HIV funding – Memphis Flyer

HIV infections continue to grow in Memphis, prompting a closer look at not only new diagnoses but the livelihood of those currently living with the virus.

Shelby County has historically had one of the highest new infection rates for HIV. The Shelby County Health Department posted a notice on its website in May saying it had noted an “alarming increase in newly diagnosed cases of HIV in our community.) Officials said the highest increase affected people aged 14 to 45, and was not “spread evenly throughout the county.”

As the virus is no longer considered a “death sentence” by professionals, strides are being made to ensure that those living with HIV are able to have an enhanced quality of life in all areas, including housing.

The city’s Division of Housing and Community Development presented its Fiscal Year 2025 (FY25) grants back in July to nonprofit organizations in Memphis. According to information from the department, this funding was granted via the HCD Strategic Community Investment Fund (SCIF).

Close to $5.5 million was awarded to these organizations for community-based projects and initiatives through June 30, 2025. These grant awards included the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG), HOME-Funded Tenant-Based Rental Assistance (HOME-TBRA), Neighborhood Partnership Grant (NPG), and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS/HIV (HOPWA)

HOPWA grants totaled $3,755,700 with organizations Friends For All receiving $1.7 million, Hope House Day Care Center Inc receiving close to $1.6 million, and Case Management Inc. receiving $449,400.

Lenox Warren, CEO of Hope House, said out of all their programs, housing has the most “immediate and huge” impact for families, and funding from the city will help increase the amount of people they’re able to help.

The organization opened in 1995 and started as a day care center for mothers living with HIV who needed childcare, Warren said.

“It has quickly evolved into so much more,” Warren said. “We’re now a full-service, wrap-around organization that includes a variety of services including our housing program.”

In addition to adding mental health, education, prevention and outreach services Hope House has added housing aid in hopes of “breaking down barriers that come to living a healthy life with HIV” Warren said.

Warren noted that while HIV is classified as a “chronic disease” as opposed to a “death sentence,” it can be more difficult to manage while living in poverty.

“If you don’t know where you’re going to send your kids the next day, where y’all are going to sleep that night, or even how you’re going to eat so you can take your medications, that’s a really hard thing to figure out how to keep yourself healthy, while also surviving day-to-day.”

Yolanda Fant, housing supervisor for Hope House, said they are currently serving 74 clients, with six of those clients being added as a result of the city’s funding.

“It takes them from not being secure in where they’re going to be able to take care of their family, to knowing that they have secure housing,” Fant said. “That also helps them to take their medication and helps with viral suppression.”

Viral suppression refers to reducing the levels of the virus in the body so that it isn’t spreadable. Warren said their viral suppression rate among the people who use their services is 13 percent higher than the rate across the city.

Hope House’s goal is to help more people and to increase the city’s viral suppression rate, and said the funding from the city helps them meet their goal. Warren said they can’t do this work alone and there hasn’t been enough funding, so partnering with the City of Memphis has been “huge” for them.

Warren said they are always seeking funding from other sources as there is always a need for these services. They’ve historically had “hundreds” of people on their waitlist for their housing program, with Fant saying she turns “at least three people away” a day. Warren reiterated that they plan to expand these services with the help of their HOPWA grant.

Tennessee leaders are responding to the recent news regarding HIV funding being cut in the state of Tennessee.

On January 19th, The Commercial Appeal reported that the state of Tennessee “is cutting funding for HIV prevention, detection, and treatment programs that are not affiliated with metro health departments as of May 31st.”

According to The Commercial Appeal, an email was obtained from the United Way of Greater Nashville which “told partner organizations there would be a change in the state’s HIV prevention program.”

A January 17th letter from Pamela Talley, medical director of the HIV/STD/viral hepatitis section of the Tennessee Department Health, stated that Tennessee has “provided HIV surveillance, testing, and prevention services through a CDC pass-through grant from the federal government.”

The letter also said that the state of Tennessee has determined “it is in the best interest of Tennesseans for the state to assume direct financial and managerial responsibility for these services.”

In the past, the CDC had awarded $10.10 million to health departments and organizations in Tennessee for HIV prevention and “care activities.” The CDC also projected in 2020 that Tennesseans living with HIV would face an average lifetime cost of $510,000.

AIDSVu, an online mapping tool by Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, reported that as of 2020, there were 6,283 people living with HIV in Shelby County, and 235 people were newly diagnosed. In Memphis, there were 6,589 people living with HIV, with 233 people being newly diagnosed.

In a statement released by the Tennessee Senate Democratic Caucus, House Democratic Caucus Chairman Rep. John Ray Clemmons of Nashville said, “The decision is the latest instance of the governor turning his back on vulnerable Tennesseans.

“The Lee administration’s unilateral decision to cut funding to HIV prevention, detection, and treatment programs is only the latest example of his alarming lack of concern for Tennesseans’ health and well-being,” Clemmons said. “It is difficult for those of us who have personally experienced a loved one suffering and ultimately dying from this horrible virus to view this decision as anything less than a heartless act and offensive — it’s beyond the pale.”

Clemmons also stated that “multiple programs that serve communities across this state will be directly impacted by this callous decision, leaving them scrambling for funding to provide much-needed healthcare services.”

In the same statement, state Senator London Lamar (D-Memphis) said, “The administration’s irresponsible decision to reject federal funding for community-based HIV/AIDS prevention endangers the lives of Tennesseans. Our state has made steady progress against this incurable disease thanks to these exact public health efforts.”

Lamar also tweeted, “There is NOTHING ‘pro-life’ that has come out of Tennessee lately. Complete abortion bans. Foster care system worst in country. DCS. Rape kits. Now HIV funding cut. When I think it can’t get worse, the state proves me otherwise. People are not safe here.”