The Brady East STD (BESTD) Clinic was the first responder to the AIDS crisis in Milwaukee. In January 1985, the BESTD Clinic Board of Directors formed the Milwaukee AIDS Project (MAP). With seed funding from the City of Milwaukee, MAP provided education and training programs to the community.
By mid-year it became apparent that MAP needed a broader base of support to meet the increasingly difficult challenges raised by the AIDS epidemic. The AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin (ARCW) incorporated in August 1985 to provide a corporate structure that enabled AIDS services to expand in Milwaukee and throughout Wisconsin.
The BESTD Clinic transferred MAP to ARCW in February 1986 where it became the operating HIV service entity of ARCW. The ARCW has grown from a small, social services agency to Wisconsin’s largest HIV healthcare provider and the most comprehensive AIDS service organization in the United States.