Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2007. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - March 10, 2007
Courtney Mabeus, cmabeus@dcexaminer.com
Under the new plan, which expands the health department's HIV/AIDS services, the agency will provide grants of $20,000 and $50,000 to help train employees, purchase supplies and increase initiatives at organizations in Wards 7 and 8 that focus on the virus.
Those two wards have the highest incidence of AIDS in the city.
The Ward 7 Collaborative, Concerned Citizens Inc. and the Abundant Life Clinic are involved in an eight-month intensive organizational development program with the city to develop new programs.
Other organizations that focus on special populations, including the homeless, hearing impaired and HIV-infected women returning from prison, also will be involved, officials said.
People fighting on the front lines against the virus estimate that one out of every 20 District residents is living with HIV or AIDS, one of the nation's highest HIV/AIDS rates.
"What we are talking about is putting the funds in the hands of the organizations ... who know how to do outreach, know how to do prevention, know how to do care in these neighborhoods where people may not be talking about HIV and AIDS," said Mayor Adrian Fenty, who announced the expansion with Pane and Council Chairman Vincent Gray.
The District's HIV and AIDS programs have been widely criticized in the past, and this shift is one of many the city has made in recent years.
Pane took over the District's HIV and AIDS programs earlier this year after Marsha Martin, who had been lauded as someone who could put the District's AIDS and HIV programs on track, resigned when Fenty did not reappoint her.
Jatrice Martel Gaiter, president of Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, applauded the plan Friday.
"We have a health crisis in this community and it means we have to change," she said.
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