Support the Minority AIDS Project

Support the Minority AIDS Project

Dear Friends:

This is the start of the New Year and many of your agencies will be deciding on which non-profits you will support this year. Please consider sponsoring the Minority AIDS Project services. We will be hosting an annual fundraiser this summer and would love for you to join in our efforts to extend love and compassion to our neighbours bearing the burden of living with HIV/AIDS. The face of AIDS has changed but many have of us have yet to fully realize this demographic shift. African American and Latino women represent the majority of new infections. We need to move beyond the mindset that AIDS is only a problem in the gay community and Sub-Saharan Africa. Our public and private sectors need to unite with our voices, pocketbooks and our feet to address these tragic developments in our local communities.
As a Presbyterian minister, I have worked in AIDS ministries in South Africa and Kenya. It is sobering to realize that the new front in the AIDS pandemic is right here in our communities. Wherever there is poverty, there you will find the risk factors for contracting HIV/AIDS. Over the years, I have consulted with many non-profits caring for people living with HIV/AIDS. The Minority AIDS Project is a paragon of what it means to be led and cared for by people who are walking the talk.
We need your support and advocacy as we provide compassionate and dignified service to our African American and Latino brothers and sisters living with HIV/AIDS. Please join us in the struggle to eliminate the obstacles confronting people who sadly wear the scarlet letter of our day. We know that you have many non-profits to choose from, but we hope that in your heart of hearts you will the feel the mandate that is before us. We must act both locally and globally to address the cruel scourge of HIV/AIDS.
Sincerely,
Rev. Howard Dotson
Minority AIDS Project Volunteer
(310) 926-5061
MAP Mission To Reduce Suffering and Deaths Due to HIV Infection and AIDS Disease in African American and Latino Communities by Making HIV/AIDS Education and Related Health Services Available and Accessible.
Minority AIDS Project is a California nonprofit corporation that provides educational and other HIV/AIDS related support services to eligible individuals without regard to age, gender, ethnicity, culture, language or other circumstances.MAP staff, including Project Directors, Coordinators, Certified Case Managers, Licensed Social Workers, Marriage and Family Therapists, Psychiatrists, Registered Nurses, Phlebotomists, Certified HIV Testing Counselors, Outreach Workers, Health Educators, Evaluators and Administrative Support deliver a broad range of services in response to the dilemmas and difficulties facing those infected and affected by HIV and AIDS.
Our goal is to ensure community based access to respectful and efficient health promotion and disease prevention services through the provision of critical support that works to bridge the gap of services for our multi-ethnic clients who demonstrate needs in at least two of the following categories:
· - Housing
· - Detoxification/Drug/Alcohol Rehabilitation
· - Psychological Support Services
· - Emergency Funding For Housing, Utilities And Transportation
· - Basic Survival Needs Of Food, Clothing, Shelter
· - Assistance In Obtaining Benefits
· - Medical Follow-Up
Model of Early Intervention through the use of a Comprehensive and Culturally Relevant Continuum of Care that offers a broad range of services in response to the social, economic and medical challenges facing our community.At least 90% of MAP’s clients have marginal economic situations with existing problems of unemployment, homelessness, and social isolation intensified by an HIV positive or AIDS diagnosis. Generally clients have multiple needs and require help negotiating the large, bureaucratic government systems on which they must rely for benefits and medical care.Case Management of clients is accomplished through our unique continuum of care which offers clients a complete, comprehensive intake interview and assessment to develop an individual service plan. After intake, overall care and services are coordinated by a Case Manager to ensure full and appropriate assistance. Clients are also helped in obtaining health care benefits.
· Quality of life support is offered through the utilization of Section 8 Housing Vouchers, Food, Clothing, and admissions to drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities.
· Clients, who are homebound, require comprehensive medical case management. Non-medical personal care by Certified Care Workers and/or homemaker service is provided. A financial status evaluation as well as a warm and supportive physical, psychological, and social environment is established. Services are provided by or under the supervision of our Registered Nurses.
· Transitional Case ManagementServices are provided for people living with HIV/AIDS who are incarcerated and/or about to be released from the Los Angeles County Jail system. Case Managers assess the client’s physical, psychosocial, environmental and financial needs and facilitate the client’s access to appropriate sources of health care, financial assistance, mental health care, and other supportive services. Follow-up services, referrals and interventions are continued on behalf of the client, and three six, andnine-month follow-ups will ascertain whether services are accessed and meet the client’s needs.
· Mental HealthOur Mental Health team includes California licensed and license-eligible rriage and Family Therapist and Clinical Social Workers who provide psychosocial assessments, crisis interventions and psychotherapy in all modalities (individual, couple/family, children and group) to clients and their families. MAP's Mental Health Professionals also facilitate psycho-educational HIV/AIDS support groups both in English and Spanish and offer a nutritional lunch for people attending the group. Our psychological/counseling services are offer in both English and Spanish languages by bi-cultural/bilingual clinicians.
· Rent, Utilities, Food, Transportation AssistanceMany individuals living with HIV/AIDS are on the margins of economic survival. Underemployment, unemployment, poverty, limited access to health care, homelessness, chemical dependency, and a myriad of other challenges plague them. These vulnerabilities create serious quality of life challenges. In addition, approximately 10% of those seeking services are undocumented and do not qualify for public assistance programs.
· MAP provides clients with rental housing assistance and move-in costs from funds provided by public funding. Client’s who cannot qualify; because they are not city residents receive emergency assistance and/or utility payments via donations of unrestricted dollars. Clients may access the Food Pantry to supplement their inadequate food supply. For clients who need assistance with transportation, taxi coupons, bus passes and tokens are available.
· HIV Testing ServicesOn-site and Mobile Van HIV Testing is available to provide HIV Counseling, Testing and Immune Assessment Services. HIV Testing Services are also administered to clients in drug treatment programs.
· The goal of the Mobile Testing Unit is to encourage testing that enables individuals to learn about their status early in the progression of the disease and to help newly diagnosed individuals to understand and modify behaviors that may compromise their health. MAP encourages secondary prevention through self-disclosure to sexual and/or needle sharing partners. Appropriate referrals, primarily to risk reduction programs offered by MAP, are also provided for those who test HIV Nega
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Minority AIDS Project
Carl Bean Center5149 W. Jefferson Blvd. Los Angeles, California 90016323-936-4949323-936-4973 fax