Grantee Name
Housing Works, Inc.
Funding Area
Special Projects Fund
Publication Date
January 2017
Grant Amount
$250,000
Grant Date:
November 2015 – September 2016
Despite advances in medicine, the AIDS epidemic continues to be a major public health concern—especially in New York City, which remains an epicenter of the disease.
During 2013, New York City recorded 2,832 new HIV diagnoses and 1,784 new AIDS diagnoses. Currently, more than 117,000 people are living with diagnosed HIV infection in New York City, many of whom come from vulnerable populations. Federal guidelines recommend antiretroviral (ARV) medication for all people living with HIV. ARV treatment suppresses the level of HIV in the blood to an undetectable level, which enables HIV-positive people to live healthy lives while making it virtually impossible to transmit the virus to others. Although ARV is highly effective and is now the established standard of care, only 43% of HIV-positive New York City residents have achieved viral suppression.
In 2015, NYHealth awarded Housing Works a grant to scale up a successful viral load suppression model, The Undetectables, to help those living with HIV manage the disease and prevent its further transmission. This evidence-based model has been shown to successfully suppress the virus in 82% of participants. Under this grant, Housing Works aimed to expand The Undetectables model and form a consortium to collectively adopt, refine, and scale up the model throughout New York City.