Legacy Cares

From the moment a person is diagnosed to their last breath, Legacy Counseling Center has provided consistent support to thousands of North Texans annually for more than 32 years. Legacy offers individual, couples/family/group counseling with 24/7 emergency on-call services and a walk-in crisis clinic; individual/group substance abuse programs; The Grace Project, a year-round women-specific program, producing the largest conference for women with HIV; Founders Cottage, a special-care housing facility providing respite and end-of-life care for the critically ill; Homebase for housing, a housing referral service (www.homebaseforhousing.org); and a homeless transition program (Master Leasing). Legacy is the primary provider of HIV-informed care in North Texas and offers a comprehensive treatment approach by providing counseling, education, and support to this vulnerable and high-need population.

From our experience, clients enter our services at different points in their lifetime. For instance, some obtain assistance immediately after finding out their HIV-positive status when they are shocked and dazed by this new information. Seeking the proper care is the first step towards being able to deal with HIV, normalize the experience, and prepare for the journey that is ahead of them. Other clients may have received their diagnosis years ago but have never entered care because they have simply tried to deny their situation and may have used drugs/alcohol to numb the pain. Legacy's numerous programs can help a client increase their functional independence and realize his/her personal responsibility to care for themselves by facing this information head-on and seeking medical treatment. Often, clients have not sought HIV-specific services or entered medical care because they have allowed themselves to be in denial. Legacy plays a vital role in connecting clients to care and providing them with the resources they need to lead independent and healthy life.

Our agency is well known for the quality and timeliness of our evidence-based, direct services among HIV/AIDS service providers and other community agencies. With your support, Legacy will continue to protect, promote, and preserve the health of our diverse populations of HIV-positive clients, regardless of whom they are or where they live, and improve the lives of those adversely affected by HIV from the moment of their diagnosis to their final breath.

Our Needs

The need for our HIV-informed programming has rapidly increased due to COVID-19 and has now reached a critical point. For the first time in Legacy's history, we have a waitlist for our counseling services and have had to refer clients out to other agencies to cater to this increased need due to our lack of capacity - often to agencies that do not specialize in our HIV-informed behavioral counseling.

Ideally, the more sessions we can provide, the higher the positive impact can be on the community and future generations. Legacy is renowned nationwide for our HIV-centric treatment protocols - a system unique in the entire South.) Being funded sufficiently to hire, train and retain quality therapists would enable us to better serves the clients who come to us for support. In addition, funds would permit us to expand our cohort of bilingual therapists so as to serve the ever-increasing number of non-English-speaking clients in desperate need of our services. Our ability to provide more sessions for more people will go far toward improving the overall health of North Texas's population.