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Your diagnosis does not define you. Your story is not over.

The Tori Foundation offers HIV education, linkage to care, peer support, mentoring, and personal development. Whether you are newly diagnosed, returning to care, or already seeing a health department or private provider and need someone to talk to, you are welcome here.

Health departments, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and community organizations can partner with us for outreach, re-engagement, peer support, and training.

Call for Support

Tori Samuel: Founder, Executive Director & Visionary Behind The Tori Foundation

The Tori Foundation begins with the lived experience, professional expertise, and personal commitment of its founder, Tori Samuel. As a certified peer specialist, HIV educator, and advocate, she combines firsthand understanding with 10 years of experience at the Florida Department of Health in Alachua County, where she served as the Regional Linkage Retention Coordinator and Perinatal Peer.

Her vision is rooted in a deeply held belief: every person deserves to feel seen, heard, valued, and supported. She understands that connecting someone to care begins with connecting with the person—earning trust, listening to their story, respecting their choices, and following through.

Through The Tori Foundation, Tori supports people newly diagnosed, those returning to care, and those already connected to a provider who need a trusted peer to talk to. Her work pairs practical guidance with encouragement, education, and opportunities for personal growth.

Her vision also includes training and mentoring peers to carry this approach into their own communities. By sharing her expertise in outreach, engagement, linkage, and retention, she aims to equip others to build trusted relationships and help more people access the support they need.

“I created The Tori Foundation to be a bridge—a trusted connection between people, the care they choose, and the support they need to move forward.”

— Tori Samuel

Services

Peer support & mentoring

A safe, respectful space to talk, feel heard, and build confidence—including for clients already receiving care through health departments or private providers.

HIV linkage & re-engagement

Personalized outreach and guidance for people newly diagnosed or returning to care, with support to stay connected to their chosen provider.

HIV education & community resources

Workshops that build understanding and reduce stigma, plus connections to supportive community services.

Skills for growth & leadership

Life skills • Leadership development • Personal growth workshops • Time management skills • Goal-setting skills

Peer training & speaking

Classes at local health departments and facilities to strengthen outreach, engagement, linkage, and retention. Speaking engagements and workshops are also available.

Mission

The mission of The Tori Foundation is to empower people living with HIV to know that their diagnosis does not define them, their story is not over, and they deserve a safe space to grow and thrive. Through HIV education workshops, peer support and mentoring, leadership and development training, and vital connections to community resources, we work to break stigma, build trust, and ensure every voice is heard, valued, and empowered.

We provide personalized HIV linkage and peer support for people who are newly diagnosed or previously diagnosed and no longer connected to care. We also support people already receiving care through health departments or private providers who need encouragement and someone to talk to. Health departments, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and community organizations can partner with us to locate, engage, and reconnect clients with HIV medical care and supportive services.

Using lived experience, professional expertise, persistence, and a person-centered approach, we reach people who may be difficult to locate or who have faced barriers to returning to care. We meet each person with respect, confidentiality, and compassion, supporting reconnection with their chosen healthcare provider and ongoing care.

Ways to Donate or Support

Help create a safe space for people living with HIV to learn, connect, and thrive. Scan the Zelle QR code to donate, or contact us about sponsorship and community partnerships.

Health departments, doctors’ offices, hospitals, and community organizations are welcome to discuss outreach, linkage, re-engagement, peer support, and training.

For individual support, referrals, workshops, or speaking engagements, call (904) 452-4583 or email info@thetorifoundation.org. You can reach out whether you are beginning care, returning to care, or already connected to a provider.

Please do not send medical records or private health information by email. Contact us first to discuss an appropriate way to share referral information.

Our Vision & Approach

Making an Impact

Vision

At The Tori Foundation we envision a world where every person living with HIV can be supported and connected to timely, consistent, and compassionate care, regardless of where they are.

Our Approach: The Tori Foundation Way

Find the connection. Build trust. Navigate barriers. Support retention. Follow through.

When a partner organization refers a client to The Tori Foundation, we use a persistent, respectful, and confidential outreach process to help locate and engage that person. We do not treat people as cases to be closed or numbers to be counted. We recognize that someone may be difficult to reach because of changing contact information, housing instability, transportation challenges, stigma, fear, past experiences with healthcare, or other personal circumstances.

Our role is to help close the gap between a client and the care they need. We listen without judgment, respect each person’s choices and privacy, help address barriers, and support clients in reconnecting with HIV medical care and related services. We also provide ongoing peer support to encourage retention in care and help clients remain connected over time.

The Tori Foundation does not force, pressure, or disclose information without appropriate authorization. Our outreach is guided by consent, confidentiality, cultural humility, and respect for each client’s right to make informed decisions about their health.

Professional description

The Tori Foundation provides person-centered HIV outreach, linkage, re-engagement, and ongoing peer support, alongside education, mentoring, and personal development. We serve individuals at every stage of their connection to care and partner with healthcare providers and community organizations. Peer training equips local health departments and facilities with practical outreach, engagement, linkage, and retention skills.