Ms. Foundation for Women - Women and AIDS

http://ms.foundation.org/our_work/broad-change-areas/womens-health/women-and-aids


National Women and AIDS Collective

Women and AIDS

Since the early 1980s, the face of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the U.S. has dramatically changed. HIV/AIDS incidence among women has more than tripled; today women account for more than 27 percent of new cases. Women of color are disproportionately impacted at alarming rates: while Black women and Latinas make up just 25 percent of women in the US, they represent 81 percent of AIDS diagnoses among women. In 2004, the last year for which data is available, HIV/AIDS was the leading cause of death among Black women aged 25-34.

Since 1996, when the Ms. Foundation first began to address the impact of HIV/AIDS on women, we have remained the only national funding source solely dedicated to supporting advocacy by and for women living with HIV/AIDS. By providing grants, technical assistance, and networking opportunities to state and local groups, we build the capacity of HIV positive women and their organizations to advance policy change that will improve their lives and stem the U.S. epidemic overall.

Over the past decade, Ms. Foundation funding has given rise to a vibrant, grassroots women and HIV/AIDS movement. Our past and present grantees represent a powerful network of community-based organizations—many of which started with little funding, resources, or paid staff. Day in and day out, they provide a lifeline to HIV positive women seeking access to a range of support services, all the while elevating women’s voices and solutions to policy platforms nationwide.

Today, our grantees are advancing their policy expertise at decision-making tables across the U.S.—from local councils that determine the allocation of community and county resources to the CDC and the Office of National AIDS Policy. Together, they’re making critical connections among the many social, economic and environmental issues that place women at risk and igniting change to ensure that HIV/AIDS prevention, treatment and care policies and programs finally meet women’s unique and unmet needs.

show/hide

Change List

Remove List

Edit List Properties

show/hide

Change List

Remove List

Edit List Properties

In 2005, the Ms. Foundation helped nurture the formation of the National Women and AIDS Collective (NWAC), the first and only national policy network of organizations led by women living with and affected by HIV/AIDS. In just a few short years, NWAC, led by Ms. Foundation grantees, has become a key voice in the women and AIDS movement and a respected leader among policymakers, public health officials and advocacy organizations alike. Today, NWAC is advancing transformative solutions at the White House and beyond. Read more

2007 Ms. Foundation Women of Vision Awardee Ashley Nicole Tomlinson. After participating in Odyssey Youth Center's legislative lobby day trip on comprehensive sexuality education, Tomlinson became inspired to change her life and her community... Learn more and view video

show/hide

Change List

Remove List

Edit List Properties

share ms.foundation.org:

show/hide

Change List

Remove List

Edit List Properties

Ms. Foundation for Women, 12 MetroTech Center, 26th Fl, Brooklyn, NY 11201 Telephone:(212) 742-2300|Fax: (212) 742-1653|Email: info@ms.foundation.org