KAISER PERMANENTE: Awards Grants to HIV/AIDS Groups
Kaiser Permanente California awarded $350,000 in grants to 64 not-for-profit HIV/AIDS agencies throughout California that provide everything from food and laundry services to mental health care. Michael Allerton, HIV Operations Policy Coordinator of the Permanente Medical Group, said, "The fight against HIV is not over yet. Twenty percent or more of patients don't respond to drugs and the virus becomes resistant to therapies. The most effective way to beat HIV is through community-based prevention." Among the 26 awardees in Northern California are Avalon AIDS Housing Alliance in Sacramento, Building Opportunities for Self Sufficiency in Berkeley and All About Care in Fresno. Grants, which ranged from $1,000 to $20,000, were based on the needs of local communities and beneficiaries were selected by Kaiser Permanente staff in each area. Allerton added, "When we fund local agencies, it helps Kaiser Permanente members get better care and facilitates our mission to be good citizens. Some of the funds support worthwhile projects that simply needed a financial boost, while other grants help launch new programs such as prevention of HIV among minority women. This grant funding process is new to Northern California. It lets us recognize those agencies who provide services that we, as a medical group, can't. In the end, we all benefit from this kind of community investment" (Kaiser Permanente release, 8/25).
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