Black AIDS Group Denied Funding

An Atlanta AIDS organization serving minorities did not receive as much funding as it requested from the federal government for the second consecutive year. While grant administrators argued the group's application was flawed, leaders of National AIDS Education & Services for Minorities (NAESM) charged racism may be to blame. NAESM received slightly more than $89,000 in grants under the Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Resources Emergency (CARE) Act for 2001. Delores Rollins, NAESM's deputy director, said that amount is significantly lower than what the group requested during the application process late last year.

Rollins said NAESM requested money to fund positions for a volunteer coordinator and also for someone to distribute mass transit tokens to clients unable to pay for transportation. But Fulton County administrator Jeff Cheek, who has oversight over Ryan White funding in the Atlanta area, said NAESM was denied money only because the group's grant application was not sufficient. "Their application was the total reason there was not other consideration. The review committee reviewed it and said based on the application they could not see funding [NAESM]," said Cheek. "The review committee's comments were that they were not able to see what it was that they wanted to do with the money. It was clear what they were asking for, but it wasn't clear what the impact would be or how clients would benefit from that," Cheek said.

While NAESM had received Ryan White grants every year since 1993, Rollins said last year was the first year the group only received money from the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) pool of money. CBC declared a state of emergency in the epidemic among minorities and last year began distributing funds under Ryan White. "Racism is the reality," said Rollins. NAESM filed a grievance with the federal Health Resources and Services Administration alleging the application process was not properly followed. Cheek said the committee that reviewed the grievance found nothing improper with the application process. NAESM has served more than 70 clients this year, Rollins said.

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