AIDS Partnership receives national grant: February 9, 2011

Hundreds of individuals living with HIV/AIDS in the Atlanta region will now receive local, high quality care, thanks to a new grant awarded to the Atlanta AIDS Partnership (a joint venture of The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta and the United Way of Metropolitan Atlanta) by AIDS United.  The Atlanta AIDS Partnership’s grant is one of 10 awards granted to communities across the country by AIDS United to support its Access to Care (A2C) initiative. The awards are all supported by a federal grant to AIDS United from the Social Innovation Fund (SIF) to improve the lives of people living with HIV/AIDS.

The Atlanta AIDS Partnership’s grant from AIDS United will support the integration of HIV care into primary health care settings in Atlanta’s most affected communities. Atlanta has some of the best HIV care in the country but issues such as stigma around visiting an AIDS service organization and transportation problems prevent people living with HIV/AIDS from getting the care they need. This program seeks to increase the capacity of select free/reduced clinics and federally qualified health care centers to provide high-quality HIV care in primary care settings near people’s homes.

“Increasing the ability of smart, effective organizations to reach more individuals is critical to the work of The Community Foundation,” says president, Alicia Philipp. “As a local partner in this effort, our role is to bring resources to meet the demand in our region to help tackle an issue that affects so many in our communities.”

HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately affect African American people in the Atlanta region. There are an estimated 17,878 people living with HIV/AIDS not in treatment. While African Americans make up 29% of Georgia’s population, they represent 77% of new AIDS cases in Georgia and 63% of all existing AIDS cases in Atlanta. There are more than 600,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States that are not receiving the life-saving care they need.
“AIDS United is proud to be supporting the work of Atlanta AIDS Partnership and its community collaborators with this SIF grant,” said Mark Ishaug, AIDS United President and CEO.

“In addition to developing innovative ways to help get people living with HIV in the Atlanta region into the care they need, the Atlanta AIDS Partnership’s commitment to matching its grant from AIDS United with resources from the local private sector will significantly increase the funding available for critical access to care activities for the region’s populations most impacted by the epidemic.”

The Social Innovation Fund targets millions of public-private dollars to expand effective solutions across three issue areas: economic opportunity, healthy futures and youth development and school support.  AIDS United’s recent $3.6 million SIF award is in support of the “healthy futures” issue area, and requires a 2:1 match from the private sector to create a funding pool of more than $10 million annually. The funding pool will aim enhance the health and welfare of people living with HIV/AIDS through interventions like the one being developed by the Atlanta AIDS Partnership and its community collaborators that work to increase access to life-saving HIV care and treatment.

“HIV/AIDS continues to disproportionately affect African American people in the Atlanta region,” said United Way President, Milton Little. “Our grant from AIDS United and the Social Innovation Fund, will give us the capacity to begin providing access to care for the estimated 17,878 people living with HIV/AIDS that are not in the life-saving care they need,” he said.
For more information about AIDS United’s A2C Initiative, visit https://www.aidsunited.org/community-impact/access-to-care-a2.