Southern HIV Impact Fund awards fourth round of funding

WASHINGTON — Today, the Southern HIV Impact Fund announced its fourth round of awards. Totaling more than $2.6 million, these funds will support 42 organizations, the majority of which were renewed from the previous cycle. The Southern HIV Impact Fund supports organizations working to end HIV’s persistent and worsening impact on the United States South, with a focus on serving the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in states that rarely receive funding proportional to their burden of the epidemic, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

“The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic mirror the disproportionate impact of HIV on communities of color and those who reside in the South,” said Jesse Milan Jr., president and CEO of AIDS United. “Our grantee partners have adapted quickly with creativity and quick-thinking to address not only the systemic inequities that fuel HIV but also the stigma and barriers they create to accessing care in the South. With this additional year, these organizations will continue to work to break down social, economic and health disparities, evident in the undue burdens caused by both the COVID-19 and HIV epidemics.”

In light of COVID-19’s devastation across the United States, Southern Fund staff decided to renew grantees to allow them to bring their full projects to fruition and adapt to the COVID-19 pandemic’s continued impacts.

In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic shifted the entire framework of the Southern Fund’s Leadership Development Cohort. By fully pivoting to a virtual leadership development program, participants were able to experience a full and life-changing professional development experience from one screen to another.

“The LDC program has been one of the most personally rewarding and professionally impactful opportunities that I’ve experienced,” said Carter Brown, one of 10 graduates of the 2019-2020 program and the executive director of Black Transmen Inc.. “As a Black trans man leading a national Black trans-led organization, having effective communication with my team and community are essential to our service and growth. I am so glad that the LDC has given me the tools and support that me and my team needed to level up.”

In June 2020, the Southern HIV Impact Fund offered project-specific grantee partners the option to convert the remainder of their grant to general operating support to be able to respond swiftly to the rapidly evolving needs of their communities. The decision to convert remaining grant funds to general operating support gives grantees the latitude to adapt funding resources to meet the unexpected needs made evident by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meet our 2020-2021 grantees:

  • Abounding Prosperity, Inc.; Dallas, Texas.
  • AIDS Services Coalition; Hattiesburg, Mississippi.
  • Alamo Area Resource Center; San Antonio, Texas.
  • Atlanta Harm Reduction Coalition, Inc.; Atlanta, Georgia.
  • BASIC NWFL; Panama City, Florida.
  • Capitol Area Reentry Program, Inc.; Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
  • Centro San Vicente; El Paso, Texas.
  • Collaborative Solutions, Inc.; Birmingham, Alabama.
  • Community Health – Prevention Intervention Education Research (CH – PIER); Greenville, Mississippi.
  • Equality Florida Institute, Inc.; Tallahassee, Florida.
  • Freedom Fund; Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
  • Frontline Legal Services, Inc.; New Orleans, Louisiana.
  • GenderBenders; Piedmont, South Carolina.
  • He Is Valuable, Inc.; Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Helping Everyone Receive Ongoing Effective Support (HEROES); Columbia, Louisiana.
  • Latino Commission on AIDS, Inc. ; Durham, North Carolina.
  • Latinos Salud, Inc.; Wilton Manors, Florida.
  • Mississippi Center for Justice; Jackson, Mississippi.
  • Mississippi Positive Network, a project of My Brother’s Keeper; Cleveland, Mississippi.
  • National Black Trans Advocacy Coalition / Black Transmen, Inc.; Dallas, Texas.
  • NC Survivors Union; Greensboro, North Carolina.
  • North Carolina AIDS Action Network; Raleigh, North Carolina.
  • Positive Women’s Network – USA; Houston, Texas.
  • Positively Living, Inc.; Knoxville, Tennessee.
  • Rural Women’s Health Project, Inc.; Gainesville, Florida.
  • SisterLove, Inc.; Atlanta, Georgia.
  • SisterReach, Inc.; Memphis, Tennessee;
  • Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SNaP Co.); Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Southern AIDS Coalition; Birmingham, Alabama.
  • Southerners On New Ground (SONG); Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Southwest Louisiana Area Health Education Center; Lake Charles, Louisiana.
  • SPARK Reproductive Justice NOW!; Atlanta, Georgia.
  • The Afiya Center; Dallas, Texas.
  • The Bros in Convo Initiative; Orlando, Florida.
  • The Counter Narrative Project; Atlanta, Georgia.
  • The Knights & Orchids Society, Inc.; Selma, Alabama.
  • THRIVE SS, Inc.; Atlanta, Georgia.
  • Transforming Hearts Collective; Durham, North Carolina.
  • Transgender Advocates Knowledgeable Empowering (TAKE); Birmingham, Alabama.
  • TransLatina T Services, Inc.; Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
  • WeCareTn; Memphis, Tennessee.
  • Western North Carolina AIDS Project; Asheville, North Carolina.

The Southern HIV Impact Fund is a first-of-its-kind collaborative of the nation’s leading private and corporate funders of HIV-related programming and funders from intersecting issue areas interested in supporting HIV work.

Convened by Funders Concerned About AIDS in 2017 to coordinate and expand philanthropic efforts in the United States South, the Southern HIV Impact Fund is managed by AIDS United and receives support from Gilead Sciences, the Ford Foundation, ViiV Healthcare, the Levi Strauss Foundation and a generous anonymous donor.

For more information about the Fund, please read our factsheet or visit www.southernfund.org.

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