The Amida Care Fund at Stonewall Community Foundation Awards Inaugural Grants for HIV/AIDS Initiatives at NYC Community Organizations
June 20 2015
Amida Care is proud to announce that the Amida Care Fund at Stonewall Community Foundation has awarded its inaugural round of grants to BOOM!Health, HEAT, Pride for Youth, and Translatina Network. These grant recipients were selected because of their outstanding work to address HIV/AIDS in LGBTQ communities throughout New York City. The awardees were among those honored at the Stonewall Vision Awards on June 16.
The Amida Care Fund at Stonewall Community Foundation was established as part of Amida Care’s privately funded Live Your Life Program and is focused on supporting Governor Andrew Cuomo’s groundbreaking Blueprint to end the AIDS epidemic in New York State by 2020. The Fund seeks to support HIV education, prevention, intervention, and treatment programs that engage New Yorkers who are most at risk for HIV infection—such as young men of color who have sex with men (MSM) and transgender women—and those who are HIV-positive but not virally suppressed or receiving necessary access to care.
“At Amida Care, we pride ourselves on delivering health services that go above and beyond for our members. By supporting community-based organizations that are working to break down systemic barriers connected to poverty, racism, HIV stigma, homophobia, and transphobia, this grant program allows us to have an even greater impact on the health and social disparities that contribute to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in New York,” said Doug Wirth, President and CEO of Amida Care. “We are grateful to Stonewall Community Foundation for working in partnership with us on this project that will help members of the LGBTQ community live a better life and that will advance the Governor’s goal of ending AIDS in New York.”
“Lifting up the New York City-based organizations that are working with under-resourced and often marginalized communities is a fundamental part of our mission,” said Jarrett Lucas, Executive Director of Stonewall Community Foundation. “We are honored to join with Amida Care to provide a new stream of funding to work toward ending HIV and AIDS, and thrilled with the addition of these four grantee partners.”
The 2015 grant awards support a range of HIV-related programs and services:
- BOOM!Health provides health, wellness, and prevention services to more than 12,000 of the hardest-to-reach individuals in the Bronx, with particular emphasis on HIV and viral hepatitis services.
- HEAT (Health and Education Alternatives for Teens) is the only program of its kind in Brooklyn that provides comprehensive medical and mental health care, supportive services, and access to clinical research for HIV-positive and at-risk youth.
- Pride for Youth seeks to enhance the health, wellness, and cultural competency of LGBTQ young people through supportive services, education, and youth development, serving Long Island and Queens.
- Translatina Network, a program housed within the LGBT Community Center in Manhattan, is a network of transgender Latinas whose aim is to promote the healthy development of transgender people through outreach, education, and capacity building.