Crowdfunding for HIV Vaccine Now Open

The Immunity Project Team

Earlier this month, we posted about HIV Vaccine Research that is currently taking place. The Wall Street Journal announced that Y Combinator is now backing the Immunity Project in their research to develop an HIV vaccine.

The Immunity Project has received $20,000 from Y Combinator to continue their research, which will move into the clinical trials phase soon.

In order to complete clinical trials, the Immunity Project needs to raise funds, and has set up a tax-deductible donation page on their website. Immunity Project has partnered with Until There's A Cure Foundation. To date, 1,189 supporters have donated $243,735. The goal is to raise $482,000. A detailed budget and timeline is also available on the fundraising website, with clinical trials being on track to begin in the United States in December 2014.

HIV/AIDS was selected by the Immunity Project because over 35 million people are currently living with HIV.  Over 30 million lives have been lost to HIV since 1983, with 4,000 people losing the battle each day. Developing an HIV vaccine is of the utmost urgency.

United Way Atlanta Offers Many Programs

HOMELESSNESS

Did you know? On any given day, there are 7,500 people in metro Atlanta who will wake up without a place to call home. That’s why we are working hard to help homeless people get housed within one year. We want to end chronic homelessness, not simply manage it. With that in mind, we provide housing that is connected to support services such as case management.

Vets Connect: Julia Kelly’s Story

With a down economy, the face of homelessness is changing. Finishing high school, graduating college, serving in the military and a 20-year career did not save Julia Kelly from being homeless. Without a job and a limited severance package, Kelly could no longer pay her rent and resorted to living with friends. That’s when she learned about Vets Connect. Vets Connect introduced her to Another Chance, which helped her with housing and the Gateway Center which gave her clothes, food and even employment training resources. “The program gave me some hope and dignity in what I was going through.” she says. Now Kelly lives in her own apartment and is going to school at Beulah Heights University for religious studies. She volunteers at her church working with women and is on the Peers Reaching Out (PRO) Team working to help other homeless individuals get off the streets. “Now I feel peaceful and settled,” she says, “I’m glad I never lost hope.” For more information on Vets Connect, click here.

Find out more about the many programs United Way of Greater Atlanta offers by visiting their website.

MISTER Program

Positive Impact offers a variety of services in the Atlanta area. One of these, is the MISTER program:

M.I.S.T.E.R. (Men’s Information Services: Testing * Empowerment * Resources) is a program of Positive Impact, Inc. and supported by multiple Federal, State and Foundation grants as well as community and private donations to provide a comprehensive range of services to meet the vast and unique needs of gay and bisexual men in metropolitan Atlanta. These funding sources include the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH), the Fulton County Human Services Grants, the Elton John AIDS Foundation, and ViiV Healthcare, as well as private donations and fundraising events with generous support from private citizens as well as the Armorette's and the Sisters of the Flaming Sugarbaker. 

To find more details about the MISTER Center, please visit the dedicated MISTER Center website.

TESTING

HIV Testing: The HIV Testing Center at MISTER offers free confidential rapid HIV testing on a walk-in basis (no appointment needed!) Monday through Thursday 10 AM to 7 PM, Friday 10 AM to 5 PM, and Saturday 10 AM to 2 PM. The Testing Center utilizes the OraQuick rapid HIV testing protocol, which means once the oral swab is collected (no needles or blood), you get your results in approximately 20 minutes! To learn more about HIV testing at MISTER, click here.

STD Screening: The Men’s STD Clinic at MISTER offers free screenings for gonorrhea and Chlamydia to all men Monday through Thursday 10 AM to 7 PM, Friday 10 AM to 5 PM and Saturday 10 AM to 2 PM, and offers free syphilis screenings to gay, bisexual and other men who have sex with men (including men who identify as straight/heterosexual but who also have sexual encounters with other men) Mondays, Wednesdays and Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM.

A urine sample is required for gonorrhea and Chlamydia screening; a blood sample is required for a syphilis screening. Results are typically available 5 to 10 days depending on how backed up the laboratory may be.

To learn more about STD screenings at MISTER, click here.

For positive HIV results, MISTER offers linkage to primary medical care for persons who have insurance as well as for persons who do not have insurance and who do not have the financial resources to pay for medical care. For positive gonorrhea and Chlamydia results, MISTER offers linkage to primary medical care for persons who have insurance or the ability to pay for treatment, and offers free treatment for those persons who do not have insurance and who are unable to pay for a medical visit. For positive syphilis results, MISTER offers linkage to primary medical care for persons who have insurance as well as for persons who do not have insurance and who do not have the financial resources to pay for medical care.

EMPOWERMENT

MISTER offers a wide variety of services to members of the gay, bisexual, and non gay identified men who have sex with men (MSM) communities. These include sex coaching and risk management services, support groups for HIV negative men and for men in sero-discordant (where one partner is positive and one partner is negative) relationships, and group sessions for HIV positive men struggling with issues around disclosure, self-care, and medical concerns.

We are dedicated to helping the Atlanta MSM population arm themselves against the threat of HIV and STD transmission. We care about the safety of your health and want to provide the tools necessary for the community to care for itself.

For more information about the variety of programs and services offered through the MISTER Center at Positive Impact, please click here.

RESOURCES

The MISTER Community Center is a safe place where individuals can visit for information on everything from HIV and STD services to safer sex information and free condoms and lubricants.

Stay up to date with MISTER via the MISTERCenter.org website; check the website daily for new information or to learn about changes in hours or services.

Georgia Food Banks

The Department of Human Services offers many services on their website, including a listing of Food Banks. The Atlanta Community Food Bank (ACFB) serves our area of the state. They serve over 600 nonprofit partner agencies in 29 metro Atlanta and north Georgia counties. With six other food banks in the state, ACFB is part of the Georgia Food Bank Association.

Georgia has seen an increase of food stamp recipients over the last three years by 67%, and 16.7% of people living in ACFB's service area are food insecure.

ACFB procures over 45 million pounds of food and groceries each year and distributes it to their nonprofit partners, including food pantries, community kitchens, childcare centers and more.

To learn more about how you can donate, volunteer, or find the services of ACFB, please visit their website.

HIV Vaccine Research

Photo: Immunity Project

Research is being conducted by many organizations to develop an HIV vaccine. Immunity Project, a nonprofit based out of California is rallying support and building funding through the public.

The Immunity Project is attempting to hack into the AIDS virus life cycle and produce an inhaled vaccine. A finite group of people carry HIV, but don’t contract AIDS and the vaccine would build off this unique circumstance to offer protection. Researchers are using computers to develop the vaccine and hope to test it in humans in 2014.

Teams at the University of California, San Francisco and the Oregon Health & Science University, as well as others, are also working on HIV vaccines. Most scientists have focused on antibodies, while the Immunity Project arms T cells so they can fend off an HIV attack.

Immunity Project would like to offer their vaccine for free if the clinical trials in the United States and South Africa (2015) go well. They are using a $25 million crowdfunding campaign to raise funds for research and future distribution. The vaccine will be an inhaled nasal vaccine, making it effective in AIDS hotspots like sub-Saharan Africa where doctors, nurses, sterile needles and refrigerators are limited.