The AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance, Inc. (ALFA) was organized in 1987 as a grassroots effort to provide support services to those infected by HIV/AIDS in Burke County. Due to the rising numbers of HIV/AIDS cases in the area and the lack of any coordinated effort to provide assistance, an “AIDS Task Force” was created in June of 1987 at the request of the Burke County Health Department and Grace Hospital.

This task force was a cross section of community members which included health care professionals, educators, clergy, People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHAs), and concerned citizens. As the group’s existence became known, the organization grew in scope, activity, and membership. Almost immediately the group was bombarded with requests for information, referrals, programs, and volunteer needs. This overwhelming response validated earlier perceptions of the need for this organization.

It soon became apparent to the group that it must become a full-fledged service organization with more formal structure and financial support to provide the requested services. Therefore the task force decided to expand services outside Burke County and into Catawba, Caldwell, Alexander, Rutherford, and McDowell Counties.

A fearless leader by the name of Steve Yount volunteered to spearhead this group. During its first year, ALFA received a $1,000 venture grant from Burke County United Way. ALFA proceeded to initiate fundraising events that would allow the organization to offer educational and support service in the six-county area. In February of 1989, the group applied for incorporation as a non-profit, tax-exempt organization with the official name of AIDS Leadership Foothills-area Alliance, Inc. (ALFA). Since that time, services to Rutherford and McDowell counties were reassigned to another AIDS Service Organization (ASO) and Wilkes county was added.

From 1991-1998, ALFA served as lead agency for the Ryan White Foothills Consortium, established in order to access and distribute funds from the Ryan White CARE Act. Presently, ALFA is affiliated with the Northwest Care Consortium based out of Winston-Salem. In January 2003, ALFA and Catawba Valley Medical Center collaborated on a federal grant to establish the area’s first Ryan White Title III clinic called Fairgrove Primary Health. This comprehensive medical clinic specializes in the care and treatment of patients with HIV/AIDS, regardless of payer source.

In July 2005, ALFA added Ashe, Alleghany, and Watauga counties to the service area to meet the growing need for services in northwestern North Carolina. ALFA collaborates with many entities to identify and meet needs of the HIV population by developing local resources within the medical, dental, social, and mental health care systems as well as preventive realms of these communities. ALFA currently serves the nine rural counties of Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Lincoln, Watauga, and Wilkes.