An international cosmetics company’s HIV/AIDS-awareness campaign, currently being led by spokesperson Lady Gaga, recently awarded local HIV/AIDS service organization BEBASHI: Transition to Hope with a grant to launch a new youth-focused prevention program.
M·A·C AIDS Fund’s 2011 VIVA GLAM campaign earlier this month announced $5 million in grants for HIV/AIDS agencies throughout the country. All profits from the sale of VIVA GLAM lipstick and lipgloss go to HIV/AIDS causes, raising more than $200 million since its inception in 1994.
BEBASHI, which applied for the program late last year, was selected for a $25,000 grant for its proposed “Little Brotha” program, which targets young African-American men who have sex with men.
The program is designed for ages 13-24, a demographic that is especially at risk for contracting HIV, said BEBASHI executive director Gary Bell.
“This is a group where we’re really seeing the risk for HIV rising fast,” Bell said. “And from my vantage point, this is a group that is most often overlooked.”
Bell explained that the organization had originally applied for a $250,000 grant and is modifying the program to fit with the actual funding allotted, by reducing the number of projected participants from 400 to between 50-100.
Bell noted that BEBASHI has been working with youth since its founding in 1985, but said the alarming numbers of young African-American males testing positive for HIV, and the dearth of opportunities for this population, necessitated the creation of a more intensive outreach program.
“Little Brotha” would offer Comprehensive Risk Counseling and Services (CRCS), a one-on-one counseling program where youth would meet up to five times with BEBASHI staff, or more if necessary, for intensive risk-reduction instruction. Youth would also be able to partake in case management geared specifically toward their individualized challenges.
“This would be for young people who have very acute but more concrete needs like housing, substance-abuse issues or something like that, where they need more than information and referrals, but they need someone to follow them and continue to work with them,” Bell said.
BEBASHI has already begun reaching out to youth-service agencies such as The Attic Youth Center, as well as substance-abuse providers, schools, the city’s Department of Human Services and the Probation Department to identify participants.
Bell said the agency is also looking to other sources, like pharmaceutical companies and federal funding opportunities, to support and expand the program as it moves forward.
Jen Colletta can be reached at [email protected].