The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) Announces $525,000 in New Grants

EJAF's First Round of Grants for 2014 Focuses on the Challenges of the U.S. Epidemic

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Jun 04, 2014, 08:00 ET

NEW YORK, June 4, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) today announced its first round of grants for calendar year 2014, totaling $525,000. The three renewal grants support organizations working to address some of the most critical challenges of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the United States.

The projects being supported include:

efforts to identify and ameliorate the barriers that prevent people living with HIV/AIDS from accessing health care and treatment;
programs that help link people with little or no health coverage to resources that will help them stay on their HIV/AIDS medications; and
advocacy and education efforts addressing HIV criminalization – the use of criminal law to prosecute and extend imprisonment of people with HIV for consensual and no-risk behavior – a discriminatory practice based in fear and shame rather than compassion and science.

"We are extremely excited about the innovative work being undertaken by these grantees," said EJAF Chairman David Furnish, "but our work doesn't stop there. We are already in the process of soliciting proposals for our next two rounds of grant awards for the year and anticipate announcing more new grants in September and December. We are deeply grateful to all of our generous and loyal donors for supporting EJAF's life-saving work."

About EJAF
At the Elton John AIDS Foundation (EJAF) we believe that AIDS can be beaten. We act on that belief by raising funds for effective programs and policies, and also by speaking out with honesty and compassion about the realities of people's lives. Sir Elton John created EJAF over twenty years ago, first in the United States in 1992 and then in the United Kingdom in 1993. Through hard work and with the help of our network of kind, amazing, creative, and generous friends and supporters, the two foundations together have raised more than $300 million over the past two decades to combat stigma, prevent infections, provide treatment and services, and motivate governments to end AIDS. The U.S. foundation focuses its efforts on programs in the United States, the Americas, and the Caribbean, while the U.K. foundation funds HIV-related work in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Join us in speaking out, taking action, and contributing to our efforts to achieve a world without AIDS.

For more information, and for a complete list and project descriptions for EJAF's 2014 Round One grants, please visit www.ejaf.org.

American Airlines is the official sponsoring airline of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

SOURCE Elton John AIDS Foundation