Rapid HIV Test Gets Federal Approval

Today the United States government approved what could be the biggest step forwards in HIV testing. For years various researchers and medical professionals have been working on creating an effective and fast HIV test that can be administered at home, and that has finally happened thanks to this approval. The new test claims to be as simple as a normal pregnancy test and will likely cost about the same amount for users.
The at home HIV test will likely not be availble for at least a few more months but sometime soon it will in fact be available to anyone and everyone in pharmacies around the United States. The test is absolutely revolutionary and many medical experts feel that this rapid HIV test will absolutely be great for the HIV effort and may in the long run have a major impact on preventing the spread of HIV and AIDS.
Overall the new at home HIV test is absolutely a great idea for a number of reasons. Never before has it been simple, cheap, or fast to test for HIV and as long as this test is in fact as effective as they claim it will absolutely revolutionize the industry. The fact that it now has an official approval from the government and the FDA is absolutely great and means it will likely be available soon.

Texana Hollis and Mitch Albom in her restored home. Photo courtesy of Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries

Wheelchair-bound Detroit resident and centenarian Texana Hollis wept on September 14, 2011 as she watched her belongings, accumulated over the past 60 years, being loaded into a trash hauler. She was being evicted from her home.

That sorry day was followed by a more joyous one last week when she was allowed to return to the home through a series of fortunate events.

It started when her case made national headlines because her son, who had taken out a reverse mortgage on the property, failed to pay the taxes and it was disclosed that Hollis would be evicted. Public outcry was so intense that the Department of Housing and Urban Development reviewed the case and reversed the decision to have Hollis evicted after foreclosing on her home. Things got sticky in January, though, when HUD decided the property was not fit to live in.

Numerous offers were received to buy the home out of foreclosure but HUD stood firm. Any buyers would also have to guarantee that repairs which would make the house livable would also be done. Among the repairs needed were several wheelchair ramps and other modifications that would make it livable for Hollis.

That’s when Mitch Albom stepped in. The best-selling author of books, including “Tuesdays with Morrie’’ and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,’’ is also a sports columnist for the Detroit Free Press. He is also associated with the Detroit-based charity Super All Year (S.A.Y.). He bought the property from HUD for $100 and through contributions from his charity and Detroit Rescue Mission Ministries, managed to put up the $20,000 to make the HUD-required repairs. In addition to ramps, walls, ceilings and appliances are either being repaired or replaced. Volunteers from Tamber Builders are supplying much of the labor for the project.

The author personally pushed Hollis up the newly built ramp to her home as she once again cried – this time tears of joy. Hollis was grateful to everyone who had a hand in restoring her home to her. Albom believes everyone has a right to a home, especially one they have lived in for 60 years.

Family Finds $45000 and Returns It

Earlier this week the Ferrin family purchased their first home in Salt Lake City and during Josh Ferrin’s first walk through the new home something miraculous happened. According to Josh something out of place caught his eye in the garage and after a short investigation something very valuable was found.

What Josh discovered was a WWII ammo tin which contained a large sum of money. Of course being that he had just purchased the home Josh continued to investigate what he was finding and in the process he found a few other bags containing even more money.

Eventually Josh managed to recover all of the cash which came to a total of $45,000. Josh said he immediately reacted and called members of his family for advice on what to do; he decided that locking the money safely in his car was probably the best thing to do for the time being.

After a few days of counting the money and finding out who it belonged to Josh Ferrin called the son of the man who previously owned the home. Josh said that at first he was not sure what to do with the money but after a few days thinking about it he realized that returning the money to the owner was the only thing he could do. Shortly thereafter Josh met with the previous owner’s son and transferred the $45,000 in cash to him. The story touched many hearts and according to Ferrin it will be used as a lesson to teach his young children the concept of honesty.