Florida: $75,000 Grant Bolsters AIDS Program

Thanks to a $75,000 grant from the Blue Foundation for a Healthy Florida, a Palm Beach County program that keeps HIV/AIDS patients on their medications and in regular care will be able to offset budget reductions that required it to make some service cuts. The money from the philanthropic affiliate of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Florida is urgently needed, said Yolette Bonnet, CEO of the county's Comprehensive AIDS Program (CAP).

"Every once in a while you get a ray of sunshine," Bonnet said of CAP receiving the foundation grant. "We're grateful and honored that we got this funding."

However, more help is needed, Bonnet noted. "We still have a very large gap," she said.

CAP was forced to pare down its client roster last fall after the Health Care District of Palm Beach County eliminated its annual grant of $400,000 to the group. "We used to have over 3,000 individuals in case management. It's probably going to be 2,500 this year," said Bonnet.

The Blue Foundation gave CAP its "award of distinction" for addressing local health disparities.

Back to other news for January 2010