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GREENSBORO — Triad Health Project helps everyone from children born with HIV to men such as Chris Tinsley, who has juggled cancer, back pain and HIV, all at once.

As the economy sours, more people are seeking help from the nonprofit, which provides support to people with HIV or AIDS. Last month alone, Triad Health Project gave $3,800 in financial support to clients, up from $2,500 the same month a year ago.

“Our client intake numbers have continued to rise,” said Shane Burton, development director. “Unfortunately, with the economy, we’re being asked to do more with less every day.”

Community support has helped enormously, said Addison Ore, executive director. But she’s not sure whether the extra donations will balance out the losses in corporate and foundation funding — both down because of the economy.

“We are very heavily reliant on special events,” she said. “Without that support, we wouldn’t be here.”

Fundraising and contributions make up more than one-third of Triad Health Project’s $1.4 million budget. The rest comes from foundations and corporations and from state, federal and local government.

Letters soliciting support have raised $28,000, which is more than the $24,000 anticipated, Ore said.

But the popular Winter Walk for AIDS in December pulled in $107,000, which was $10,000 less than the goal.

The group’s biggest fundraiser, Dining for Friends, will take place May 16 in homes across Guilford County. More people have registered to hold parties and the parties are bigger, all of which bodes well for the agency.

Dining for Friends raised $135,000 last year.

Designers Care, where Triad Health Project sells donated high-end furniture, will be May 29-31. That raised about $30,000 in each of the past two years.

Burton hopes Designers Care will top $40,000 this year. The highlight of the sale: an entire set of kitchen cabinets valued at $20,000. It was part of a High Point Furniture Market showroom that the company decided to switch out, Burton said.

“Obviously,” he said, “we’ll have it priced at an unbelievable price.”

Money raised keeps Triad Health Project open and allows case managers such as Allyson Clark to work with people such as Tinsley.

On a recent visit, Tinsley picked up canned and boxed goods from the small food pantry at Triad Health Project. He’s one of about 500 people working with case managers there this year.

“All of my clients’ needs are so very, very different,” Clark said. Mostly she helps connect clients with resources — finding a pediatric doctor who takes HIV patients, setting up appointments for drug or alcohol counseling, arranging for financial help with rent or utilities.

On this day, Clark pulls out a file 2 to 3 inches thick. Tinsley, 46, of Greensboro, has been coming to Triad Health Project for eight years. Clark asks how he’s feeling and if he’s getting his medication.

More people have needed help paying for medicine lately because they’ve lost their jobs — and with it, their medical insurance, Ore said.

Other than the food, Tinsley tells Clark he’s all right. He’s been on disability since his with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma diagnosis. The cancer is in remission, but he takes morphine to deal with pain from the three torn disks in his back. Tinsley, who worked as an animal keeper at the N.C. Zoo, learned he was HIV-positive when the cancer was diagnosed in 2000.

The agency helped him with resources, such as food, and provided a support system. He spends a lot of time at Higher Ground, the agency’s day center.

“They’ve been very supportive in everything I’ve been through,” he said.

Contact Jennifer Fernandez at 373-7064 or jennifer.fernandez@news-record.com