Community-based and social service organizations are the backbone of the HIV response. Today, these organizations face significant challenges in sustaining the hard-fought progress achieved over the past several decades. HIV-related disparities are deepening, and the epidemic is increasingly concentrated in specific communities and regions. There is also an urgent need to address the social drivers of health.
In response, the Strengthening the Capacity and Resilience of U.S. HIV Organizations was created to provide nonprofit HIV organizations with funding that will enable them to build resilience, innovate, and lead the next phase of the HIV response, protecting hard-won gains and advance closer to the ultimate goal of ending the HIV epidemic.
Funded by Merck & Co., Inc. and coordinated by Cicatelli Associates Inc. (CAI), the initiative provides funding and expert technical assistance to help organizations assess their capacity, strengthen operations, and develop strategic sustainability plans.
We are proud to support our 2026–2027 grantees. Click to learn more about each organization:
- ASD – A Home for Life (Dallas, TX)
- Capitol Area Reentry Program, Inc. (Baton Rouge, LA)
- Concerned Citizens for a Better Algiers (New Orleans, LA)
- Delaware HIV Consortium (Wilmington, DE)
- Homes for Hope (Washington, DC)
- LGBT Center of Raleigh (Raleigh, NC)
- LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland (Cleveland, OH)
- Today’s HOPE (Nashville, TN)
These organizations are addressing the intersecting challenges of HIV, housing instability, incarceration, substance use, and health inequities in their communities. This new program will strengthen organizations across the country so they can continue delivering vital support to the communities they serve – advancing our shared goal of ending the epidemic.
Strategic Planning for Sustainability
We are supporting HIV service organizations in assessing and strengthening their organizational capacity and developing strategic sustainability plans to ensure lasting impact. Select organizations work closely with CAI’s expert technical assistance coaches and subject matter experts to:
Assess Organizational Capacity: Complete needs and sustainability assessments, and identify specific areas for capacity building support based on organizational needs and interests.
Enhance Organizational Capacity: Participate in ongoing capacity building, training and technical assistance. Focus areas include organizational financial and budget management, human resources planning, data for decision making, and long-term strategic planning.
Develop a Strategic Sustainability Plan: Produce an actionable, written plan that will strengthen the resiliency of their organization outlining how they will continue to deliver HIV services and secure resources for one to three years beyond the grant period.
Grantee Organizations for 2026-2027
ASD – A Home for Life, Dallas Texas
Organization’s Mission
ASD – A Home for Life creates, strengthens, and sustains healthy communities by providing quality, affordable, service-enriched housing to economically disadvantaged individuals and families who are living with, impacted by, or at risk for HIV. The organization is committed to providing permanent, service-enriched housing for individuals and families impacted by HIV and other chronic health conditions. It is the only organization providing service-enriched housing in Dallas and operates the largest program of its kind in Texas.
Program Insights
Since 1987, ASD has operated in Dallas County as the largest provider of supportive housing for the population they serve, with four-licensed apartment residences and one independent living community, currently serving over 300 low-income residents annually.
Each of their properties integrates wraparound services, including medical and social case management, complimentary transportation to medical appointments, nutritional support up to three prepared meals/day, mental health guidance/referrals, and life skills support. Its work helps provide stability, improves health outcomes, and breaks cycles of homelessness and illness for some of the most marginalized members of their community.
In 2026, ASD anticipates providing housing to more than 400 individuals and families with children, strengthening its role as the largest provider of service-enriched HIV housing in Texas. To meet increasing demand, the organization will expand to deliver approximately 8,850 housing case management services, ensuring residents receive continuous care coordination and comprehensive support.
Capitol Area Reentry Program, Inc., Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Organization’s Mission
Capitol Area Reentry Program, Inc. (CARPBR) is a community-rooted harm reduction and reentry organization founded in 2006 to address the intersecting realities of incarceration, HIV, substance use, homelessness, and systemic inequity in Baton Rouge, LA. Its mission is to redefine reentry, reimagine health, and restore community by advancing health equity, harm reduction, and holistic reentry support. The organization works to improve well-being and reduce health disparities among people who inject drugs, LGBTQ+ individuals, and communities devastated by incarceration.
Program Insights
In 2023, Louisiana held the third highest rate of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. As the state capital, Baton Rouge ranks among the nation’s highest-burden HIV communities and currently ranks in the top 10 among Louisiana parishes for overdose mortality and substance-related hospital admissions.
CARPBR is a trusted regional organization that serves more than 1,500 people each year across seven parishes and 85 zip codes, helping address overlapping health and social challenges and reaching people who traditional systems often miss. It operates a continuum of peer-led programs: Be Safe Syringe Service Program; Out of the Box LGBTQ+ Center; HUGS (Houseless/Unhoused Gaining Support); HIV/HCV/STI testing and linkage; mobile outreach; reentry navigation; P.E.E.R. Advance workforce readiness; psychoeducational retreats; and community research partnerships.
CARPBR’s services are delivered through a hybrid model: fixed-site access at its Baton Rouge headquarters and mobile outreach across six rural Region 2 parishes. It prioritizes areas based on HIV epidemiology and social vulnerability indicators, such as poverty, transportation barriers, and healthcare access gaps. Most clients live at or below the federal poverty level, and face compounded determinants of health: stigma, transportation barriers, criminalization, unemployment, limited healthcare access, and unstable housing.
Concerned Citizens for a Better Algiers, New Orleans, Louisiana
Organization’s Mission
Concerned Citizens for a Better Algiers (CCFBA) provides a continuum of housing and supportive services designed to help residents in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans achieve housing stability, improve health outcomes, and build long-term self-sufficiency. Its mission is to build a thriving, self-sustaining Algiers by expanding access to safe, affordable, and supportive housing, and by connecting vulnerable residents to the services they need to stabilize their lives.
Program Insights
CCBFA is a community-based nonprofit organization founded in 1986 by Algiers residents who were concerned about neighborhood decline and the lack of safe, affordable housing for low-income families. CCFBA was formally incorporated in 1987 and has remained rooted in the Algiers neighborhood of New Orleans for nearly four decades.
Over the years, CCFBA’s work has evolved from grassroots advocacy to direct development and operation of transitional and affordable housing, along with supportive services for people living with HIV, homeless and unstably housed individuals and veterans, and low-income families. The organization offers on-site and community-based supportive services, including case management; housing navigation; landlord/tenant education; benefits and entitlement assistance; referrals to medical and behavioral health care; life skills coaching; and linkage to employment and workforce development resources. Staff and partners also provide informal counseling, crisis intervention, and advocacy to help clients address barriers such as stigma, poverty, trauma, and chronic health conditions. Today, CCFBA owns and manages 51 affordable units in Algiers, with four new construction units nearing completion, bringing its portfolio to 55 units.
Delaware HIV Consortium, Wilmington, Delaware
Organization’s Mission
The Delaware HIV Consortium (DHC) is a statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life for people living with HIV and reducing new infections through equitable, community-centered prevention and support services. They provide statewide, community-centered HIV prevention, education, and support services that address the social, structural, and behavioral factors that influence HIV risk and care access in Delaware.
Program Insights
Founded in 1991 at the height of the HIV epidemic, DHC emerged as Delaware’s coordinated effort to address the urgent medical, social, and structural needs of individuals affected by HIV. Over the past three decades, DHC has evolved into a trusted leader in HIV prevention, outreach, navigation, and supportive services, grounded in a commitment to dignity, access, and health equity. Today, as Delaware experiences rising HIV incidence and unprecedented shifts in national funding, DHC continues to adapt and lead with innovation, collaboration, and an unwavering commitment to advancing equitable HIV prevention and support across the state.
The organization’s prevention services include HIV and STI education, outreach in high-need neighborhoods, PrEP navigation, safer-sex supply distribution, linkage to supportive services, and culturally responsive education and outreach. The organization also operates a food and hygiene pantry and provide housing, mental health care, benefits assistance, and other social supports that help clients maintain stability and remain engaged in care.
DHC’s programs are grounded in equity and designed to reach communities disproportionately affected by HIV. It serves Black and Brown Delawareans; LGBTQ+ youth and adults; people who inject drugs; individuals experiencing homelessness or housing instability; uninsured and underinsured individuals; and people facing barriers related to poverty, stigma, trauma, and limited access to culturally competent care. Through its integrated service model, combining prevention education, harm-reduction supports, navigation services, and basic-needs assistance, DHC reaches thousands of Delawareans each year.
Homes for Hope, Washington, D.C.
Organization’s Mission
Homes for Hope exists to eliminate homelessness as a barrier to health and economic security for people living with HIV who are chronically homeless in the District of Columbia. It provides safe transitional housing paired with behavioral health services, workforce development, and health education to help clients achieve stability and thrive.
Program Insights
Founded in 2001, Homes for Hope began as a transitional housing program dedicated to improving medical adherence, housing stability, and community reintegration for people living with HIV. Since 2004, it has successfully transitioned more than 87% of its clients from homelessness to stable housing, with recidivism rates consistently below 10% annually.
Homes for Hope delivers two integrated programs that strengthen housing stability and health outcomes for vulnerable populations—directly addressing social determinants of health and advancing equity for people living with HIV.
- The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program offers transitional (up to 24 months) and emergency (up to 60 days) housing for people who are living with HIV, have incomes at or below 30% of Area Median Income, and who are homeless. Comprehensive case management includes mental health counseling; substance use and medication adherence support; workforce development; and assistance securing permanent housing and employment.
- The New Communities Initiative serves approximately 300 residents of two public housing complexes—90% African American, average income below $30,000—who face high risk of displacement due to generational poverty, unemployment, and trauma. Services include intensive case management, employment readiness training, trauma-informed care, and life skills development.
The LGBT Center of Raleigh, Raleigh, North Carolina
Organization’s Mission
The LGBT Center of Raleigh is a community-based organization that serves the queer and trans communities of the Triangle region of North Carolina (Raleigh, Durham, and Chapel Hill area) and surrounding areas through programs that strengthen individual and community development through social, wellness, and educational activities. The Center works to identify needs and advocate for resources benefiting the LGBTQ community, their friends and supporters within and beyond central North Carolina.
Program Insights
Founded in 1994 to serve the Triangle area LBGTQ+ community, the organization was renamed the LGBT Center of Raleigh in 2009 and operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
The LGBT Center of Raleigh is located in and focused on Wake County, the largest county in North Carolina, but serves any LGBTQ+ client that seeks out its services. Its programs provide free social support, community building, identity exploration, resource navigation, and health services for the area’s vulnerable LGBTQ+ community, including biweekly HIV/STI testing and an HIV support group for people living with HIV (PLWH), called “Triangle POZ.”
Approximately 20% of the Center’s participants engage with its care coordination program, which supports low-income people through a food pantry and essential care packages (gender-affirming items, face masks, COVID tests, nonperishable food, and hygienic products), as well as resource navigation such as housing, LGBTQ+ affirming providers, and other referrals and case management services.
The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland, Cleveland, Ohio
Organization’s Mission
The LGBT Community Center of Greater Cleveland (the Center)’s mission is to enrich the lives of Cleveland’s diverse LGBTQ+ community through advocacy, support, education, and celebration. The Center addresses acute individual needs around health, food security, HIV prevention, education, and well-being while also advancing systems that promote lasting equity for LGBTQ+ people as a whole.
Program Insights
Founded in 1975, the Center is the oldest advocacy and support organization in Ohio dedicated to LGBTQ+ individuals and the third oldest LGBTQ+-focused agency in the nation. The Center is the only LGBTQ+-focused agency in the region with the infrastructure and capacity to sustain wide reaching, comprehensive programming for LGBTQ+ individuals.
The Center is a community-led and equity-focused one-stop hub and sanctuary providing comprehensive services for LGBTQ+ individuals, including those who are at elevated risk for HIV or affected by gaps in existing HIV-prevention and care pathways. Over 70% of those served are considered at risk or or impacted by gaps in HIV care and prevention pathways. The Center is a regional leader in HIV prevention and intervention and was a key contributor to the Ending the HIV Epidemic plan for Cuyahoga County.
Core services include youth and school-based programming, health and wellness services and linkages, popular opinion leader programming, Trans+ programming, senior programming, community groups, and cultural sensitivity training.
Today’s HOPE, Nashville, Tennessee
Organization’s Mission
Today’s HOPE enriches the Nashville community by providing essential support to individuals facing various challenges. The organization envisions a Nashville where everyone experiencing difficulties receives the comprehensive support they need, grounded in four core values:
- Excellence in care, offering accessible and tailored healthcare services
- Empowerment through prevention, equipping the community with crucial resources and education that mitigate the spread of HIV, Hepatitis C, and opioid misuse
- Personalized guidance, helping individuals compassionately navigate their healthcare options
- Inclusive support, welcoming all individuals, regardless of gender or status, into the community
Program Insights
Founded in 1996 and officially incorporated in 2000, Today’s HOPE was previously known as Street Works and initially focused on preventing the transmission of HIV while providing care and supportive services for those infected and affected. Today, the organization carries this legacy forward with the longest-standing syringe services program (SSP) in Tennessee.
Today’s HOPE offers a comprehensive range of services designed to support at-risk and marginalized communities in Nashville. Its programs address the unique challenges individuals face in accessing healthcare, mental health support, substance use services, and other resources needed to overcome social barriers. The organization provides Medical Case Management for those infected with HIV, ensuring they receive essential care, support, and timely referrals. Those not living with HIV are directed to Music City Prep for PrEP services, and are connected with medical providers to help them stay on track with their HIV treatments.
Among its key initiatives is the Syringe Service Program, which addresses the urgent needs of individuals struggling with substance use, promoting harm reduction, and reducing stigma. The organization also supports individuals through primary prevention initiatives, including Narcan distribution, fentanyl testing strips, and thorough HIV and Hep C testing.