Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center Receives $1.15 Million from CDC to Strengthen Asian & Pacific Islander HIV Prevention Programs, Reduce Stigma Nationwide
(San Francisco, April 27 2004)

Asian & Pacific Islander Wellness Center (A&PI Wellness Center) has received two grants totaling approximately $1.15 million per year over five years from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to strengthen HIV prevention programs for A&PIs at the national, regional, and local levels; reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma; and increase access and utilization to services for A&PIs at highest risk. The total funds represent more than double the amount A&PI Wellness Center has received to date for capacity building efforts among A&PI organizations. A&PI Wellness Center will work closely in coordination with five partners across the nation.

First, A&PI Wellness Center will continue its national Capacity Building Assistance (CBA) program that will strengthen HIV prevention programs for A&PIs on national, regional, and local levels, by providing CBA services to community-based organizations, health departments, and health ministries in the Pacific Island Jurisdictions, and health and medical providers to build their capacity to adapt, tailor, implement, and evaluate their programs to better meet the needs of high-risk and HIV-infected A&PI communities.

Second, A&PI Wellness Center will develop a national, community-level effort to reduce HIV/AIDS-related stigma and increase access and utilization to services for A&PI communities at highest risk by developing national and regional leadership in A&PI communities; educating and sensitizing the media about HIV and A&PI high risk groups; and enhancing the cultural competency of service providers to improve access to services living for A&PIs. This effort will parallel A&PI Wellness Center’s anti-stigma campaign targeting monolingual Chinese and Vietnamese people in the San Francisco Bay Area, which was funded by an $180,000 grant from the Ford Foundation awarded in late 2003.

“Capacity building has not received its fair share of funding by the CDC for the last decade, so we’re delighted to receive this grant,” said John Manzon-Santos, executive director of A&PI Wellness Center. “Moreover, as we engage in our capacity building efforts, we continue to come up against the intersecting stigmas around being immigrant, gay, and/or living with HIV/AIDS in A&PI communities, so this funding is a critical complement to our overall efforts.”

For information about A&PI Wellness Center’s capacity building services and anti-stigma efforts, contact Lina Sheth at 415.292.3420 x320 or lina@apiwellness.org.

A&PI Wellness Center educates, supports, empowers, and advocates for Asian and Pacific Islander (A&PI) communities, particularly A&PIs living with or at-risk for HIV/AIDS. Founded in 1987 as a grassroots response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in communities of color, it is the oldest nonprofit organization in North America targeting A&PI communities around sexual health and HIV/AIDS services. A&PI Wellness Center is based in San Francisco’s Tenderloin neighborhood and operates an office in downtown Oakland; provides services regionally, statewide, and nationally; and maintains linkages with non-governmental organizations throughout Asia and the Pacific.

For more information contact:

Lina Sheth
A&PI Wellness Center
415.292.3420 x320
lina@apiwellness.org



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