Chicago Tribune (CT) - THURSDAY, July 3, 1997 Edition: NORTH SPORTS FINAL Section: METRO CHICAGO Page: 4 Word Count: 359
Terry Wilson, Tribune Staff Writer

Representatives from the different service providers gathered for breakfast in the Walnut Room at Marshall Field's State Street store where the AIDS Foundation of Chicago announced it would be giving $1,146,650 in grants, the most it has awarded at once.

"Nationwide there is a troubling trend of declining support, and it's getting more difficult to raise money," said Karen Fishman, executive director of the agency that raises funds to assist agencies. "There is a misperception that the new drugs are a cure. But recent medical advances do not herald the end of AIDS."

Nearly half of the groups that received the grants provide prevention, education and risk-reduction services and 46 percent of grantees provide direct care services, like housing, mental health services, legal aid and hospice care for people with AIDS.

Four groups, Centro San Bonifacio, Project VIDA, the Minority Outreach Intervention Program and the Chicago Women's AIDS Project, will share $196,500 in grants to be used to link the agencies with university-based researchers who can evaluate their programs, Fishman said.

Luule Vess, director and co-founder of Project VIDA, said workers have conducted five years of street outreach with teens and will benefit from the data analysis skills of a professional researcher.

Project VIDA received $10,000 to continue its prevention efforts and street outreach. The program teaches teens how to prevent HIV transmission and provides bilingual counseling on other issues, such as substance abuse.

"It's very hard to raise money for prevention," Vess said. "It is very difficult to measure your success, and it's very difficult to convince many funders that teenagers are a priority."

The South Side Help Center received a $30,000 grant for outreach. The group will target intravenous drug users with AIDS prevention materials and bleach to clean their needles.

Genesis House, which works with women who are prostitutes, received $30,000 to hire a person to do case management for women who have HIV.

Copyright 1997/The Chicago Tribune. Reproduced with permission. Reproduction of this article (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the Permissions Desk, The Chicago Tribune, 435 North Michigan Avenue, Chicago, IL 60611.
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