Washington AIDS Partnership

What is the Washington AIDS Partnership?? We are a committed group of individuals and organizations striving to prevent new HIV infections and help those living with HIV/AIDS in the Washington, DC metropolitan region. Each year, the Partnership raises money from people like you to support the most effective, life-saving HIV programs in our region, including HIV/AIDS prevention education for young people, HIV testing, support for front-line HIV/AIDS workers, and connecting people living with HIV/AIDS to medical care. In 2010, the Partnership helped the local community provide more than 12,000 people with information about how to protect themselves from HIV/AIDS and supported HIV testing for over 3,500 people. The Partnership also operates two other life-saving programs:

AmeriCorps: The Partnership recruits, trains, and mentors a team of 12 young people each year who commit to a year of full-time volunteer service at local HIV/AIDS organizations and health service providers in the Washington, DC region. In exchange for their service, AmeriCorps members receive a small living allowance. Each AmeriCorps member is a critical resource to the community, helping countless people at risk for and living with HIV/AIDS such as Shaina:

“I'll never forget the look on Shaina’s face when she came in to get her first HIV test at the young age of 14. Her mother brought her in after she found out that Shaina lost her virginity the night before. Shaina shared with me the details of her sexual encounter and her fears; she began to cry as she thought about her mother’s words that she was no longer pure and innocent. I reassured her that everything would be okay and told her about the services that my agency provides. I encouraged her to join one of our programs that educates young women on sexual health issues including HIV/AIDS, STDs, and condom negotiation. She decided to enroll and I’m proud to say she will graduate from the program in the next month.”

Positive Pathways: Positive Pathways helps low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS get HIV medical care. Peer community health workers work in DC neighborhoods to identify out-of-care individuals and provide personalized assistance to help them enter and navigate the health care system. Medical care is an important HIV prevention tool: as people living with HIV/AIDS receive life-saving HIV medications, the risk for HIV transmission is lowered in the overall community. A success story from Positive Pathways:

A community health worker recently helped a woman get into HIV medical care after three years of not receiving any medical treatment. Her client had been living with HIV for ten years and had not disclosed her status to any of her friends or family. On top of the stress of keeping her HIV status a secret, she was experiencing post traumatic stress disorder after witnessing a murder in her neighborhood. The community health worker helped to provide supportive counseling and the client successfully re-engaged in medical care and began working with a mental health professional to address her post traumatic stress disorder.

For more information on the Washington AIDS Partnership, an initiative of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, please visit the Partnership’s website: www.washingtonaidspartnership.org.