really doesn't come into the picture as far as what the teams do.
People come to the teams because they want to fulfill a sense of caring.
Anyone can join. There is a need for more volunteers because the AIDS population is growing steadily. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there have been 29,786 reported cases in Texas alone, with 50 percent of those cases occurring in Houston. AIDS is Houston's leading cause of death in men ages 25-54 years of age. AIDS cases are on the increase in the Hispanic and African American populations and the fastest growing groups of individuals becoming infected are heterosexual women and adolescents.