Countywide : Agencies to Provide Programs on AIDS

Ventura County residents of all ages will have the opportunity this month to learn more about AIDS through a variety of educational programs being offered by public and nonprofit agencies.

Marking October as AIDS Awareness Month in the county, more than 15 workshops and other educational activities are being offered today through the end of the month.

Most of the programs are targeted to specific groups, such as teen-agers, pregnant women, and families of people with AIDS or HIV.

Tonight, a Planned Parenthood representative will give a presentation on “Parents and Teens: Communication about HIV/AIDS Prevention” from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Fillmore HighSchool library, 555 Central Ave., Fillmore.

The presentation will be made in English and Spanish.

For information, call Planned Parenthood at 658-3231.

A similar program, called “Talking to Children about AIDS” will be held Oct. 15, from 7 to 9 p.m. at Camarillo Library. The presentation will be made by a health education professor from Moorpark College.

A workshop on “Women, AIDS and Condoms,” conducted by an AIDS nursing specialist, will be held at the Simi Valley Library on Oct. 13 and at the Camarillo Library on Oct. 21.

For information on any of the programs at the Simi Valley and Camarillo libraries, call Trish Cavanaugh at the county’s library services agency, 652-7517.

Clinicas del Camino Real will offer several AIDS education programs in Spanish aimed at pregnant women or Latino youth at clinics around the county.

For more information, call Clinicas at 647-6322.

For people with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, their families and friends, the AIDS Outreach Ministry will hold a program at 3 p.m. on Oct. 25, at Santa Clara Chapel, 1333 E. Ventura Blvd., Oxnard.

For information, call 988-2660.

For information on other activities being offered as part of AIDS Awareness Month, call Ruth Simerly at the county Department of Public Health Services, 652-5905.