Unifying for Impact

Leaders' Letter

2022 was a pivotal year for AFC as we launched our Race Equity Action Plan and new Strategic Plan, Unifying for Impact. The interwoven plans drive AFC's mission to help the HIV community thrive in Illinois and beyond. Four major priorities will guide AFC's work over the three-year strategic plan: Ending the HIV Epidemic, Teaming Up for Justice and Change, Uniting to End Homelessness and Prioritizing Racial Equity. AFC addresses race equity and ending homelessness in a bolder way than ever before within its new strategic plan, recognizing racism is a public health issue and that housing is health care!

With gratitude,

John Peller, President and CEO &
Geoffrey Brown, Board Chair

John Peller, President and CEO &
Geoffrey Brown, Board Chair

Ending the HIV Epidemic

Strategic Plan Priority 1

As part of AFC's work to end the HIV epidemic and get to zero new cases of HIV, AFC provides critical services to individuals in Chicago and is leading organizations throughout the state to align with the Getting to Zero Illinois plan.

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AFC served 8,276 individuals through case management, housing, emergency financial assistance and food support.

Services include, but are not limited to, connections to housing, medical care, transportation and behavioral health support.

AFC is grateful to its more than 200 partners who are crucial to our mission each year. Please see a full listing of the organizations here.

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AFC provided individual case management to 6,887 clients through both housing and care programs and specifically HIV care case management to 6,370 individuals to help them achieve optimal health.

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898 clients received home or community visits within our Ryan White program - a 10% increase over 2021.

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Virally Suppressed

AFC's case management program continues to address the unmet health needs of persons living with HIV and AIDS. 86% of people in AFC's Ryan White case management program are virally suppressed, about a 1% increase since the start of 2022. Viral suppression supports one's individual and community health, as someone who is virally suppressed is healthier and cannot pass HIV sexually to their partners - this is known as U=U or Undetectable=Untransmittable.

The HIV Resource HUB

The HIV Resource HUB, aย partnership between AFC and Center on Halsted, provides comprehensive information and direct connections to HIV services for people living with and vulnerable to HIV, including HIV testing and PrEP support, mental health counseling, medical transportation, primary care, housing navigation and more.

$403,502

The HIV Resource HUB dispensed a total of $403,502 in payments in emergency eviction prevention payments, emergency utility payments and other financial assistance to 551 individuals.

10%

The HIV Resource Hub served 10% more people living with and vulnerable to HIV.

1-844-HUB-4040

Navigating Healthcare Sucks!

AFC, in partnership with Center on Halsted, launched a marketing campaign to promote the HIV Resource HUB on mass transit on the South and West sides to ensure that individuals have a centralized website and phone number to access services.

Getting to Zero Illinois Data Dashboard

AFC updated and refreshed the GTZ-IL data dashboard, a free data tool that allows residents across the state to track our progress to get to zero by 2030.

Women Evolving Program

Corrections Case Management

AFC's Women Evolving program served 42 individuals and Corrections Case Management served 246 people continuing AFC's work to eliminate barriers for returning citizens from jail or prison living with HIV and AIDS by providing key resources normally out of reach.

Read more on AFC's blog about how we're ending the HIV epidemic

Let's talk PrEP: an interview with Dr. Terrance Weeden

By Omar Martรญnez Gonzรกlez

GTZ-IL dashboard update and relaunch

By Tyline Burgess

Navigating healthcare sucks! How AFC and Center on Halsted are working to change that with the #HIVhub

By D. D'Ontace Keyes

AFC awards $8.82 million in Ryan White grants to 40 organizations to provide HIV-related care and services

By D. D'Ontace Keyes

Read more on AFC's blog about how we're ending the HIV epidemic

Let's talk PrEP: an interview with Dr. Terrance Weeden

By Omar Martรญnez Gonzรกlez

GTZ-IL dashboard update and relaunch

By Tyline Burgess

Navigating healthcare sucks! How AFC and Center on Halsted are working to change that with the #HIVhub

By D. D'Ontace Keyes

AFC awards $8.82 million in Ryan White grants to 40 organizations to provide HIV-related care and services

By D. D'Ontace Keyes

Uniting to End Homelessness

Strategic Plan Priority 2

As a people-first organization, AFC works with communities, partners and health systems to ensure all Chicagoans have access to a safe and affordable home.โ€ฏ Housing is a fundamental part of keeping someone healthy and ending the HIV epidemic. Housing is health care!

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1,678 individuals had a place to call home because of AFC's housing programs.

AFC is grateful to its more than 20 housing partners for their dedication to ending homelessness. Please see a full listing of the organizations here.

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713 individuals received housing with additional intensive supportive services to help them to thrive as they achieve housing stability.

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1,670 individuals had a place to call home because of AFC's housing programs.

AFC is grateful to its more than 20 housing partners for their dedication to ending homelessness. Please see a full listing of the organizations here.

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713 individuals received housing with additional intensive supportive services to help them to thrive as they achieve housing stability.

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Virally Suppressed

Nearly 75% of clients in AFC's housing programs are virally suppressed, an increase of 2% since start of 2022. Viral suppression supports one's individual and community health, as someone who is virally suppressed is healthier and cannot pass HIV sexually to their partners - this is known as U=U or Undetectable=Untransmittable.

Emergency Eviction Prevention

Over 600 households were able to remain in their homes due to the $1 million paid through emergency financial assistance via AFC and the HIV Resource Hub.

HIV-Dedicated Housing Units

185 Homes Added

To increase the number of units dedicated to people experiencing homelessness and living with HIV across Chicagoland, AFC and our partners advocated for increased funding for housing units. An additional 185 homes were added to the system.

Read more on AFC's blog about how we're ending homelessness

Housing is an essential part of healthcare

By Sacha Urban

AFC honors the life and legacy of Clinton Latimore

By Diego Roman

LGBTQ+ youth share their DCFS experiences at Pride Action Tank Youth Summit

By David Fischer

Housing is an essential part of healthcare

By Sacha Urban

AFC honors the life and legacy of Clinton Latimore

By Diego Roman

LGBTQ+ youth share their DCFS experiences at Pride Action Tank Youth Summit

By David Fischer

Prioritizing Racial Equity

Strategic Plan Priority 3

AFC prioritizes the work of racial equity to dismantle systems of oppression, racism and white supremacy in support of our common humanity. AFC does this by fostering an intentional organizational culture of inclusion and belonging for community, clients, staff and board members.

Race Equity Action Plan

AFC launched its first-ever Race Equity Action Plan, a three-year plan intended to heal past harms and achieve racial equity within AFC and the Center for Housing and Health (CHH)’s spheres of influence. The plan is both historic and necessary as AFC and CHH work to end two epidemics that disproportionately impact Black and Latino/a/e/x communities.

Increasing Funding for Black and Latino/a/e/x-led Partner Organizations

Increasing funding for Black and Latino/a/e/x-led partner organizations is critical to ending the HIV epidemic. AFC benchmarked funding to these vital community-based organizations at $2.2 million and is striving to increase that funding by at least 10% by June 30, 2023.

GTZ-IL Community Grant Program

AFC continued the GTZ-IL community grant program and awarded $200,000 to community-based organizations implementing strategies to end the HIV epidemic by 2030. The pool of grants will support goals and alignment with the statewide plan. Each organization will receive an award from $20,000-$40,000 in addition to workforce training and technical assistance. Six of the seven organizations that received funding are Black and Latino/a/e/x-led, which demonstrates GTZ-IL and AFC's commitment to racial equity. AFC staff supported grantees innovative programs that aligned with various GTZ-IL strategies and goals.

Funded organizations:

Connection to Care Learning Collaborative

AFC's Connection to Care Learning Collaborative launched, helping six healthย centers (three Black-led, one Latine-led and two white-led)ย increase LGBTQ cultural competency and provide additional HIV & sexually transmitted infection screening, treatment and prevention, including PrEP.

Learning Circle Collaborative

AFC hosted a fundraiser at L1 Retail Store in support of the Learning Circle Collaborative cohort (all Black and Latino/a/e/x-led HIV organizations) to raise funds and awareness of the agencies within the cohort and to support Black-owned businesses.

The event raised more than $10,000. All net proceeds donated directly to the organizations within the LCC cohort. See event photos here!

Equitable, Competitive, and Transparent Compensation

Part of AFC's commitment to racial equity involved an assessment of staff pay to determine if there are systemic differences by race and other dimensions. No disparities were identified but AFC's salaries were lower than the market rate. This year, AFC and CHH completed its current pay and compensation market survey and invested $1 million to increase AFC & CHH salaries to market rates.

AFC also improved equity among its staff by lowering health insurance costs. A zero premium plan is now available to lower-paid staff. Family coverage went down by 40-68%.

By providing all staff with equitable, competitive, and transparent compensation, including salary and benefits, AFC is one step closer to achieving its goal of racial equity.

Foundations of Racial Equity Training

To ensure all staff and board members have the same knowledge of terms and concepts related to racial equity and can put that knowledge into practice, AFC developed a series of racial equity trainings in collaboration with consultants. The trainings will be rolled out throughout 2022 and 2023 and updated each year.

Board & Staff Race Equity Action Plan Implementation Committee

AFC launched its first ever joint Board and Staff Race Equity Action Plan Implementation Committee. The creation of this committee will help to ensure the effective implementation of AFC's Race Equity Action Plan and is a step towards power-sharing between board members and staff.

AFC Board Demographics

Demographics based on 29 boardย members.

Race/Ethnicity

No Data Found

  • 62% of board members identified as Persons of Color and 38% as white
  • 14% of board members identified as Hispanic/Latino/a/x/e

AFC Staff Demographics

Demographics based on 143 AFC full and part time staff.

Gender Identity

No Data Found

Race/Ethnicity

No Data Found

LGBTQ Identity

No Data Found

Read more on AFC's Blog about how improving racial equity

โ€œWe Stayed Open.โ€ Project Vida utilizes GTZ-IL's Community Grant to support Black Gay, Bisexual men in the face of a pandemic

By Indigo Quashie

GTZ-IL awards $200,000 in grants to support ending the HIV epidemic in Illinois

By D. D'Ontace Keyes

Led by all Black women, AFC's Care Team consistently goes above and beyond

By Livvie Avrick

Caprice Carthans believes transgender health care must be rooted in reality and healing

By Indigo Quashie

AFC announces first-ever Racial Equity Action Plan on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

By Bailey Williams

Read more on AFC's Blog about how improving racial equity

โ€œWe Stayed Open.โ€ Project Vida utilizes GTZ-IL's Community Grant to support Black Gay, Bisexual men in the face of a pandemic

By Indigo Quashie

GTZ-IL awards $200,000 in grants to support ending the HIV epidemic in Illinois

By D. D'Ontace Keyes

Led by all Black women, AFC's Care Team consistently goes above and beyond

By Livvie Avrick

Caprice Carthans believes transgender health care must be rooted in reality and healing

By Indigo Quashie

AFC announces first-ever Racial Equity Action Plan on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

By Bailey Williams

Teaming Up for Justice & Change

Strategic Plan Priority 4

AFC teams up for justice and change by mobilizing and developing communities of supporters and allies to raise up and sustain AFC's mission-driven work.

$10M in Statewide GTZ-IL Funding

In coalition with community-based partners and individuals from our priority communities, AFC successfully secured $10 million in the FY22 state budget for implementation of the statewide Getting to Zero Illinois initiative(GTZ-IL).

Virtual Springfield Advocacy Days

230 Individuals

More than 230 individuals advocated for laws and policies that support the HIV community through Virtual Springfield Advocacy Days.

Illinois Medicaid

Thanks to the advocacy of AFC and its partners, Illinois Medicaid is monitoring the quality of care, including the viral load, of recipients living with HIV. The goal of this work is to improve care for the over 15,000 people living with HIV in the Illinois Medicaid program (just under half of people living with HIV in Illinois).

Expanding Access to PrEP

While PrEP is incredibly effective, too few people who need it are taking it. AFC successfully led advocacy for state legislation (HB 4430) that expands access to PrEP by allowing pharmacists to dispense it, along with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP), which can prevent HIV infection after exposure. Governor Pritzker signed the bill into law on July 22, 2022.

AIDS Run & Walk Chicago

Team to End AIDS

More than 2,000 people participated in AFC's AIDS Run & Walk and Team to End AIDS raising awareness about HIV and more than $600,000 in net revenue for AFC and its CommunityDirect partners.

Show Us Your Narcan!

The Connection to Harm Reduction program partnered with the AFC's Communications team to show our support on International Overdose Awareness Day with the SHOW US YOUR NARCAN! campaign to encourage individuals to carry this lifesaving opioid overdose reversal drug.

Read more on AFC's Blog about how we're teaming up for justice and change

Governor Pritzker signs Medicaid Omnibus legislation that increases access and equity in Illinois' health care system

By Indigo Quashie

Trans advocate and community leader Elise Malary remembered, honored, and gone too soon

By Livvie Avrick

Legislation to Increase Critical Access to HIV Prevention Medications Passes with a House Vote of 72-30

By Indigo Quashie

IL General Assembly Leads Efforts to End the HIV Epidemic by Passing Landmark Legislation and $10 Million HIV Funding Increase

By Timothy Jackson

PAT's Co-Creating Futures 2021 summit report shares how BIPOC and LGBTQ+ leaders can be involved in public policy work

By Indigo Quashie

Client Demographics

Partner Network

Donors and Supporters