FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rob Banaszak, Communications Director
(202) 408-4848, ext. 214
E-mail: rbanaszak@aidsunited.org
AIDS UNITED ANNOUNCES FIVE ACCESS TO CARE (A2C) PROGRAMS
SUPPORTED BY A GRANT FROM SOCIAL INNOVATION FUND
Washington, D.C. – November 15, 2012 – Formerly incarcerated individuals with HIV/AIDS and people living with
HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in the U.S. South will have access to HIV-specific care thanks to new grants awarded by AIDS
United for its Access to Care (A2C) initiative. The awards, supported by a grant from the Social Innovation Fund
(SIF), will help fund five innovative community-based programs that facilitate access to health care by
strengthening support and service systems and addressing barriers that affect people’s readiness or ability to
participate in HIV health care. Each grant represents a collaboration of multiple organizations in each community,
with a lead organization serving as the project grantee. Those organizations are:
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ActionAIDS - Philadelphia, PA
For an intensive case management program designed to increase the rate of retention in health care for
individuals who have been recently released from the Philadelphia Prison System by addressing factors
that serve as barriers to care, including poverty, homelessness, and behavioral health issues.
Birmingham AIDS Outreach – Birmingham, AL
For a program called “Birmingham Access to Care (BA2C),” which is a collaborative effort between
Birmingham AIDS Outreach (BAO) and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) 1917 Clinic.
The BA2C program will identify PLWHA who have fallen out of care, investigate influences that
contribute to their dropping out of care, assess motivation of PLWHA to return to care, and provide
necessary re-engagement in that care.
Damien Center – Indianapolis, IN
For a program entitled "Damien CareLink," which will provide coordinated HIV services and linkage to
care for HIV-positive individuals who are currently not in care by addressing numerous and complex
barriers to care linkage, including issues such as mental health, substance abuse, fear, and stigma, with
a special emphasis on homelessness.
Louisiana Public Health Institute (LPHI) – New Orleans, LA
For a program entitled the Louisiana Reentry Initiative (LRI), which is a partnership between LPHI, the
Louisiana Office of Public Health in New Orleans, the Pennington Family Foundation, the Baton Rouge
Area Foundation, and the Capitol Area Reentry Program. LRI's goal is to address the unique retention
needs of formerly incarcerated individuals living with HIV infection in Louisiana with an initial focus in
the Baton Rouge area.
Pacific AIDS Education and Training Center (PAETC) - Los Angeles, CA
For a program called the Prisoner Assistance Network (PAN), a collaboration of Pacific AIDS Education
and Training Center (PAETC), Keck School of Medicine of USC with the Center for Health Justice the
Los Angeles County/University of Southern California Medical Center Rand Schrader 5P21 Clinic and
MOSAIC, Inc. The initiative will provide re-entry services for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA),
leaving incarceration and returning to LA County, who are over 18, low or no income, and of any gender.
Inmates living with HIV will be screened and linked to medical and mental health services and to
substance abuse treatment, housing, job placement, and other needed social services outside corrections
facilities, as they reintegrate back into their communities.
-more-
The Social Innovation Fund, an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), was
enacted under the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, and 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 SIF grant is in support of the “healthy futures” issue area, and requires a 2:1 match
from the private sector that will leverage hundreds of thousands of additional funds locally that enhance the health
and welfare of people living with HIV/AIDS through increased access to life-saving HIV care and treatment.
“To end HIV in the United States we must be vigilant about linking people living with HIV/AIDS in our most
impacted populations to the care that they need,” said AIDS United Senior Vice President Vignetta Charles. “We
now know that access to quality HIV care not leads to better individual health outcomes, but also helps prevent the
spread of the virus within communities. We are thrilled that funding from the Social Innovation Fund allows us to
support these new projects to overcome barriers to HIV care in some of our nation’s most severely affected
populations, including people who are formerly incarcerated, people who are homeless, and people who are living
with HIV in the U.S. South.”
Approximately more than 700,000 people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States are not receiving the life-saving
care they need due to a host of issues that can include stigma, poverty and limited access to appropriate care. In
addition to the specific objectives of the Social Innovation Fund, AIDS United’s A2C partnership with SIF is
contributing to the successful implementation of the “Increasing Access to Care” pillar of National HIV/AIDS
Strategy (NHAS).
For more information about AIDS United’s A2C Initiative, visit http://www.aidsunited.org/communityimpact/access-to-care-a2c.
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About AIDS United
Born out of the merger of the National AIDS Fund and AIDS Action in late 2010, AIDS United’s mission is to end
the AIDS epidemic in the United States. AIDS United combines strategic grant making and capacity-building with
national advocacy and regional organizing to ensure access to life-saving HIV/AIDS care and prevention services
and to advance sound HIV/AIDS related policy for U.S. populations and communities most impacted by the
epidemic. AIDS United provided more than $7 million in grants last year supporting more than 400 AIDS
organizations across the United States.
About the Corporation for National and Community Service
The Corporation for National and Community Service is a federal agency that engages more than 5 million
Americans in service through Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and the Social Innovation Fund, and leads President
Obama's national call to service initiative, United We Serve. For more information, visit NationalService.gov.
About the Social Innovation Fund
The Social Innovation Fund (SIF) is a powerful approach to transforming lives and communities that positions the
federal government to be a catalyst for impact—mobilizing public and private resources to find and grow
community-based nonprofits with evidence of strong results. By fostering private and public collaborations that
identify, evaluate, and expand promising nonprofits, the SIF increases access to effective programs that enable
people and communities in need to overcome their most pressing challenges in the areas of economic opportunity,
youth development, and health. To learn more visit www.NationalService.gov/Innovation