History

The organization “Vallarta Enfrenta el SIDA, A.C.” (Vallarta Confronts AIDS, in its English translation) was legally registered as a Mexican non-profit organization on May 22, 2007. The founders and Board of Directors are:
• Mr. Paul Crist - President and Legal Representative.
• Mr. Juan Carlos García - Secretary.
• Mr. Luís Manuel Ochoa Tello - Treasurer.

Even before being legally registered, the founders of the association were working to confront HIV/AIDS in Puerto Vallarta as follows:

• Supporting local organizations and efforts since 2002 in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Puerto Vallarta.

• Attended and consulted at meetings for the planning and development of the local HIV clinic, which opened in November 2006, known as CAPASITS. (The clinic is funded and operated by a consortium including AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Vallarta Enfrenta el SIDA, State of Jalisco Secretary of Health, and the Mexican Ministry of Health).

• Paul Crist, as owner of Hotel Mercurio, has frequently provided hotel rooms at no cost or reduced cost for visitors to Puerto Vallarta who come to work on projects to fight HIV/AIDS. He continues this support today.

• Paul Crist took responsibility for paying the salary of the only psychologist serving the clinic’s patients in March 2007, using his personal funds, out of a conviction that counseling is an essential part of an effective treatment regimen for HIV infection. At that time, there were no funds budgeted for counseling services at the clinic.