Southern Impact HIV Fund awards $1.2 million in grants to 31 Southern organizations

Southern HIV Impact Fund (SHIF) is proud to announce its seventh cohort of grantees for the 2023-2024 funding cycle. 31 organizations were awarded a combination of grants ranging from $5,000 - 60,000 to support the general operations, sustainability, expansion and implementation of special projects to address HIV disparities in the South for communities of color.   "I’m excited for what’s to come with SHIF cohort seven because we were intentional about working at the margins," says Clifford Castleberry (he/him/his), SHIF Program Manager at AIDS United. "We reviewed nearly 100 proposals after dedicating outreach to organizations that are often left out of major funding opportunities and rarely invited to the table. By centering organizations that provide services to trans-masculine folx, rural communities, queer youth and young adults of color, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Black Greek Lettered Organizations and People living with HIV, we are SHIFTing the narrative, I am grateful for our funding partners Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare and an anonymous donor for supporting this legacy opportunity to address HIV in the South." "We must consider the whole person to end the epidemic for all of us," Montell Stansberry (he/him/his), COO of Deviant Events adds. "Deviant Events create safe & supportive spaces for Black and Brown queer people to explore their sexual and social identities while unpacking the prison of shame. Our magic is at the intersection of pride, party and prevention, where we are working to reduce the harm we can be to ourselves and others' lives lost to preventable causes. We appreciate the Southern HIV Impact Fund (SHIF) for investing in the opportunity for Deviant Events to catalyze our community to live their authentic and more deviant lives." The 2023-2024 grantees are inclusive of community-based and social justice organizations and coalitions serving in nine southern states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas. Last Fall, AIDS United put out a request for proposals where nearly 100 proposals were reviewed by an external review panel of people of color living with HIV and allies in the South. From that pool of proposals, 31 organizations were selected. The 2023-2024 grantees are:  

A Vision 4 Hope, Inc

Beta Gamma Chi Fraternity

Capitol Area Reentry Program Inc

Eagle Pass SAFE

Fayetteville State University's School Of Social Work

Frontline Legal Services

G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center

Game Changing Men Inc

Hearts Everywhere Reaching Out For Children, Inc.

Helping Everyone Receive Ongoing Effective Support (HEROES)

Mississippi Center For Justice

Positive Coalition Project

Solutions Not Punishment Collaborative (SnapCo.)

Southern AIDS Coalition

The Center For HIV Law And Policy

The I Am Human Foundation

Trans Women Of Color Healing Project

TransInclusive Group

VOCAL-TX

PrEP In Black America

Clinton College

TAKE Resource Center

The Mckenzie Project Inc

The Normal Anomaly Initiative Inc

Sisterreach

The Ladies Room

Deviant Events

Grambling State University

House Of Rebirth

We The Positive

WeCareTN

SHIF 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. Since inception, SHIF has worked diligently with funding partners to address the racial, social and economic problems that Southern organizations continue to face amid the movement to end the epidemic. The U.S. South has an extremely disproportionate burden of HIV compared with other regions in the country, particularly among Black and Latinx communities. Centering Meaningful Involvement of People Living with HIV (MIPA), SHIF focuses on the needs of individuals and communities of color impacted impacted by HIV in three primary areas: Prevention, care and support; policy, advocacy and movement building.    “Transformative work starts with intentionality and equitable representation," says Tatiana Williams (she/her/hers), executive director and co-founder of TransInclusive Group (TIG). "As a Black woman of trans experience living and leading an organization that supports trans-individuals in South Florida presents with many challenges. As one of SHIF’s Year 7 grantees, this support will enhance Transinclusive Group’s capacity and community engagement to reduce stigma and reimagine how HIV is viewed in South Florida. This award will allow TIG to expand our Trans-led activism platform to inspire change and to achieve the highest, purist and most truthful expression of our authentic selves as human beings." About the Southern HIV Impact Fund: Convened by Funders Concerned About AIDS, in 2017 to coordinate and expand philanthropic efforts in the U.S. South, SHIF and its funding partners Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare  and a generous anonymous donor have committed to working together to leveraging their collective power to promote a more coordinated and effective response to the disproportionate impact of HIV in the U.S. South. The Fund is being managed by AIDS United.