The Southern HIV Impact Fund announced more than $1.3 million in grants to 26 organizations across nine states in the United States South. This newest round includes organizations that support a wide range of services from reproductive justice and harm reduction to advocacy, policy work and education workshops.

The Southern HIV Impact Fund is a first-of-its-kind collaborative of the nation’s leading private and corporate funders of HIV-related programming and funders from intersecting issue areas interested in supporting HIV work. Over the course of its first five years, the Southern HIV Impact Fund has invested more than $12 million to support the work of nearly 200 organizations across the South, and has provided technical assistance, capacity building and leadership development to movement leaders.

These organizations focus on serving the most vulnerable and marginalized communities in states that rarely receive funding proportional to their burden of the epidemic, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas.

“For four years, this first-of-its-kind collaborative fund has strengthened organizations and movements to turn the tide of the HIV epidemic and its disproportionate impact on communities of color and those who reside in the South,” said Jesse Milan Jr., president and CEO of AIDS United. “As we enter into year five of the Southern HIV Impact Fund, we are proud to continue to support organizations and leaders who are building movements that reach across the intersections of the HIV epidemic, from reproductive justice and LGBTQ equality to those who are working to support harm reduction, Medicaid expansion, increase housing access and address poverty in their communities.”

A large portion of the funding for these grants was made possible through the contributions of the Gilead Sciences COMPASS Initiative. Launched in 2017, COMPASS is a 10-year, more than $100 million collaborative initiative that seeks to eradicate underlying serious and systemic challenges that contribute to the HIV epidemic in the Southern United States. These challenges require coordinated and cross-sector responses primarily focused on combating stigma, improving the quality of and access to healthcare services and increasing local leadership and advocacy efforts for those impacted by HIV. Through Gilead’s work with four coordinating centers and direct engagement with partners in the region, the company has provided $52 million in funding to the Southern United States since the program’s inception, in support of nearly 150 organizations.

“Gilead is proud to support these extraordinary 2022 grantee organizations that are truly changing the course of the HIV epidemic in the South,” said Shanell L. McGoy, PhD, MPH, director, public affairs, Gilead Sciences. “With the Southern HIV Impact Fund’s collaborative funding model, we can come together to ensure that vital resources have an immediate and significant impact as we invest in movement building, prevention and care and support.”

“In 2015, FCAA first convened the Southern Funders Working Group to address disparities in the national HIV epidemic. Convinced that a collaborative funding approach could eliminate duplicative efforts, reduce barriers to accessing funding and invest in capacity building and leadership development, the Southern HIV Impact Fund was launched in 2017,” said John Barnes, executive director of Funders Concerned About AIDS. “Five years later, the Fund has empowered local communities to decide where funding is needed, has moved resources closer to those most impacted, and invested in the next generation of leadership – a true example of best practice in reaching LGBTQ and BIPOC communities across the South.”

“Ending the HIV Epidemic requires us to work in new ways, with new partners and with a fresh approach to supporting the people and organizations who are driving change. That’s why ViiV Healthcare supports the Southern HIV Impact Fund — which has become a magnet for resources, talent and learning at the intersection of HIV and health equity in the South,” said Amelia Korangy at ViiV Healthcare. “SHIF is important infrastructure for community led grantmaking, and we share SHIF’s commitment to the grantees and leaders doing such critical work.”

Meet our 2021–2022 grantees:

  • Affinity Health Center; Rock Hill, South Carolina

  • Arianna’s Center; Fort Lauderdale, Florida

  • Capitol Area Reentry Program, Inc.; Baton Rouge, Louisiana

  • Choices: Memphis Center for Reproductive Health (MCRH); Memphis, Tennessee

  • Circle of Friends Task Force; Greenville, North Carolina

  • Community Health Prevention Intervention Education & Research (CH-PIER); Greenville, Mississippi

  • Eagle Pass SAFE; Eagle Pass, Texas

  • Frontline Legal Services, Inc.; New Orleans, Louisiana

  • Gender Benders; Piedmont, South Carolina

  • Helping Everyone Receiving Ongoing Effective Support (HEROES); Columbia, Louisiana

  • Hope House Day Care Center; Memphis, Tennessee

  • Latino LinQ, Inc.; Atlanta, Georgia

  • Mississippi Center for Justice; Jackson, Mississippi

  • Mississippi Positive Network; Ridgeland, Mississippi

  • NC Survivors Union; Greensboro, North Carolina

  • Positive Women’s Network USA; Regional

  • Seeds of Healing, Inc.; Wilmington, North Carolina

  • SisterLove, Inc.; Atlanta, Georgia

  • SisterReach; Memphis, Tennessee

  • T.A.K.E. Resource Center; Birmingham, Alabama

  • Texas Harm Reduction Alliance; Austin, Texas

  • The Bros in Convo Initiative; Orlando, Florida

  • The Knights & Orchids Society; Selma, Alabama

  • THRIVE SS, Inc.; Atlanta, Georgia

  • Trans Women in Need of Services; Pembroke Pines, Florida

  • WeCareTn; Memphis, Tennessee

In the video at the top of this article, you can join Senior Program Manager Marvell L. Terry II as he goes on a whirlwind journey through nine southern states to meet our 2021-2022 Southern HIV Impact Fund grantees. (You can also view the AIDS United video on YouTube.)

“It is a joy to take the helm of the Southern HIV Impact Fund this year,” said Senior Program Manager of the Southern HIV Impact Fund, Marvell L. Terry II. “I believe my lived and learned experience uniquely positions me to address funding issues in the South, continue a robust leadership development program and provide technical assistance to grass roots organizations.”

Convened by Funders Concerned About AIDS in 2017 to coordinate and expand philanthropic efforts in the United States South, the Southern HIV Impact Fund is managed by AIDS United and receives support for Year 5 from Gilead Sciences, ViiV Healthcare, the Levi Strauss Foundation and a generous anonymous donor.

For more information about the Fund, please read our factsheet or visit www.southernfund.org to read more about the funded grantees.