Victoria "Tori" Williams has worked and volunteered in the HIV/AIDS community since 1986. Employed as a Resource Development Specialist for United Way of the Texas Gulf Coast, Tori provided staff support to the Houston/Harris County Panel on AIDS, raised $160,000 in private funds, and created the first HIV/AIDS Resource Directory (a primitive, first version of the Blue Book). That same year she founded The Pet Patrol, a volunteer organization that provides support and care to people with HIV/AIDS and their pets. In 1988 she became a Coordinator of Volunteers and Special Projects for the HIV/AIDS Care Team Project at FIRM. Among her many special projects, Tori was responsible for coordinating the creation of 54 quilt panels for the Names Project. These panels memorialized the names of over 500 FIRM clients who had died of HIV/AIDS. In 1993 Tori became the Chapter Director for the Houston Chapter of the Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS (DIFFA/Houston). As the only DIFFA employee, Tori was involved in all fundraising, special events, public relations campaigns, and more. In 1997 Tori took a one-year sabbatical from the HIV/AIDS field. She returned to the field in November 1998 as the Council Coordinator for the Ryan White Planning Council before becoming Council Manager in July 2001. |
| E-Mail: victoria.williams@hctx.net |