COMMUNITY
As individuals and as organizations, you are vital partners in our County’s response to the HIV epidemic. Whether you have worked to address HIV for decades or are a new ally in these efforts, whether you are part of a small, community-based organization or a large institution, whether you work directly or indirectly in HIV prevention and care, we welcome and need your assistance to put this Ending the HIV Epidemic Plan into action and achieve its goals.
We need active participation from stakeholders across all sectors of our society and in communities across our County to harness and effectively deploy all of the tools now available to us. We invite you, as an individual or as part of an organization, to contemplate what actions you can commit to taking to help achieve the Strategy’s goals in your community.
You might identify one, a few, or many actions that you can take on from the suggestions below; every contribution to this collective work matters.
- Participate in community planning processes, whether it is the Los Angeles County Commission on HIV or other local coalitions and networks focused on the HIV response.
- Develop and foster partnerships in your community to increase awareness, support the prevention and treatment of HIV, or provide a comprehensive array of services.
- Engage with other community- and faith-based organizations to address the social issues that intersect with HIV such as racism, gender-based discrimination, and HIV stigma.
- Address the social determinants of health that drive the HIV epidemic including homelessness, substance use disorders, and mental health.
- Promote access to PrEP for those at risk of acquiring HIV and immediate and continued treatment for persons living with HIV.
- Provide lawmakers and policymakers with the latest scientific information regarding HIV acquisition and transmission risks.
- Serve as watchdogs for discrimination in health care coverage and health care services for people living with HIV.
- Support employment opportunities and employment training opportunities for people living with HIV and people at risk for HIV.
- Raise awareness about Federal and state anti-discrimination policies for persons living with HIV and provide technical assistance to community-based organizations.
For more information on the EHE Steering Committee, click here.
