HIV: Real Talk, Real Solutions (Episode 1) | Hope & Help’s Story, Services, and Ending HIV Stigma

In the first episode of “HIV: Real Talk, Real Solutions,” the host interviews Theresa Giles, CEO of Hope & Help in Orlando, Florida (4122 Metric Drive, Suite 800), who will moderate the remaining 11 episodes. Giles recounts how Hope & Help began in 1988 during the AIDS epidemic, when people were dying alone amid fear, stigma, and widespread refusal of care, and how a small group of friends organized grassroots support—driving people to appointments, providing companionship, and advocating without waiting for permission. She explains the organization’s growth into a comprehensive health center as needs expanded beyond HIV treatment to include medication education, insurance and housing challenges, and other barriers to health. Today Hope & Help offers a full-service medical clinic with primary care, expanding dental and vision services, pharmacy services including a 340B program, PrEP and PEP prevention support, rapid testing information, peer counseling, case management, patient assistance, harm reduction via a certified syringe program that removed over 149,000 dirty needles from the streets last year, free condoms, and multiple monthly support groups (Restart for men living with HIV, Beyond Binary for trans and non-binary individuals, and Rise for heterosexual women living with HIV), plus a holiday gathering. Giles emphasizes dignity as the organization’s core value and describes how stigma, funding gaps, lack of Medicaid expansion in Florida, and inadequate sexual education continue to drive transmission, even though prevention and treatment tools exist. She shares an anonymized story of a 23-year-old newly diagnosed patient who, with linkage support and education about U=U (undetectable equals untransmittable), reached an undetectable viral load within months and received mental health and wraparound support. The episode previews upcoming topics including HIV medications with an infectious disease doctor, testing myths and anxiety, PrEP/PEP and new injectable options, stigma reduction, listener Q&A, and TikTok live segments. Giles urges viewers to break silence—stating that silence and stigma have killed more people than HIV ever could—and invites people to connect via www.hopeandhelp.org, social channels, and podcast platforms, and to visit Hope & Help for services and support.

00:00 Welcome to HIV: Real Talk, Real Solutions (Meet Theresa Giles)

01:05 1988 in Central Florida: Fear, Loss, and the AIDS Crisis

02:22 How Hope & Help Began: A Living-Room Revolution

03:22 From Volunteers to a Full-Service Clinic: Growth & Expansion

04:51 Why Dignity Matters: Fighting Stigma Then and Now

06:05 Who the Founders Were + A Call to Show Up

07:21 Services Today: Clinic, Pharmacy, PrEP/PEP, Case Management

09:27 Harm Reduction & Support Groups: Syringes, Condoms, Community

11:00 What Drove Expansion: Meds, Side Effects, and Social Determinants

12:33 Florida’s HIV Rates: Tools Exist, Barriers Are Stigma & Access

14:46 A Patient Story: Diagnosis to Undetectable (U=U) + Mental Health

17:46 Whole-Person Care: Meeting Needs Beyond Medication

19:19 Talking to the Founders: Pride, Heartbreak, and What Matters

22:00 Why the Fight Is Still Hard—and Why We Keep Fighting

25:06 Why This 12-Episode Series Matters: Ending Silence & Stigma

25:59 What’s Next: Upcoming Episodes on Meds, Testing, PrEP/PEP, Q&A

29:08 How to Connect with Hope & Help (Website, Socials, Visit/Call)

30:12 Final Message: HIV Affects All of Us—Join the Movement