AIDS Care Service was conceived in 1991 in the basement of Knollwood Baptist Church as the result of a conversation between concerned citizens who wanted to act compassionately against a disease that was consuming so many loved ones in a painful and stigmatizing death. With a focus on housing, AIDS Care Service opened its doors three years later with its first program, Day Activities, offering a healthy hot lunch with education and support to those suffering from AIDS. Temporary housing for homeless individuals was added the next year and efforts had begun to build an end-stage family care facility so those suffering from AIDS, who had been turned away by family and friends, could die with dignity.

In 1999, Holly Haven Family Care Home opened its doors to its first clients just as the morbidity had began to change with the advances in medical treatment. With foresight and flexibility, AIDS Care Service has been proactive in adding services and programs that addressed the changing needs of our clients. Holly Haven now serves as a home for those suffering from advanced HIV disease until they are able to regain their health and independence. Additional housing services have developed over time to provide stability along with the food pantry and medical case management programs that address the growing health disparity among people living in poverty and living with HIV in this region. We remain the longest continuously operating AIDS service organization in Forsyth County.