AIDS Foundation of Chicago Awards Largest Grant Cycle in Giving History
Funds Support Faith-Based Organizations Fighting HIV/AIDS

CHICAGO - The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) announced today that total grantmaking in the current cycle will reach more than $1.5 million, the largest amount ever awarded in the agency's history. AFC's Board of Directors honored grant recipients on Thursday, June 30 at a special recognition breakfast at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

"The Chicago area has fantastic organizations that do invaluable HIV/AIDS work," said AFC's Executive Director Mark Ishaug. "We are proud to fund a greater number of these agencies than ever before, especially as federal funding for domestic AIDS programs continues to decline."

The 12-month grantmaking cycle ending June 2005 includes $653,000 in new awards for HIV/AIDS prevention, care, advocacy, evaluation, and capacity-building projects; $329,000 in renewal grants for the Chicago Housing for Health Partnership; and $129,460 for the first year of a partnership to improve access to food and nutritional counseling. In this period, AFC also funded an array of special initiatives, including $120,000 for a faith-based project in the African-American community called Faith in Prevention.

Twelve churches and faith-based organizations received $10,000 each to support prevention and outreach efforts that reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS on African-Americans. The project was funded by a one-time grant from the federal Office of Minority Health secured by U.S. Senator Dick Durbin. AFC has committed to provide partial funding to continue the project when federal funds end this year.

"Church leaders have the opportunity to play an important role in the fight against HIV/AIDS," said Reverend Doris Green, AFC's director of community affairs. "They are able to reach an audience that we cannot - people who don't seek out HIV information. Through sermons, ministries, and outreach, they are de-mystifying the epidemic and providing messages of prevention and hope."

In Chicago, the number of women living with AIDS has more than tripled in the last decade. This year, AFC awarded six grants totaling $231,915 to projects specifically targeting women living with or at risk for the disease. The South Side Women's Collaborative ($60,000) takes a unique approach to HIV prevention by encouraging small businesses that cater to female clientele, such as beauty salons, to refer their customers to HIV testing and care programs. Three AIDS service providers will train business owners and their employees on how to facilitate discussions about the disease, and provide counseling, testing, and care services to clients. The collaborative is funded by the National AIDS Fund and Johnson & Johnson. AFC will also award grants to Centro Comunitario Juan Diego ($10,000), Centro Romero ($10,000), Chicago Women's AIDS Project ($25,000), Christian Community Health Center ($15,000), Young Women's Empowerment Project ($10,000), and the Perinatal HIV Case Management Project ($101,915) for projects targeting women.

The remainder of the funding will benefit agencies and projects that provide services as diverse as finding stable housing for chronically ill homeless individuals to educating school-age children about HIV/AIDS through performance workshops.

Since 1992, AFC has given funding priority to qualified organizations that meet AFC's strict definition for community of color organizations. More than half of the community-based organizations funded this year are serving and governed by communities of color. AFC thanks all of its generous donors and supporters for making this year's awards possible. For a full list of grants awarded, click here.

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Established in 1985, the AIDS Foundation of Chicago is the Midwest's largest source of private philanthropic support for HIV/AIDS prevention and care programs. Since it began making grants in 1988, AFC has given away more than $15 million to support AIDS prevention, education, care, and advocacy programs. In addition, AFC helps to coordinate the delivery of essential HIV/AIDS services, maintains a 135-member Service Providers Council, and promotes sound HIV/AIDS policy and law at the local, state, and federal level.

View list of funded agencies