Who we are:

•    The Communities of Color Collaborative (3C) is a Chicagoland network of health agencies, businesses and churches that works to stop the spread of HIV among African Americans and Latinos.

What we do:

•    3C promotes and provides prevention and care services with the goal of reducing the number of women, men and youth who are infected by HIV and sexually transmitted diseases.

Why we’re doing it:

•    3C would like to see an end to this tragic trend: An estimated 21,367 Chicagoans are living with HIV/AIDS. 71 percent of them were African American or Latino.

How we do it:

•    3C reaches communities through venues such as beauty salons, barbershops, churches, clubs/bars, high schools and the Internet.

Mission:

•    The mission of 3C is to reduce the number of HIV and sexually transmitted infections among women, men who have sex with men and youth by providing culturally relevant health promotion and disease prevention services to African Americans and Latinos in Chicagoland.

Vision:

•    The vision of 3C is to see an absolute reduction in HIV prevalence among African Americans and Latinos in Chicagoland, with a primary focus on those most impacted by HIV/AIDS: women, men who have sex with men, and youth.

3C strives to achieve this vision by:

1.    Creating awareness of HIV/AIDS and its associated co-factors (i.e., poverty, stigma, homophobia);

2.    Empowering communities to become advocates for their own well-being, including LGBTI (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex) communities;

3.    Leveraging the influence of faith-based organizations to educate, counsel and support women, men and youth;

4.    Utilizing “With Me Comes A Cure,” a social media and marketing campaign, to spur dialogue, action and spread awareness;

5.    Engaging like-minded coalitions, organizations and movements in the collective effort to reduce the spread of HIV among women, men and youth;

6.    Influencing health policies and agendas that have a direct impact on women, men and youth.