Bank of America Awards $15,000 Grant to Aunt Rita's Foundation for Information and Referral Program, HIVAZ Connect

NEWS RELEASE

BANK OF AMERICA AWARDS $15,000 GRANT TO AUNT RITA’S FOUNDATION FOR INFORMATION AND REFERRAL PROGRAM, HIVAZ CONNECT

PHOENIX, Ariz. (June 21, 2022): Bank of America has awarded Aunt Rita’s Foundation a $15,000 grant to support HIVAZ Connect, an information and referral program providing Arizonans with benefits assistance, links to HIV prevention and treatment providers and connections to basic needs including nutrition and housing.

?HIVAZ Connect is the state’s only comprehensive source of HIV information and education. During 2021, nearly 4,000 individuals visited one of the two HIVAZ Connect websites, HIVAZ.org (English) and VIHAZ.org (Spanish).

The websites offer extensive education about HIV prevention, transmission and treatment as well as sexually transmitted infections (STI), connection to free condoms and education and resources for pre-exposure prevention through PrEP, a highly effective medicine in preventing HIV from sex or injection drug use.

“Education and information are key to ending the HIV epidemic and this generous grant from Bank of America allows us to continue providing those critical resources,” said Aunt Rita’s Foundation Executive Director Jimmy Thomason. “We are incredibly grateful to have Bank of America’s support in those efforts.”

The grant to Aunt Rita’s Foundation is part of Bank of America’s investment of $1.5 million in 41 Arizona nonprofits that “are creating economic mobility for individuals and their families across the Phoenix market and is part of the company’s $1.25 billion, five-year commitment to help local communities across the country advance racial equality and economic opportunity,” said BofA SPOKESPERSON. “Providing support to organizations like Aunt Rita’s Foundation that provide critical services and programs is just one of the ways we are helping improve the quality of life in the communities we serve.”

According to the “HIV/AIDS in Arizona Annual Report 2021,” nearly 19,000 people in Arizona were living with HIV/AIDS with almost 700 new cases diagnosed during the year, a decrease of 10 percent from the previous year.

“Making access to treatment and support services readily available achieves better health outcomes for people at-risk for or living with HIV/AIDS,” Thomason said.

For more information about Bank of America, visit www.bankofamerica.com.?For more information about Aunt Rita’s Foundation, visit www.auntritas.org.

Contacts

? Jimmy Thomason, Executive Director, Aunt Rita’s Foundation, 602-882-8675; [email protected]

? Steve Carr, The Kur Carr Group, Inc., 602-317-3040; [email protected].

About Aunt Rita’s Foundation

In our mission to end HIV in Arizona, Aunt Rita’s quietly began in 1988 with our first fundraising bake sale. Since then, Aunt Rita’s Foundation has provided millions of dollars to HIV programs and prides itself as the “Connector of the HIV Community” with gap-filling programs that include testing and collaborative initiatives. Partner agencies include Ebony House, The Bill Holt Clinic at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, CAN Community Health, Chicanos Por La Causa LUCES Program, HEAL International, HIV Care Directions, Valleywise Health, one n ten, Southwest Behavioral Health Services, Southwest Center, Shot in the Dark, Southwest Recovery Alliance and Terros Health. Aunt Rita’s distributes free Home HIV oral swap test kits through GetTestedAz.org and provides vouchers for confidential clinical testings at 100 Safeway stores and Sonora Quest locations statewide. Aunt Rita’s signature fund-raising events are AIDS Walk Arizona and RED is the Night and will commemorate World AIDS Day with a community-oriented Picnic in the Park. Aunt Rita’s Foundation also works with the Arizona Department of Health Services to increase awareness and education about HIV/AIDS statewide through HIVAZ.ORG. For more information, visit www.auntritas.org or call (602) 882-8675.