AFC Releases Racial Equity Action Plan
On February 7, 2022, National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day, AIDS Foundation Chicago released its first Racial Equity Action Plan. The three-year plan aims “to heal past harms and achieve racial equity both within AFC and in AFC’s spheres of influence.”
Chicago’s Black community comprises nearly sixty percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in the city, although they make up only thirty percent of the city’s population. Similarly, over seventy percent of Chicago’s homeless population are Black. Both problems stem from systemic racism.
Reflecting its commitment to meaningful involvement, AFC included staff of all levels, races, and genders in the development of the plan and accompanying resources. In addition, AFC’s progress will be tracked through a dashboard, open to the public, which will allow AFC to remain transparent and accountable for the duration of the plan and identify opportunities to continue racial equity work beyond 2025.
“This work is not new for us,” said Dr. Cynthia Tucker, Senior Vice President of Community Partnerships and Special Projects in the introductory letter. “Since AFC’s founding in 1985, we’ve continually innovated our programming and services to better serve Black and Latinx communities. The new plan will add benchmarks and transparency to the work, but it will not mark the end of our commitment to racial equity. We must and will keep going for as long as it takes to achieve justice and equity for the communities we serve.”
AFC has also made available several spokespeople who can discuss the new plan and its future impact on supporting the BIPOC community and helping Illinois eradicate new cases of HIV by 2030.
The full plan, glossary, and racial equity assessment is available at https://bit.ly/35UEM28.