Ventura County AIDS Partnership awards $104,000 for 2009 grants

March 11, 2009
Santa Paula News

Ventura County AIDS Partnership (VCAP) announced grants totaling $104,000 for HIV prevention and AIDS care services in Ventura County for 2009.

Ventura County AIDS Partnership (VCAP) announced grants totaling $104,000 for HIV prevention and AIDS care services in Ventura County for 2009. VCAP’s funding seeks to fill the gaps and reach out to those most in need. The organization is proud to announce a list of 2009 funded partners who are working hard to address the unmet needs in HIV prevention and AIDS care for Ventura County:* Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church’s outreach program, Project ACTS (Awareness through Communication, Testing and Support) was awarded a $15,000 grant to provide culturally sensitive and environmentally relevant outreach with particular emphasis in the African-American population. This faith-based effort works to reduce social stigmas through age appropriate educational activities and HIV testing.* California Lutheran University’s Center for Equality & Justice and Upward Bound Program are the first recipients of the new $500 mini-grant designed to support one time awareness events. “We are grateful to receive the VCAP grant to support our keynote speakers for Ventura County’s commemoration of World AIDS Day 2009,” said Dr. Adina Nack, lead organizer for Ventura County’s World AIDS Day activities since 2004. “We plan to feature experts who will present the latest updates on both local and global aspects of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.”* City Impact’s $15,000 VCAP grant supports the Risk Reduction program. “Because youth seriously miscalculate their vulnerability to HIV and STD infections, this issue needs to be addressed,” said Pam Stewart, Director of Youth and Family Impact. “City Impact’s Risk Reduction Program focuses on outreach to students, parents and families throughout Ventura County.”* “Clinicas Del Camino Real, Inc. has been working towards providing culturally sensitive health care services to the Mixtec community. Through this $10,000 VCAP grant for 100 Mixtecs, Clinicas will be able to help further bridge the gap in health care services and break the silence about HIV/AIDS within the Mixtec through community education, conducting HIV screenings and HIV testing,” said Operations Manager Marina Zamarron.* Mixteco/Indigena Community Organizing Project received a $15,000 VCAP grant for Romper el Silencio. “This funding enables us to bring HIV prevention and testing information to hundreds of Oaxacan immigrant farmworker families in Ventura County. Often, these individuals and families tell us this is the first information they have ever received in their own language, Mixteco,” said Sandra Young, MICOP CEO.
* Planned Parenthood earned two grants for their Ventura County prevention programs- $10,000 forConfianza, a peer outreach program for Latinas and $15,000 for Positively Speaking, a speaker’s bureau designed to put a face on AIDS and educate youth and young adults.* Ventura County Public Health’s HIV/AIDS Center received a grant of $6,500 for Housing Assistance, for persons living with HIV and or AIDS who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless.* AIDS Project Ventura County, a program of Ventura County Rainbow Alliance, the only private provider of AIDS services in Ventura County received three grants: $4,000 for Syringe Replacement Program, $6,500 for Emergency Assistance for HIV positive Ventura County residents at risk of homelessness, and $6,500 for Necessities of Life, the only food pantry dedicated to serving HIV positive Ventura County residents.Local support for VCAP’s grant making is matched 2:1 by National AIDS Fund, through support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. Grants for 2009 have been made possible with the generosity of National AIDS Fund, through support from the Elton John AIDS Foundation, The Wood Claeyssens Foundation, Ruth Daily Livingston Fund, Swift Memorial Healthcare Foundation, Until There’s A Cure Foundation, Angel Projects, Julius Guis Memorial Foundation as well as numerous corporate and individual donors.Fundraising is underway to raise the organization’s local match for 2010 grants. If you would like to make a donation and be a part of strengthening the county’s response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, please contact Executive Director Madhu Bajaj at 805-485-6288, ext. 232 or mbajaj@vcunitedway.org.ABOUT VENTURA COUNTY AIDS PARTNERSHIP (VCAP): Since its inception, VCAP has raised and distributed over $1,225,000 to agencies in Ventura County to increase access to critical HIV education and to strengthen quality of life for low-income HIV/AIDS patients. VCAP also facilitates countywide collaborative efforts, including Cuídate Ventura County, an HIV prevention program for the Latino Community. VCAP is co-convened by United Way of Ventura County and Ventura County Community Foundation and is a community partner of National AIDS Fund. For more information and to sign up for the enewsletter, please visit the website at www.vcaidspartnership.org.



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