On Feb. 7—National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day—AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC) announced its first-ever Racial Equity Action Plan.
This three-year plan intends to heal past harms and achieve racial equity both within AFC and in AFC's spheres of influence. It is both necessary and historic as AFC works to end two epidemics that disproportionately impact Black communities.
Public health data from 2020 showed Chicago's Black community makes up nearly 60% of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses, despite representing just 30% of the city's population. We also know that homelessness disproportionately affects the Black population in Chicago as over 70% of people experiencing homelessness are Black. These statistics reflect systemic racism, which prevents Black residents from having equitable access to healthcare, housing, employment and other needed services.
According to the plan, AFC and Center for Housing & Health (CHH) will aim to foster an intentional organizational culture of inclusion and belonging for all staff and board members (including revised human-resources policies); embed racial equity within our programs, services and policy priorities, while remaining transparent and honest about our progress toward achieving racial equity; and make racial equity a facet of all administrative and organizational practices.
The full plan is at www.aidschicago.org/resources/content/1/5/9/9/documents/afc-re-plan-final-12-21-21-1.pdf .
