Desert AIDS Project is the proud recipient of a $10,000 renewal grant from the Elton John AIDS Foundation to provide HIV testing in the Coachella Valley.
This renewal grant supports Desert AIDS Project’s Get Tested Coachella Valley campaign goal to reduce HIV transmission in high-risk, underserved populations by continuing to provide access to free testing and linkage to care. In addition, this grant will support implementation prevention strategies to increase community awareness of HIV, its risk factors and transmission modes; and help to provide comprehensive services to promote retention in care and adherence to treatment.
Desert AIDS Project launched Get Tested Coachella Valley with over 100 community partners in 2014 to combat shockingly high HIV prevalence rates in their service region. This renewal grant supports a scaled-up service profile for this program to reach an expanded pool of at-risk populations over the next year. HIV testing and counseling services will also include linkage to care.
HIV testing and linkage to care activities also raise awareness of and facilitate access to PrEP and PEP as HIV prevention measures for high-risk populations. The program’s Public Health Liaisons will include expanded HIV prevention education to include important strategies about these HIV prevention tools into ongoing presentations to healthcare professionals.
Desert AIDS Project’s (D.A.P.) mission is to enhance and promote the health and well-being of their community. D.A.P. is the largest, most comprehensive AIDS service organization serving Riverside and San Bernardino Counties of Southern California. Over the past year, the D.A.P. provided primary medical care, behavioral healthcare, oral healthcare, and comprehensive social services to over 4,200 people of all races and ethnicities in 2016.