Three V.I. community organizations will receive $360,000 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, V.I. Delegate-to-Congress Donna Christian-Christensen announced Friday.
The grant, which is part of the HIV Community-Based Prevention Project for Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, will be shared as follows: the V.I. Community AIDS Research and Education, Inc., will receive $130,000; the American Red Cross will get $90,000; and the Village-V.I. Partners in Recovery has been given $140,000.
"This funding is very important for these groups because to a large extent our community is still in denial about the severity of the HIV/AIDS crisis in the territory," Christensen said. "It is critical that we provide residents with the resources to face the inevitable challenges that this disease will bring in the years to come."
The community-based prevention project is sponsored by the National Center for HIV Prevention.