Public HIV Testing Promoted By AmeriCorps
The concept of taking control of your own health may be a massive part of the National AIDS Fund AmeriCorps program. It was the first national AmeriCorps Program focused solely on HIV/AIDS. The program grew out of President Clinton’s initiative to encourage young individuals to serve communities in exchange for instructional awards and a small living stipend. The program is funded through a distinctive partnership between the federally funded Corporation for National and Community Service and private supporters including the MetLife Foundation.
Members offer community-based mostly HIV-prevention education, HIV testing and counseling, and quality-of-life assistance to folks living with HIV/AIDS. This contribution directly supports the AIDS service infrastructure-ensuring that people and families living with HIV/AIDS get critical services. By providing HIV prevention and care services, members (most of whom are young folks) serve as powerful peer educators, administer HIV counseling and testing, and give case management and supportive services. Each member engages in what the academicians decision “service learning” or “experiential learning”-activities that usually foster a lifetime of commitment to community service.
During the 2005-2006 program year, six cities host AmeriCorps members at the following service sites:
Charlotte, North Carolina,
Chicago, Illinois,
Detroit, Michigan,
Indianapolis, Indiana,
Tulsa, Oklahoma,
Washington, D.C.
Each year, the AmeriCorps groups work with community mobilization efforts in these six cities to market National HIV Testing Day. Because it’s so necessary to each prevention and treatment to know your HIV standing, organizations like the National Association of Folks With AIDS (NAPWA), the Centers for Disease Management and Prevention (CDC) and local health departments join forces with native health advocates and AmeriCorps members to push the testing campaign. Every year, the day is promoted as a method of obtaining folks who are in danger of HIV infection to be told concerning their HIV status.
It’s estimated that approximately 250,000 Americans live with HIV however are unaware of it. The campaign for this year shares the message “Take the Take a look at, Take Management” with a various group of folks and communities nationwide.
