History
SAVE, Inc. was founded 1986 by a group of altruistic volunteers who recognized the dire need for housing for those dying from HIV/AIDS. They established SAVE Home in Midtown Kansas City, the first 24-hour hospice in the state of Missouri specifically for AIDS patients. From this humble act, SAVE has since grown into the leading social service housing agency in Kansas City for those living with an impoverishing disability such as HIV/AIDS, mental illness or substance abuse, helping nearly 700 individuals and families every single month find safe, stable, and affordable place to call home. SAVE, Inc. services a 15-county radius and offers assisted living, referral services, rent and utility assistance, emergency assistance funds, and transitional and permanent housing.
For more details on HIV/AIDS milestones, visit the
Kaiser Family Foundation's Timeline.
| 1981 | US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports first cases of rare pneumonia in young gay men, later determined to be AIDS. This marks the official beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. New York Times publishes its first news story on AIDS. |
| 1983 | HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) is identified by Dr. Luc Montagneir of the Pasteur Institute in Paris. A year later, Dr. Robert Gallo of the US would discover the same virus. |
| 1985 | First International AIDS Conference held in Atlanta, GA. Ryan White, an Indiana teenager with AIDS, is barred from school and goes to speak out publicly against AIDS discrimination. |
| 1986 | SAVE Foundation (later becomes SAVE, Inc.) is established by concerned community volunteers to manage and support first AIDS-specific hospice in the state of Missouri (SAVE Home). President Reagan first mentions the word 'AIDS' in public. First panel of AIDS Memorial Quilt is created. |
| 1987 | First anti-retroviral drug to treat AIDS - AZT - approved by the Federal Drug Administration. |
| 1988 | Pink Floyd, in town for a concert, is moved by KC Star article and donates $10,000 in support of SAVE Home. First World AIDS Day held on December 1. US Department of Justice declares HIV/AIDS patients can no longer be discriminated against. |
| 1989 | Foreigners with AIDS banned from entering United States. SAVE no longer stands for Saving AIDS Victims Endowment, agency is referred to only as SAVE Foundation. |
| 1990 | Ellen King is hired as first Executive Director of SAVE Foundation. Ryan White dies of AIDS at age 18. Ryan White CARE Act enacted by Congress, provides $220.5 million in its first year. |
| 1991 | Two new SAVE properties open to provide a total of 10 units of housing. McCarty Place and Gilligan Home, both named after founding board members and advocates James (Jay) McCarty and Gerald (Jerry) Gilligan, are available to house individuals and families living mental illness, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS. HOPWA (housing options for people living with AIDS) ACT enacted by US Congress. |
| 1992 | SAVE Home is renovated and expanded to an eight-bedroom house. AIDS becomes number one cause of death for men ages 25-44 in the US. |
| 1994 | SAVE Foundation receives HOPWA funds and begins a rental/utility assistance program to assist low income individuals living with AIDS. This funding enables to SAVE to expand services to a bi-state, 11-county radius in the Kansas City region. First Corroboree fundraiser for SAVE is held at the Kansas City Zoo. |
| 1995 | SAVE Foundation changes its name and becomes SAVE, Inc. SAVE, Inc. receives Section 811 funds from HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) and builds its third property - Prairie Home - to provide permanent housing to families affected by mental illness, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS. |
| 1996 | SAVE, Inc. builds Cropsey Place, a 24-unit permanent housing complex, named after founding SAVE board member and retired Army Col. Karl Cropsey. The number of new AIDS cases diagnosed in the US declines for the first time in the history of the epidemic. |
| 1998 | Through funding from the Missouri Department of Mental Health, SAVE, Inc. begins providing rental assistance to those who are homeless and suffer from mental illness, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS.
SAVE, Inc. begins providing transitional housing and emergency assistance funds. |
| 1999 | SAVE renovates Mitchell House, a three-story stone house to serve as the administrative offices. The house is named after SAVE, Inc.'s founding board treasurer, Loyed Mitchell. McCarty II, SAVE's sixth property, is constructed to provide housing for low income families affected by mental illness, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS. With support from the MO Housing Development Commission, SAVE establishes Stepping Stones, an eight-unit studio apartment complex to provide transitional housing for those living with mental illness, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS. SAVE, Inc. receives the Missouri Governor's Award for Excellence in Affordable Housing. |
| 2000 | SAVE, Inc. receives the Housing and Urban Development's National Top 100 "Best of the Best" Award. SAVE constructs King's Court, named after first Executive Director Ellen King, to house families affected by mental illness, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS. |
| 2005 | First No Place Like Home event (breakfast) held in May to enhance SAVE's efforts in educating Kansas City community on the importance of housing for those battling the dual diagnosis of homelessness and mental illness, substance abuse or HIV/AIDS. |
| 2008 | September marks the 15th year of SAVE's fundraiser, Corroboree, an energetic and casual party held at the Kansas City Zoo. |
| 2009 | Newly elected President Obama calls for the first ever National HIV/AIDS Strategy for the United States. The Obama Administration officially lifts HIV travel and immigration ban by removing the final regulatory barriers to entry, to take effect in January 2010. Leads to announcemnet that the International AIDS Conference will return to the United States for the first time in more than 20 years, and be held in Washington, DC in 2012. |
| 2010 | Removal of U.S. HIV travel and immigration ban officially begins. |
| 2011 | SAVE, Inc. Celebrates 25 Years! |