FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
AIDS United Receives Significant Funding to Bolster HIV Programs and Advocacy
Contact: D. D’Ontace Keyes communications@aidsunited.org
Washington, D.C. – AIDS United is proud to announce the awarding of several major grants totaling nearly $3.75 million to support and expand our vital work in capacity building, technical assistance, and advocacy.
We have been awarded $3.2 million over four years from the Health Resources and Services Administration’s (HRSA) HIV/AIDS Bureau (HAB) to launch our new capacity-building and technical assistance initiative: CULTIVATE (Catalyzing Unity, Leadership, and Team-building through Individualized, Validating Approaches to Transformational Empowerment for people with HIV). This AIDS United-led partnership, with active and formal support from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell (UML), CAI Global (CAI), Valley AIDS Council (VAC), and Impact Marketing + Communications (Impact), the U.S. People Living with HIV Caucus will increase the leadership capacity, representation, and engagement of people with HIV in Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program (RWHAP) planning, development, implementation, evaluation, and clinical quality management activities. Additionally, with expert coaching and capacity building, we will build skills and support knowledge transfer through peer learning for people with HIV; and advance the readiness of people with HIV to meaningfully engage in activities that impact HIV systems of care and operation through curriculum and training of trainers that will equip people with HIV to become leaders within their local networks, enhancing the delivery of HIV care services.
In addition, we have received a $400,000 renewal grant from Gilead Sciences for our HIV & Aging initiative. This grant will support the HIV & Aging Policy Advocacy Coalition and allow AIDS United to build upon our existing advocacy efforts to improve the quality of life for older adults living with HIV as well as to engage the community and build power among all people living with HIV. Funding from this grant will enable us to push for much needed reforms to the Older Americans Act, Medicare, and state agency programs to better support the HIV and aging community.
Furthermore, AIDS United has been granted $150,000 from an anonymous funder to advance our HIV Decriminalization efforts in the Mississippi Delta region. In 2022, The Center for HIV Law & Policy (CHLP), AIDS United (AU), and the Williams Institute, in partnership with Decriminalize Sex Work and Movement for Black Lives (M4BL), spearheaded a coalition under the banner of the Sex/Health Alliance (the Alliance) to support a robust, community-led, sustainable movement to end the criminalization of consensual sex, race, sexual orientation, and gender identity in the United States. As of 2023, 34 states and two U.S. territories have laws that criminalize actions taken by people with HIV. The support of the anonymous donor will enable us to address and advocate for further reform of outdated HIV criminalization laws at the state level. The Alliance works to advance our mission by supporting community-based policy and regulatory solutions, political education, cultural expression, and movement-building efforts driven by and provide material relief to the people persecuted under these laws in the United States.
These generous funds will significantly strengthen our capacity to support HIV prevention and treatment and advocacy that supports people living with and disproportionally affected by HIV and AIDS. We are grateful to the Health Resources and Services Administration, Gilead Sciences, and our generous donor for their continued support and commitment to our mission to end the HIV epidemic in the United States by 2030.
For more information or to request spokespersons connected to these initiatives, please contact D. D’Ontace Keyes, Senior Communications Manager at communications@aidsunited.org
About AIDS United
AIDS United’s mission is to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. through strategic grant-making, capacity-building and technical assistance, and policy and advocacy. AIDS United works to ensure access to life-saving HIV care and prevention services and to advance sound HIV-related policy for populations and communities most impacted by the U.S. epidemic. As of January 2021, our strategic grant-making initiatives have directly funded more than $118 million to local communities, and we have leveraged more than $184 million in additional investments for programs that include, but are not limited to, syringe access, access to care, capacity-building, HIV prevention, and advocacy.
