Quote:
Originally Posted by Senusret I
I work for a faith-based nonprofit organization which is competing for a grant to address capacity building among faith communities. Basically, we'd get money to train church leaders how to set up HIV/AIDS ministries.
I had hoped to include Jewish and Muslim faith communities in our grant proposal, but I just had a not-so-great interaction with a lady who works at a Jewish organization here.
I can get over the fact that this particular organization didn't have an HIV/AIDS outreach program....but she made it sound like Jews didn't get AIDS! LOL.... I mean, it wasn't as ridiculous as it sounds, but it was just sort of like "Well, if we ever find anyone who meets that criteria, we'll refer them to you."
So my question is two-fold....
1) Is there some sort of strong stigma about HIV/AIDS in Jewish communities?
2) How can I reach out to the most Jewish communities at one time? Whether we get this grant or not, I'd still like this org to be more inclusive.
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Well, actually . . . there might indeed be evidence that those of the Jewish faith acquire AIDS at a lower rate, but it's purely coincidental:
Circumcision lowers AIDS risk by 70%
I realize that DC and (especially) Baltimore have a much higher AIDS rate than the rest of the nation, and that a significant amount of this is due to drug use rather than (hetero) intercourse, but those aren't exactly items at the top of many conservative religious organizations' to-do list - I'm not sure it's anything more than one interaction with one group, to be honest.