Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS
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National Grants
A Lifeline of Support for Linda and Countless Others Living with HIV
At 58, Linda’s life took a surprising turn when a mysterious illness led to an unexpected diagnosis: she was HIV positive.
Living quietly as an empty nester in Nashville, those were words she never imagined hearing, let alone at this stage in her life.
“I was in and out of the hospital, and no one knew what was wrong with me until I tested positive,” Linda said. “I didn’t get COVID, I’m not a sickly person. How did I get HIV at 58 years old?”
Unsure of where to turn, she was introduced to Nashville CARES, a grantee of Broadway Cares since 1988.
“I know now that I have the virus, but I don’t have to think about dying every day, like I used to,” Linda said. “I’ll die one day, but not from this. I know now that I can live a healthy, normal life because of the services provided by Nashville CARES.”
Nashville CARES received a $10,000 grant in 2024 from Broadway Cares’ National Grants Program, one of the 466 social service organizations in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico to be awarded grants in 2024.
These grants are distributed in three rounds annually. The final round in the summer, which included Nashville CARES, provided $2 million in support to organizations offering direct client services, emergency assistance, harm reduction and quality of life programs. A committee of 18 actors and stage managers who led their shows’ Spring Fundraising Campaign efforts awarded the grants.
A record $2.83 million was awarded to 146 food service and meal delivery programs in January and $985,000 to 44 of the largest AIDS service and nationally recognized advocacy organizations in April.
These grants ensure warm meals continue to be served at Aliveness Project in Minneapolis, emergency financial assistance continues to be provided by South Central Education Development in Bluefield, WV, the pantry shelves remain full at St. Clement’s Episcopal Church in Manhattan; clients will still make it to vital doctor appointments with transportation provided by Blue Mountain Heart to Heart in Walla Walla, WA.
And in Nashville, the grants help people like Linda get access to the depth of services they need to manage their diagnosis. The first hurdle for Linda was affording the prohibitively expensive medication that she needed to get and stay healthy.
“I’m working a full-time job I’ve had for 10 years, but insurance doesn’t cover a lot of the medications for HIV/AIDS,” Linda said. “Every day, just to live, people are put in the position of, ‘Do I buy food or do I buy medicine?’ You got your bills on the table and you try to figure out which is a priority, which can wait, what can I do today and what can I do next week.”
These tough financial choices mirror concerns being shared by clients at Broadway Cares grantees across the country. In Linda’s case, Nashville CARES was able to step in with compassionate case management and provide her the lifesaving medication she needed. Equipped with their full suite of life-affirming care – beyond just the medication that drove her to seek out the organization – Linda has the tools to not just survive, but thrive.
“With Nashville CARES’ support, I was able to become undetectable in six months,” Linda said. “I can get the medication that I need, the therapy, whatever I need to deal with this and live with this. It’s so important to us that these services are there, because you can’t just turn people away from medication that we need every day for the rest of our lives.”
Offering this range of services speaks to the full spectrum of needs for those living with HIV/AIDS that’s at the heart of Nashville CARES’ mission. Amna Osman, chief executive officer at Nashville CARES, emphasized that just providing medical support doesn’t address the financial and whole-health concerns the organization’s clients face every day.
“There’s an understanding that people need health services, but they also need all the wraparound services,” Osman said. “You can’t be healthy and expect people to go to the doctor when they don’t have a roof over their head. You can’t think of people not having good nutrition and expect them to be able to take their medication. So I started really thinking, how do we really provide this comprehensive approach to offering all of the supportive services, with medical being the backbone?”
Once Linda utilized this full range of services to gain control of her own diagnosis, she felt empowered to give back to others living with HIV. Just a year-and-a-half later, she serves on Tennessee’s Ryan White Planning Council, which ensures people living with HIV/AIDS across the state have access to quality care.
“Even if it’s just one person that I helped, put them on the right path of services, I’ll feel good,” Linda said. “I want to get them in touch with people who can help them, just like they did for me. Just paying it forward.”
Those services, powered by the generosity of Broadway Cares supporters, assure that Linda, and people like Linda across the country, will continue to stay healthy, today and well into the future.
“You are saving lives every day,” Linda said. “Thank you so much for saving mine.”
National Grants By Fiscal Year
2024
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $2,830,000 |
| Local Social Service Organizations | $2,990,000 |
| Emergency Grants | $591,400 |
| Supplemental Support | $534,650 |
| Theater Social Service and Advocacy Organizations | $597,500 |
| Broadway Community Humanitarian Grants | $1,000,000 |
| Total: $8,543,550 | |
2023
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $2,827,500 |
| Local Social Service Organizations | $3,340,000 |
| Emergency Relief Grants | $550,000 |
| Supplemental grants and Shared Support | $944,000 |
| National Grants Program – Additional Support | $449,500 |
| Theater Organizations Social Service Grants | $395,000 |
| Broadway Community Emergency Response Grants | $600,000 |
| Total: $9,106,000 | |
2022
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $2,532,500 |
| Local AIDS Service Organizations | $3,180,000 |
| Emergency Relief Grants | $1,000,000 |
| Supplemental grants and Shared Support | $1,798,060 |
| Theater Organizations Social Service Grants | $367,500 |
| Total: $8,878,060 | |
2021
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $2,452,500 |
| Local AIDS Service Organizations | $2,539,000 |
| Emergency Grants for Pandemic Relief | $1,010,077 |
| Supplemental grants and Shared Support | $793,125 |
| Theater Organizations Social Service Grants | $317,500 |
| Total: $7,112,202 | |
2020
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $2,317,000 |
| Local AIDS Service Organizations | $2,023,000 |
| Emergency Grants for Pandemic Relief | $955,775 |
| Supplemental grants and Shared Support | $942,000 |
| Natural Disaster Relief in name of Broadway community | $200,000 |
| Total: $6,437,775 | |
2019
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $2,143,000 |
| Nationally Recognized AIDS Service and Advocacy Organizations | $1,157,500 |
| Local AIDS Service Organizations | $2,305,500 |
| Theatre Social Service Organizations | $189,500 |
| Natural Disaster Relief | $500,000 |
| Research, Special One-time Grants and Shared Support | $951,261 |
| Supplemental Emergency Grants | $695,871 |
| Physician Volunteers for the Arts | $90,000 |
| Total: $8,032,632 | |
2018
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $2,015,000 |
| Nationally Recognized AIDS Service and Advocacy Organizations | $1,150,000 |
| Local AIDS Service Organizations | $2,227,500 |
| Theatre Social Service Organizations | $152,500 |
| Hurricane Relief Grants to Hispanic Federation | $350,000 |
| Research, Special One-time Grants and Shared Support | $865,550 |
| Supplemental Emergency Grants | $488,191 |
| Physician Volunteers for the Arts | $85,000 |
| Total: $7,333,741 | |
2017
National Grants
| Food Service and Meal Delivery Programs | $1,915,000 |
| Nationally Recognized AIDS Service and Advocacy Organizations | $880,000 |
| Local AIDS Service Organizations | $2,133,500 |
| Supplemental Emergency Grants | $462,404 |
| Theatre Community Service Organizations, Research Grants, Special One-time and Share Support | $858,618 |
| Hurricane Relief | $425,000 |
| Physician Volunteers for the Arts | $75,000 |
| Total: $6,749,522 | |
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
2009
2008
2007
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