Ending the HIV stigma in Alabama: How a Montgomery nonprofit doubled its reach since 2019
When Shakita Jones started the Central Alabama Alliance and Resource and Advocacy Center in 2010, she wanted to bring awareness to HIV and prevent the spread of the virus. As her work gained recognition, she began to focus more on ending the stigma around HIV.
Through that lens — and because nearly half of all U.S. HIV cases are in the South — Jones has been able to build up her nonprofit rapidly in recent years.
In 2019, the Montgomery Advertiser named her a Community Hero for patient advocacy work, and since then, her organization has more than doubled in size. She hired three full-time employees and a contractor, moved into a bigger office, received numerous national grants and continued to spread her message throughout the region.
Here’s how CAARAC charted its path:
Support from Gilead
The first step to really getting the organization off the ground, Jones said, was partnering with the Gilead COMPASS Initiative, a part of the biopharmaceutical company Gilead Sciences, Inc. that supports organizations working to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the South.
CAARAC received its first Gilead grant in 2018 when Jones was a one-woman show. The foundation went on to award CAARAC four more grants in the following years.
“It's been a challenge being a small organization and not being able to have the resources to serve,” Jones said. “They gave us a capacity.”
With the heft of a billion-dollar company’s service organization behind it, CAARAC was able to land itself in more nationwide conversations around chronic health disparities and HIV awareness.
In 2021, Grammy-winning rapper Lil Nas X even added CAARAC to a list of organizations he asked fans to donate toward. That shout out directly brought in almost $50,000, and other donors from across the country made annual pledges.
New national research involvement
Despite medical advancements in the way of HIV treatment and prevention, the epidemic continues to disproportionately impact residents in the South, especially Black heterosexual women.
This fact brought groups like the HIV Prevention Trials Network to the South for research, seeking to better understand how the breakdown in HIV education and treatment accessibility is happening.
When the HIV Prevention Trials Network began looking for a group in Alabama to conduct a study on the prevalence of the virus in Black men last year, it found CAARAC.
Jones’ nonprofit became a paid contractor for the network with unrestricted funding to complete the research.
“I always say all money ain't good money. If I'm going to get resources, and it's really going to be dictated on how the funder wants it done rather than what the needs are in the community, I usually won't take it,” Jones said. “That's probably why it took us so long to grow.”
She said this was good money.
Another part of the network’s study revolving around building a local coalition was initially assigned to a different Montgomery organization, one that later closed due to financial struggles. The network gave that job to CAARAC too.
“I think the most important part about this is that they won't be funding us one day, but one day, we will still have the foundation that they have assisted us with to keep going,” Jones said. “So right now, my job is to figure out how to keep going.”
What’s next
Moving forward, Jones hopes to get additional funding from sources like the Alabama Department of Public Health and continue creating spaces for Alabamians to talk about sexual health.
CAARAC’s next string of events will be June 12 through June 18 in celebration of Pride Month. A schedule can be found on CAARAC’s website and social media pages.
Hadley Hitson covers the rural South for the Montgomery Advertiser and Report for America. She can be reached at hhitson@gannett.com. To support her work, subscribe to the Advertiser or donate to Report for America.
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Local HIV resource and advocacy center takes part in national research
