Pride 2024 - Present and Purposed

Now is a crucial time to advocate for queer rights, especially for queer peoples living with HIV. HIV criminalization remains a very real threat, in addition to nearly 600 pieces of  anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in statehouses across the country.    Now is a crucial time to advocate for queer rights, especially for queer peoples living with HIV. While queer people are not the only group disproportionately impacted by HIV, it remains true that men who have sex with other men (MSM) account for 70% of new infections., However,  we’re also seeing a downward trend in new infections within this population, with a 6% decrease in HIV diagnoses from 2017-2021. This is not luck: it is the tireless work of grassroots advocates, long-term survivors and those fighting for social justice. AIDS United’s initiatives, listed in more detail below, are working to fund organizations who share our cause. We envision a future Pride where HIV is no longer impacting any community, race or economic status disproportionately.  We know HIV is not a relic. It is not a history lesson. The fight is now. AIDS United will continue to fund and support queer-led organizations working hard to end the HIV epidemic in the United States.  Now is a crucial time to advocate for queer rights, especially for queer peoples living with HIV. HIV criminalization remains a very real threat, in addition to nearly 600 pieces of anti-LGBTQ+ legislation in statehouses across the country.    The foundation of our work consists of three pillars: policy and advocacy, strategic grant making, and capacity building and technical assistance. The latter are the core of many of our initiatives, while policy and advocacy take the fight to Congress to ensure HIV funding levels are increased and legislation hostile to queer and HIV-positive lived experience does not pass."  AIDS United is out there fighting  back against this kind of legislation that deters our efforts to combat the HIV epidemic. The path to an HIV-free nation is on the horizon, spearheaded by courageous LGBTQ+ folks in all 50 states and territories. We salute your bravery and will raise your voice to the halls of Congress and beyond.      How is AIDS United doing the work?    Our Harm Reduction Future Fund, to start. Infection rates for people who inject drugs (PWID) is a point of concern, with rising rates of HIV diagnoses across the country according to the CDC’s data. Over this program’s twenty-year history, we have: 

• Awarded 617 grants to 329 organizations across 39 states + DC, Puerto Rico and US Virgin Islands with $18m total distributed  

• Funded distribution of more than 410,400,000 syringes across the nation  

• Served over 1.3 million clients  

   Our Southern HIV Impact Fund (SHIF) is an initiative focusing on the needs of individuals and communities affected by HIV in the South, where the epidemic continues to hit the hardest, especially for Black Americans. Within SHIF, we have successfully:

• Reached over 244k beneficiaries over the past six years 

• Distributed $14 million to nine Southern states through 243 grants over seven years 

  Our Melanated Movement Fund is an education and awareness campaign working to end the HIV epidemic and stigma, and to tackle misinformation through education, prevention and personal stories from Black cisgender and transgender women living with HIV. Our successes with the fund include

• 7,700 people reached, with around 5,600 online engagements on social media  

• Over 2,000 people reached through in-person events on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) campuses 

• Distributing $450,000 through in grants and support through the fund 

• Actively support interventions that have engaged or re-engaged over 1,200 Black women living with HIV in care though the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), or through HRSA supported initiatives, such as Black Women Forward (BWF) and Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Implementation (DEII). 

   Newly launched last year, AIDS United University is a tool for ongoing learning and training. It offers an array of courses to increase one’s understanding of HIV and provide students with the information needed to most effectively respond to the epidemic within their community and community cultures. Through AIDS United University, we have: 

• Engaged over 1,000 service providers, administrators and community members in training through our e-learning platforms, with topics ranging from cultural humility to syndemics and HIV 101. 

• Lead over 500+ learners in other capacity-building activities throughout 2023  

   Our Transgender Leadership Initiative (TLI) is a leadership development program supporting transgender, nonbinary, and gender nonconforming people of color who are emerging leaders in their communities. The program offers professional development, community services and programs for established and up-and-coming trans leaders.  

• Since 2017, TLI has distributed $480k in funding through TLI through over 30 grants in 16 states  

• Provided leadership development and direct support to over 1,100 people  
• Announced the 2024-2025 TLI cohort, connecting trans advocates across the nation with leadership development and financial resources

   For AIDS United, this is our pride. It is acknowledging the successes of our grantees and advocates, and highlighting the experiences of transgender people living with HIV and their activism. To our partners and our grantees, to the long-term survivors reminding us of our shared history, to the artists and the advocates lifting us high, and to those living quietly or struggling with acceptance, AIDS United wishes you a healthy, safe, and secure Pride Month. Regardless of where you are, it is your bravery that permits this work to progress. We will continue to serve you, and together we will end the HIV epidemic within the United States.    AIDS United’s mission is to end the HIV epidemic in the U.S. through strategic grant-making, capacity building and policy. 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.