Metro TeenAIDS (MTA) was a nonprofit organization based in Washington, DC, in operation from 1988 to 2015. MTA addressed the severe HIV/AIDS epidemic in the National Capital region [1] [2] [3] by focusing on the needs of children and youth. For more than 25 years, MTA provided a wide variety of HIV prevention services to youth, as well as services for youth affected by HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia and the surrounding area. [4]
Metro TeenAIDS (MTA) was founded in 1988 by a group of doctors at Children's National Medical Center who called for a community-based response, as well as a medical response, to the HIV epidemic. They formed the Washington Area Consortium on HIV/AIDS In Youth (WACHIVIY), and began offering HIV prevention education services to District youth in 1989 under the leadership of Dr. Lawrence (Larry) D'Angelo, Director of the Burgess Clinic at Children's National Medical Center. [5] WACHIVIY began doing business as Metro TeenAIDS in 1992, changing its name in order to better reflect its client base.
In 1990, after the death of Ryan White, Metro TeenAIDS established the Ryan White Youth Service Awards, "to recognize notable contributions in the fight against adolescent HIV/AIDS." In 1997, Second Lady of the United States Tipper Gore joined MTA on World AIDS Day to present the award to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala. [6]
In 1993, Metro TeenAIDS worked with several young people from local DC high schools to help start what became the biggest HIV conference focused exclusively on young people – the Ryan White National Conference on HIV and AIDS. [7] [8]
In 1995, MTA's annual budget was $300,000 and 25% of that budget came from the DC Department of Health. [9] In 1997, when MTA expanded its programs to the Maryland and Virginia suburbs, its annual budget was around $1 million and it had a staff of 15 paid adults. [10] From 2003 to 2012, MTA experienced rapid growth: from revenue of $804,000 in FY 2003 to $3.7 million in FY 2013. [11]
In 2007, the Nonprofit Roundtable of Greater Washington featured MTA in its report called "Beyond Charity: Recognizing Return on Investment". [12]
In 2011, Metro TeenAIDS acquired the programs and other assets of Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care (PAHC). PAHC had provided comprehensive psychosocial services, including individual and group therapy, grief counseling, educational enrichment, social, cultural and recreational activities, mentoring and parental support to children of HIV positive parents regardless of their own HIV status. MTA absorbed their clients and physical location, providing services to their youth so that there was no gap in their access to care. [13] The following year, MTA formalized this support with federal funding for its STABLE Families program, helping to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS on families. [14] [15] [16]
During the 2012 International AIDS Conference, MTA was featured in the opening of the conference. Additionally, MTA was chosen for a site visit by Michel Sidibé, the Executive Director of UNAIDS, the Joint United National Programme on HIV/AIDS, and Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations as an exemplary HIV/AIDS program for young people and families. While at MTA, Sidibé met with MTA Executive Director Adam Tenner, MTA staff, and youth peer educators. [17]
In 2012, MTA presented Representative Nancy Pelosi, D-CA and Speaker of the House, with the inaugural Pelosi Leadership Award to honor her efforts to combat HIV/AIDS. [18]
MTA was featured on the Discovery Channel's 2012 documentary HIV/AIDS: America's Divide, which featured front-line AIDS organizations and the epidemic's impact on people of color. [19]
MTA's approach to advocacy was highlighted in an in-depth case study in the book Cases in Innovative Nonprofits: Organizations that Make a Difference. The authors describe MTA's programmatic expansion in the 2000s from strict service provision to include local and national advocacy. [20] By adding an advocacy component to the organization's programs, MTA educated policymakers about the needs of youth with respect to HIV/AIDS, keeping youth on the agenda and helping to ensure funding for dedicated youth programs and services in an environment that often focuses on the needs of adults.[ citation needed ]
Like many other AIDS service organizations, MTA offered a wide range of programs, including peer education; youth leadership development; HIV/STI/pregnancy testing and referrals; evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education in schools; and a capacity building program to help other youth-serving professionals offer culturally competent youth services. What set MTA apart from many AIDS service organizations was its commitment to advocacy work and policy change to improve the lives of young people into the future. [21]
In 2005, in an effort to address HIV/AIDS and adolescent sexual and reproductive health from a system level, MTA began developing an advocacy program to educate City Council members and others about policies that would lead to positive health outcomes for youth.[ citation needed ]
In 2007, MTA and the MTA-led DC Healthy Youth Coalition (DCHYC) succeeded in getting the Health Learning Standards passed. [22] MTA and the DCHYC used a grassroots approach to achieve this goal, including multiple stakeholders in discussions and advocacy efforts. [23] The Health Learning Standards set benchmarks to begin to assess student health knowledge, and MTA Executive Director, Adam Tenner, helped to draft the education standards. [24] He hoped that future curricula would weave HIV/AIDS into multiple disciplines rather than isolating discussion of HIV to health or science classes. [24]
In 2010, MTA was instrumental in getting the City Council to pass the Healthy Schools Act (HSA). The HSA mandated that students in DC public schools and public charter schools receive at least 15 minutes of health education per week until 2014, at which point the minimum would increase to 75 minutes per week. [25] In addition, schools were obligated to report annually on health learning standards and progress in meeting these standards. These policy changes were achieved after five years of intensive consensus-building around the importance of health education and services for DC's youth, and were a response to data indicating that DC youth continue to have poorer health outcomes than their peers nationally. [26] [27] Because schools did not have the health education staff in place to meet the requirements of the HSA, MTA began teaching an extensive health education curriculum in schools and training teachers to assume the responsibility of teaching these classes in the future.[ citation needed ]
As part of the Healthy Schools Act of 2010, the City Council approved a measure mandating the inclusion of health education questions on the DC Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS), the standardized test administered to public school and charter school students each spring. When health questions appeared on the Comprehensive Assessment System (DC-CAS) standardized test for 5th and 8th graders in 2012, [28] in part due to years of advocacy by MTA and others, DC became the first jurisdiction in the country to systematically monitor the quality of health education across the city. As a result, the quality of health education across the District could be measured, creating an incentive for schools to continue improving their health education program and keeping health education on the city's agenda.[ citation needed ]
As mentioned above, MTA's revenue grew from $804,000 in FY 2003 to $3.7 million in FY 2013. [29] Existing programs expanded and new program areas and staff were added. Although the organization experienced unprecedented growth in this period, changes in the local funding environment, as well as projected changes in the national funding landscape due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, made it difficult for the organization's leadership to envision sustaining its budget and scope of programming when they looked more than two years into the future.[ citation needed ]
MTA's Board of Directors and Executive Director determined that the best course of action to continue MTA's programs into the future was to join forces with a Federally Qualified Health Center that would be able to bill Medicaid and insurance for services and that would provide seamless integration of HIV prevention and treatment services for DC youth. In order to avoid closing suddenly and potentially leaving clients stranded, as well as to ensure the long-term viability of its programming, MTA aligned with Whitman-Walker Health in February 2015. [4] [30] AIDS United commissioned a report on MTA's deliberative process entitled "Is It Time to Close?". This report was designed to help other AIDS service organizations make decisions about future sustainability.[ citation needed ]
MTA's mission and vision statements served as guides for Metro TeenAIDS' leadership and staff during the transition.
Mission Statement: Metro TeenAIDS (MTA) is a community health organization dedicated to partnering with young people to end HIV/AIDS. Through education, support and advocacy, MTA works to prevent the transmission of HIV, promote informed decision making and improve the quality of life for all young people, especially those living with or impacted by HIV/AIDS.
Vision Statement: Metro TeenAIDS envisions an HIV/AIDS-free generation where young people thrive as healthy and safe members of a community free of stigma and barriers - eliminating the need for Metro TeenAIDS.
The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a provider of programs and services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people. The organization's work spans four categories, including health, social services, housing, and leadership and advocacy. The center is the largest facility in the world providing services to LGBT people.
Dance4life is an international youth initiative to raise awareness and promote prevention of HIV/AIDS.
Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) is a sex education instruction method based on a curriculum that aims to give students the knowledge, attitudes, skills, and values to make appropriate and healthy choices in their sexual lives. The intention is that this understanding will prevent students from contracting sexually transmitted infections, such as HIV and HPV. CSE is also designed with the intention of reducing unplanned and unwanted pregnancies, as well as lowering rates of domestic and sexual violence, thus contributing to a healthier society, both physically and mentally.
Philadelphia FIGHT (FIGHT) is a Philadelphia AIDS service organization that provides primary care, consumer education, advocacy and research. FIGHT was formed as a partnership of individuals living with HIV & AIDS and clinicians.
Cheryl Ann Spector was a well-known gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender activist who lived in Arlington, Virginia.
Whitman-Walker Health (WWH), formerly Whitman-Walker Clinic, is a non-profit community health center in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area with a special expertise in HIV/AIDS healthcare and LGBT healthcare. Chartered as an affirming health center for the gay and lesbian community in 1978, Whitman-Walker was one of the first responders to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in D.C. and became a leader in HIV/AIDS education, prevention, diagnosis and treatment. In recent years, Whitman-Walker has expanded its services to include primary healthcare services, a stronger focus on queer women's care and youth services.
The United States established diplomatic relations with Malawi in 1964 after Malawi gained independence from the United Kingdom. Malawi's transition from a one-party state to a multi-party democracy significantly strengthened the already cordial U.S. relationship with Malawi. Significant numbers of Malawians study in the United States. The United States has an active Peace Corps program, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Department of Health and Human Services, and an Agency for International Development (USAID) mission in Malawi. Both countries have a common history and English language, as they were part of the British Empire.
NMAC, formerly known as the National Minority AIDS Council, works for health equity and racial justice to end the HIV epidemic in America. The nonprofit organization, located in Washington, D.C. was founded in 1987. NMAC represents over 3,000 community and faith-based organizations across the US. The agency advances its mission by providing minority and minority-serving faith and community based organizations with capacity building assistance programs, online and classroom-based trainings, printed and electronic resources, grassroots organization and political advocacy. These activities improve the delivery of HIV/AIDS services, helping to mitigate the impact of HIV/AIDS in underserved and marginalized communities.
Population Action International (PAI) is an international, non-governmental organization that uses research and advocacy to improve global access to family planning and reproductive health care. Its mission is to "ensure that every person has the right and access to sexual and reproductive health, so that humanity and the natural environment can exist in balance with fewer people living in poverty". PAI's headquarters is in Washington, D.C.
Like other countries worldwide, HIV/AIDS is present in Ghana. As of 2014, an estimated 150,000 people infected with the virus. HIV prevalence is at 1.37 percent in 2014 and is highest in the Eastern Region of Ghana and lowest in the northern regions of the country. In response to the epidemic, the government has established the Ghana AIDS Commission which coordinates efforts amongst NGO's, international organizations and other parties to support the education about and treatment of aids throughout Ghana and alleviating HIV/AIDS issues in Ghana.
HIV/AIDS in Lesotho constitutes a very serious threat to Basotho and to Lesotho's economic development. Since its initial detection in 1986, HIV/AIDS has spread at alarming rates in Lesotho. In 2000, King Letsie III declared HIV/AIDS a natural disaster. According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) in 2016, Lesotho's adult prevalence rate of 25% is the second highest in the world, following Eswatini.
Cases of HIV/AIDS in Peru are considered to have reached the level of a concentrated epidemic.
Douglas Bernard Kirby was senior research scientist for ETR Associates in Scotts Valley, California, and one of the world’s leading experts on the effectiveness of school and community programs in the reduction of adolescent sexual risk-taking behaviors. In recent years he had also undertaken research and analysis on the impact of HIV/AIDS prevention programs in Uganda under the auspices of the World Health Organization, USAID, and other organizations.
The Population and Community Development Association (PDA) is a non-governmental organization in Thailand. Its goal is to reduce poverty through both development initiatives and family planning programs. Originally called the Community-Based Family Planning Service, it was founded by Mechai Viravaidya in 1974. In the early 1970s, Viravaidya was the Minister of Industry but became frustrated with the government's inability to implement a national family planning policy. In his work with the government, he identified a direct correlation between Thailand's poverty and population growth. His immediate concern was the high population growth rate of 3.2%, which equated to approximately seven children per family. The population growth rate was an increasing concern for Thailand and Mechai Viravaidya because high growth rates restricted Thailand's ability to provide for its entire population and improve living conditions. By 2011, Thailand's population growth rate was only 0.566%. A sharp reduction in poverty has followed upon the reduction in family size, a reduction which can in significant part be attributed to the influence and programs of the PDA.
Stephen Chibuikem Chukwumah is a Nigerian born Advocate and Strategist with extensive background in Youth Leadership and Advocacy, Policy, Movement Building, and Fund Raising. He is a public speaker and a former fellow of the faculty of Law, University of York, England. Stephen Chukwumah had a five year career as a Lead Division Coordinator at the International Monetary Fund in Washington D.C and is currently a Policy Advocate at the Council for Global Equality. He is from Ebenebe in Awka North LGA, Anambra state, Nigeria.
John Chittick was a youth HIV/AIDS specialist known for his series of Global AIDS Walks to fight the spread of HIV by educating youth. He worked in over 85 countries providing outreach to young people at the grassroots level.
Jean J. Schensul is a medical anthropologist and senior scientist at The Institute for Community Research, in Hartford, Connecticut. Dr. Schensul is most notable for her research on HIV/AIDS prevention and other health-related research in the United States, as well as her extensive writing on ethnographic research methods. She has made notable contributions to the field of applied anthropology, with her work on structural interventions to health disparities leading to the development of new organizations, community research partnerships, and community/university associations. Schensul’s work has been dedicated to community-based research on topics such as senior health, education, and substance abuse, among others.
Ruby Corado is an activist who founded Casa Ruby, a bilingual, multicultural LGBT organization in Washington, D.C. Established in 2012, Casa Ruby identifies its mission as "to create success life stories among Transgender, Genderqueer, and Gender Non-conforming Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual people." In July 2022, Corado was accused of mismanagement of Casa Ruby, which forced the organization to cease operations.
Youth in the Dominican Republic constitutes just over 30% of the total population. The Dominican Republic's population at roughly eleven million people has grown tremendously with the help of the youth population. In 1960, the youth population was at 3.3 million, and by 2008, it had reached 9.5 million, with two thirds of them in urban areas of the country.
Reach A Hand, Uganda (RAHU) is a youth serving nonprofit organisation based in Uganda that focuses on youth empowerment programs with an emphasis on, Sexual Reproductive Health Rights (SRHR) of young people between the ages of 12–24 years including HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention. RAHU works with the goal of increasing access to information and services relating to SRHR for young people so as to empower them live healthy, focused and productive lives. Reach A Hand Uganda efforts are timely to make a contribution to ensuring that every young person in Uganda can access accurate information to aid and direct them in taking that crucial life decision regarding their life skills and development, behavior change communication and sexual reproductive health and rights.
{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location (link)