HIV/AIDS programs get $20K

7/2/2003

A $20,000 grant for HIV/AIDS education programs at two central-city organizations was approved yesterday by the Lucas County commissioners.

Commissioner Tina Skeldon Wozniak pushed for the federal money to be used at the Frederick Douglass Community Center, 1001 Indiana Ave., and the Neighborhood Health Association, 905 Nebraska Ave.

She said the money will be used to pay for a part-time employee who will conduct education programs on behalf of Planned Parenthood of Northwest Ohio.

“We're trying to respond and we're trying to promote awareness,” Ms. Wozniak said.

Bren Blaine, executive director of Planned Parenthood, said HIV and AIDS, a disease that attacks the body's immune system, affects all people.

“The stereotypes are starting to melt because you're getting into populations that have nothing to do with gay men,” he said.

According to statistics from the Ohio Department of Health, by the end of March there were 678 people in Lucas County living with HIV or AIDS.

In 2001, state statistics showed white men comprise the largest part of that group at 45.1 percent. Black men make up 25.3 percent of those infected, black women, 12.9 percent, and white women, 9.2 percent. Other ethnic groups make up the rest of those infected.