HIV & AIDS Support House (HASH)

HIV & AIDS Support House, Inc. (HASH) was co-founded by two friends, Desi Andrew Ching and Michael P. De Guzman, who met as volunteers of a telephone counseling line on HIV & AIDS in the mid-90s. By 2011, De Guzman has just returned to the country from more than 6 years of living in Cambodia while Ching has been living with HIV for about 4 years. He had been keenly observing and taking note of his (and other MSM PLHIVs) experiences as clients of HIV-related health services. The two agreed that something needed to be done to help improve the situation and promote the well-being of those newly diagnosed with HIV in order to positively affect treatment outcomes. In 2014, the two did a series of consultation meetings with friends and colleagues working in the field of HIV & AIDS and sexual health. They developed the yet unnamed organization’s concept paper. A Board of Trustees was convened months later who helped in coming up with the name HASH. In late July, the Board, with the participation of some volunteers, conducted its first Strategic and Operational Planning Workshop and came up with the organization’s Vision and Mission along with a 3-year Strategic and Operational Plan. Mission: HASH provides appropriate age and gender sensitive and non-judgmental psycho-social support services to MSM/TG who have been diagnosed with HIV. Vision: To be the leading provider of psycho-social support to MSM/TG who are diagnosed with HIV in the Philippines.