Southern AIDS Coalition

Stigma Reduction and Culturally Appropriate Care

The mission of the Southern AIDS Coalition (SAC) is to end the HIV epidemic in the South. SAC is a non-partisan coalition of government, community, and business leaders working alongside thousands of community members to prevent new transmissions and build a better South for people living with HIV (PLHIV). Since 2001, they have promoted accessible and high-quality systems of HIV prevention and care across 16 Southern states and the District of Columbia. Today, their work is divided into four core categories: public health advocacy, capacity building assistance, and education, formative research and evaluation, and strategic grantmaking. The Southern AIDS Coalition also collaborates closely with the Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative (SASI), which is an initiative of the Duke Health Justice Clinic.

We Offer

Internalized Stigma Reduction Trainings

We work directly with community organizations across the South to identify opportunities for growth, provide tailored trainings, and strategically allocate funding to increase capacity, programming, and professional development. We provide funding for the design, implementation, and evaluation of interventions to reduce HIV-related stigma for people living with HIV in the South. We work directly with community organizations across the South to identify opportunities for growth, provide tailored trainings, and strategically allocate funding to increase capacity, programming, and professional development.

Awareness, Education, and Stigma Reduction Campaigns

We provide funding for community-led grassroots campaigns to promote awareness and real knowledge about HIV and AIDS.

Learning Opportunities

We partner with organizations to pilot HIV-related stigma reduction interventions in local communities across the South. Currently, they are implementing and evaluating the LEAD Academy and Unity Workshop.

Stigma Reduction Trainings

We offer trainings to community-based organizations, government agencies, health care delivery entities, and government agencies on how to provide culturally appropriate, non-stigmatizing services to people living with HIV and other marginalized communities (or people living with or disproportionately impacted by HIV in the South).

https://youtu.be/sT0xMtB6vJQ

Southern AIDS Coalition COMPASS Coordinating Center

530 Beacon Parkway West, Suite 503
Birmingham, AL 35209
  • Torrie Shepard

    Torrie Shepard

    Media Coordinator
  • De’Ashia Lee

    De’Ashia Lee

    COMPASS Program Manager
  • Dafina Ward, JD

    Dafina Ward, JD

    Executive Director
  • Mardrequs Harris

    Mardrequs Harris

    Director, Community Investments
  • Gina Brown, RSW

    Gina Brown, RSW

    Community Engagement Manager
  • Duke University Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research

    Duke University Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research

    Duke University Center for Health Policy and Inequalities Research
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