What is the Washington AIDS Partnership?

The Washington AIDS Partnership, an initiative of the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, is the largest private funder of HIV/AIDS prevention and care services in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region, awarding over $1 million annually. With a staff of two and a twenty-two member advisory committee of philanthropic, scientific, and community leaders to guide our work, the Partnership invests resources in local organizations to improve HIV/AIDS prevention 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 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 the National AIDS Fund (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 D.C.’s community to become one of National AIDS Fund'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 a project of Washington Grantmakers in 1993. Since 1989, the Partnership has granted over $16 million, including close to 2 million dollars raised from national sources to match local contributions. Over 140 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. The Partnership operates under the direction of J. Channing Wickham and Program Manager, Jennifer Jue.

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Why is there a need for HIV/AIDS awareness and funding in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region?

The District of Columbia ranks first in the country in terms of AIDS cases per capita.

HIV/AIDS is one of the most urgent health problems facing the United States and the Washington, D.C. metropolitan region. As of According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 16,962 AIDS cases have been reported in the District of Columbia and over 30,000 AIDS cases in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area.¹ Northern Virginia accounts for 28% of living HIV/AIDS cases in Virginia² and Montgomery and Prince George’s counties have 26.1% of living cases in Maryland.³  

Communities of color and women are increasingly at risk for HIV/AIDS, especially in the District which has been disproportionately impacted by the epidemic. From 2001-2006, African Americans accounted for 84.3% of HIV/AIDS cases while only accounting for 55.4% of the D.C. population.⁴ African American women represent 90% of all new female HIV cases and 93% of all female living AIDS cases.⁵ Of newly reported HIV cases, the leading modes of transmission are heterosexual contact (37.4%), men who have sex with men (25.8%), and injection drug use (13.2%).⁶ This highlights the change from primarily a male disease to increasing numbers of women living with HIV/AIDS.  

Another area of concern is HIV/AIDS among youth. Approximately 20% of newly diagnosed adult HIV cases occurred among ages 13-29 and this number could be larger as District residents are typically tested and diagnosed later in their disease progression then reported nationally.⁷ D.C.’s HIV/AIDS Administration reports that young men who have sex with men ages 13 to 24, especially among young men of color, experienced a 900% increase in reported HIV infection since 2001.⁸  

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1 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report. 2005; 17: 28-33.
2 VA HIV/AIDS Surveillance Quarterly Report. Second Quarter 2006: 5.

3 Maryland HIV/AIDS Epidemiological Profile. December 2005. 
4 District of Columbia HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report. 2007: 19.

5 District of Columbia HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report. 2007: 2.

6 District of Columbia HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report. 2007: 21.

7 District of Columbia HIV/AIDS Epidemiology Annual Report 2007. 2007: 2, 21.  

8 District of Columbia. Youth and HIV Prevention Plan 2007-2010. June 27, 2007: 6.