COEUR d'ALENE - Stacie Lechot remembers the North Idaho AIDS Coalition moving to a larger facility on Government Way five years ago - and finally putting up a sign.

The sign announcing NIAC's location was a huge step forward, Lechot said, because it showcased how the public's perception of HIV and AIDS had changed since the coalition's founding in 1989. By bringing the disease - and the services offered by the nonprofit organization - into the open, Lechot said NIAC was able to expand.

"In the eight years that I've been here, NIAC has grown so much and the community support that we receive has grown," Lechot said. "Making that leap out of being hidden into the public eye and putting our name out there has really stepped up what the community sees us as."

NIAC provides services to 50 of the estimated 150 people who have HIV or AIDS in Idaho's five northern counties. Those services range from education and free testing, to providing transportation for doctor's appointments and handling the necessary paperwork to enroll in government programs.

"All their medical is taken care of and they don't have to worry about trying to find funding because that's our responsibility," Lechot said. "Everyone who falls in the buck of 'How am I going to get my care?' - the people who don't have a doctor, don't have insurance and can't afford medication - that's the blanket of who we serve."

The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare recently asked NIAC to fill a void left when Inland Oasis declined to renew its contract for Region 2, which covers Latah, Clearwater, Nez Perce, Lewis and Idaho counties.

"We had heard that they might not have a case manager and felt it was our duty to help those people," Lechot said. "When the state said they'd like us to expand and take the contract down there, it was a pretty big deal."

Lechot said accepting that contract means NIAC will hire another case manager to work with about 20 people, primarily in Lewiston and Moscow, who have been diagnosed with HIV or AIDS.

"We are thinking of having a satellite office down there, but we're not to that point yet," she added. "So our case manager will drive down there once a week."

The latest expansion corresponds with the nonprofit organization's 25th anniversary and Lechot said she is thankful for the opportunity to increase NIAC's impact in the state. Although Idaho has a low prevalence of the disease, Lechot said that it is also known for what she called "late testers" - people who wait to get tested and often end up being diagnosed with AIDS instead of HIV.

"We want to stop that; we don't want to have that late diagnosis because that limits what they could be doing in their life and impacts their health. If we get somebody who has HIV, we can control it and they can live as long as they're going to live," Lechot said. "But if we get that AIDS diagnosis, that creates a bunch of other problems and leave people open to a bunch of other illnesses that we have to fight."

In order to prevent an AIDS diagnosis, Lechot said she often talks with high-risk groups, such as people in drug recovery programs, to "let them know that HIV is here and not one of my clients thought they were going to get it."

"It's about getting that word out, saving some people, and keeping North Idaho healthy," she added.

NIAC also gives free HIV/AIDS tests and Lechot said she always takes a breath before entering her office at the facility and giving someone the news of a positive diagnosis.

"I'll never forget a single one that I've done," Lechot said. "Every person we've gotten in here is still with us today and to watch that process of education and treatment is amazing. Talking to them, and getting them in care, is a big deal and somebody has to do that in this area. That's us."