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Mission and History Learn more about the Partnership and its work by reading this report - A Fight We Can Win The Washington AIDS Partnership, an initiative of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, is the largest private funder of HIV/AIDS prevention, education, and advocacy services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, awarding over $1 million annually. With a staff of three and a twenty member advisory committee of funders, experts, and individuals living with HIV/AIDS to guide our work, the Partnership invests resources in local organizations to improve HIV/AIDS prevention, testing, and care services in the Washington, D.C. region. Activities include providing technical assistance to local organizations; facilitating local public policy initiatives to improve the HIV/AIDS system of prevention, testing, and care; and recruiting and mentoring a team of young people who commit to a year of full-time volunteer service at local HIV/AIDS agencies as AmeriCorps members. In 1987, a Ford Foundation study determined that the most effective private-sector response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic would come from the local level. This led to the creation of AIDS United (formally called National Community AIDS Partnership) to encourage local philanthropy to become involved in HIV/AIDS grantmaking by channeling matching dollars from national funders through local partnerships. Because the Washington metropolitan area was deeply affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the Ford Foundation invited DC’s community to become one of AIDS United's eight original sites. In 1988, the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation and 20 local funders joined in support of the Partnership as it began funding a wide range of HIV/AIDS prevention and care services. After five years of nurturing at the Meyer Foundation, the Partnership became an initiative of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers in 1993. Since 1989, the Partnership has granted over $21 million, including more than $2 million dollars raised from national sources to match local contributions. Over 150 organizations have benefited from grants awarded by the Partnership. Currently, over 30 major funders participate in the Partnership in addition to many small funders and individuals. HIV/AIDS and the Washington, D.C. Metropolitan Region HIV/AIDS is one of the most urgent health problems facing the United States and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20,660 AIDS diagnoses have been reported in D.C. and over 37,000 AIDS diagnoses in the metro region. In fact, at least 3.2% of D.C. residents are living with HIV/AIDS, surpassing the World Health Organization’s 1% threshold for a generalized epidemic. Communities of color and women are increasingly at risk for HIV/AIDS, especially in the District which has been disproportionately impacted by the epidemic. According to the District of Columbia HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Administration, African Americans accounted for 75% of HIV/AIDS cases while only accounting for 52% of the D.C. population. As for gender, the majority of HIV/AIDS cases are among men but women are increasingly becoming infected, accounting for 27% of those cases. African American women represent 91% of female HIV/AIDS cases. In fact, D.C. African American women were 14 times more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS than white women. Another affected population is youth. D.C.’s Department of Health estimates that 1 in every 100 D.C. youth has HIV/AIDS, and of those D.C. students who completed the 2007 Youth Risk Factor Behavioral Survey, more than 40% were sexually active. Among newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases, men who have sex with men (35%) and heterosexual contact (31%) were the primary modes of transition, followed by injection drug use (11%).