AIDS Action Coalition - Thrive Alabama (Originally the AIDS Action Coalition) 1992 Huntsville, AL

As the Health Educator, Mary Elizabeth was the awarded Educator of the Year by AIDS Task Force of Alabama in 1998. During that time, she was also on the Board of Directors of Thrive Alabama, then known as the AIDS Action Coalition. She became the executive director in January 1999. She has taken the organization from a $500,000 yearly budget to a $10 million budget, expanding services to include primary healthcare, HIV and STI testing and care, housing, substance abuse and mental health, and telemedicine.

The work of the Invisible Histories Project is made possible by our amazing partners, our financial supporters, and individuals like you. Special thanks go out to The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for their continued support for the preservation of LGBTQ Deep South history and this project and AIDS Alabama for being the home of the IHP office in Birmingham.