Rick Skimmings

Rick Skimmings honoured with award for exceptional service as a peer and volunteer to the HIV/AIDS community

Rick Skimmings is being recognized with a Casey Award for exceptional service as a peer and volunteer to Casey House and the HIV/AIDS community.

While officially one is a peer by virtue of making use of one’s lived experience to support another person, Rick Skimmings believes one becomes a peer the moment you gain a client’s trust and they gain yours. His personal mission is to ensure everyone has an ear, the help, and the assistance they need, no matter their circumstances, and he works dogmatically to make this true for as many people as possible.

In addition to supporting individual clients at Casey House on a one-on-one basis, Rick also assists clients at lunch, and engages with people who are picking up harm reduction kits. He is known for saying yes to any request or task put to him and is extremely generous with his time.

One of his letters of support was from the sister of a client who has passed away. She wrote that while Rick assisted her brother in many tangible and practical ways, such as accompanying him to appointments, checking in by phone and helping him maintain a link with family, Rick was also someone the client considered a friend. His sister was particularly touched when Rick travelled to Casey House after the client’s death to be there when the funeral home came to pick him up, saying ‘I would personally like to escort him out of Casey House for the last time.”

While he has been an active peer at Casey House since peer support launched in 2019, Rick has been sharing his lived experience with AIDS service organizations as a volunteer for almost ten years.

Rick has always gone over and above the call of duty in his work as a peer, and his energy, commitment and compassion are impressive. He truly embodies the values and philosophy of Casey House, which extends warm congratulations to Rick Skimmings for his contributions.