March 4, 2021 Legal Services Alabama (LSA) and AIDS Alabama team up to launch a series of trainings to increase HIV/AIDS awareness in the legal landscape of Alabama.
LSA and AIDS Alabama are one of nine the recipients to receive an American Bar Association (ABA) grant funded by the HIV Impact Project. The award is being allocated to expand education around HIV/AIDS and the law, so that attorneys around the state are better equipped to serve people living with the condition.
The program kicks off with a March Forth Towards Greater HIV/AIDS Awareness 101 training primer, with additional sessions being offered that dive deeper into the history and progress of the movement to eradicate HIV.
LSA attorneys will be the first to receive the trainings. The program will then be expanded and made available to private attorneys, judges and others working around legal aid initiatives.
Over 13,500 people were living with HIV/AIDS in Alabama in 2018, most of whom reside in rural areas with little access to comprehensive healthcare. Misinformation surrounding contraction and testing are large factors responsible for the approximately 600 new cases every year.
LSA and AIDS Alabama are committed to addressing this misinformation together.
AIDS Alabama has been committed to helping people living with HIV/AIDS in Alabama for over 30 years. We focus on housing, policy and advocacy, supportive services, HIV prevention and education, as well as free and confidential HIV testing. AIDS Alabama devotes its energy and resources statewide to helping people with HIV/AIDS live healthy, independent lives and works to prevent the spread of HIV.
AIDS Alabama provides over a half dozen different housing programs and options for our clients – from permanent residential housing to rental and utilities assistance, their motto is “Housing is Healthcare.”
AIDS Alabama also provides case management services to people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV) as well as mental health and substance abuse assistance. The organization hosts a number of support groups, including one in Spanish for our Latinx clients. In addition to providing testing for HIV, STIs, and Hepatitis, they also provide medical services including PrEP (prophylaxis HIV treatment) and PEP (HIV treatment). Currently, they are also offering rapid COVID testing free of charge to anyone in the community.
AIDS Alabama’s policy and advocacy work focuses primarily on Education for PLWHIV, Communication opportunities for PLWHIV (such as meeting with elected officials, letter writing campaigns, etc.), and Mobilization efforts such as HIV Awareness Day at the capitol in Montgomery.
Formed in 2004 after the merger of existing legal aid organizations in Alabama, LSA is the premiere resource for free, civil legal aid in the state. LSA has eight offices across Alabama that serve low-income resident in all 67 counties. LSA is the only non-profit law firm providing free civil legal assistance to low-income Alabamians and the only LSC-funded program in Alabama.
