Our History

Rain's founding mission was to provide compassionate non-medical care to people living with HIV while providing prevention education to the community. The founders were socially concerned members of the United Methodist Church whose vision was to establish an interfaith ministry providing compassionate care to people dying of AIDS in Central Missouri. An advisory group of 20 community and religious leaders was formed and met for the first time as a Board of Directors on November 19, 1992.

In 1998, Rain received a Ryan White Title II Case Management Contract, which made it possible to hire two full time Case Managers. In 2001, RAIN received funding for one year of regional planning to conduct a needs assessment to identify the unmet needs of people living with HIV/AIDS.

RAIN submitted an application for a second year of planning and one year of capacity building to strengthen the agency's capacity to serve as a future Title III Early Intervention Services provider. Both of these grants were awarded to RAIN in September 2002. It was during this time that the Prevention Education department began to expand and by early 2003 the Education Department was staffed by one full time Director of Prevention.

From 2003 to 2005 the annual budget of the agency tripled and three new programs were added: Housing, HIV Medical Services, HCV Medical Services. In September of 2006 the agency relocated to a centrally located office in Central Columbia creating more visibility and accessibility. In July of 2007 Rain will successfully launch the Missouri Hepatitis C Alliance after two years of incubation and joint programming.