For several years, the Red Cross HIV/AIDS program has not been funded by the National Red Cross. For many Red Cross Chapters, this meant they had to let go of their HIV/AIDS programs, or find their own funding. At the St. Louis Area Chapter, we have been lucky enough to not only keep our program, but to staff four full-time employees for the last few years. However, with the economy in dire straits, funding for HIV/AIDS programs around the country at various organizations, not just the Red Cross, has gotten more and more scarce, and more and more Chapters have had to let go of their programs that promote sharing the facts about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, in a culturally sensitive, nonjudgmental way.

 

With supplies for the HIV programs scarce, different Chapters across the country sometimes must scramble around to find HIV instructor manuals or brochures or Instructional Posters. For the last five months, I have been gathering names of individuals at Red Cross Chapters around the country that still have an HIV program, and developed the ARC HIV Newsletter. To date, there are 16 Red Cross Chapters represented on this mailing list, with more being added each month. From Alaska down to Alabama, this newsletter highlights a different Chapter’s HIV program each month, allowing that Chapter to discuss different teaching tips, funding strategies, challenges and successes with teaching about HIV, etc. There is also a section for any Chapter to post its upcoming HIV/AIDS Instructor Classes and/or materials that it has available for sale.

 

This newsletter has been great at keeping many Red Cross Chapters connected. So many of the people that receive this newsletter say how glad they are that “someone took the reins” to get us all connected and working together for the sake of HIV prevention education. We’ve been able to get people connected with others who might have materials they need or answers to questions they have, all in the name of spreading the facts about HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.

 

If you are interested in receiving this newsletter, email me at kjohnston@redcrossstl.org!