Gilead Sciences Announces $3 Million in Grant Funding to Eight Organizations Addressing HIV Disparities in Rural U.S. Communities

By: Gilead Sciences, Inc. via Business Wire

March 22, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

– Funding Will Reach Under-Resourced Communities Impacted by the HIV Epidemic as Part of Gilead’s Zeroing In™: Ending the HIV Epidemic Grant Program –

Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced it is providing a total of $3 million in grant funding to eight organizations to provide services to communities disproportionately impacted by HIV in rural areas in the United States. My Brother’s Keeper, based in Ridgeland, Mississippi, will provide technical assistance and capacity building to the organizations funded through this initiative. These grants are part of Gilead’s ongoing Zeroing In™ program to help end the HIV epidemic by supporting organizations working to improve the overall health and wellness of communities most impacted by the HIV epidemic.

While HIV is prevalent in both urban and rural communities in the United States, resources are heavily concentrated in urban centers, and lack of public health infrastructure and heightened stigma in rural communities create barriers of access to necessary care. Gilead selected the grantees due to their strategic, community-driven approaches toward dismantling these systemic barriers that prevent people in rural communities from accessing quality HIV testing and treatment. Through this investment, Zeroing In rural health equity and advancement organizations will build on their progress to strengthen public health infrastructure, address HIV-related stigma and provide important resources to under-resourced populations.

“Gilead is proud to go where the need is greatest and continue to provide support to organizations that are working to provide integral services to rural communities in the U.S. that have long struggled to receive HIV care,” said Jane Stafford, Executive Director, Public Affairs, Gilead Sciences. “These grants will allow organizations to expand their testing programs, provide their communities with access to necessary resources and fight stigma by promoting a culture of compassion and inclusion. It takes more than medicine to end the HIV epidemic and by supporting these organizations, we’re increasing their capacity to educate communities, change perceptions and provide critical access to healthcare where it’s needed most.”

The eight Gilead Zeroing In rural health equity and advancement grantees are:

Alliance Of AIDS Services-Carolina (Raleigh, North Carolina)
Central Illinois Friends Inc. (Peoria, Illinois)
Compassionate Atlanta Inc. (Atlanta, Georgia)
Empowering Transgender Services Inc. (Hampton, Virginia)
Helping Everyone Receive Ongoing Effective Support Inc. (Columbia, Louisiana)
My Brother’s Keeper Inc. (Ridgeland, Mississippi)
Pierce County AIDS Foundation (Tacoma, Washington)
Power Safe Place Resource Center of Virginia (Front Royal, Virginia)

“My Brother’s Keeper is excited to help support the recipients of Gilead’s Zeroing In rural health equity and advancement grants with needed capacity building assistance,” said June Gipson, Ph.D., President and Chief Executive Officer, My Brother’s Keeper. “Ensuring that rural communities have equal access and utilization of HIV prevention, care and supportive services is an integral step in combating inequity in HIV health outcomes. Gilead has long been at the forefront of tackling structural and social barriers to HIV care and treatment, and we are proud to work with them to impact change.”

Launched in 2021, the Gilead Zeroing In grant program provides support to organizations whose programs aim to increase the overall health and wellness of communities most impacted by HIV.

About Gilead Sciences

Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.

Gilead has promoted equity, particularly healthcare equity, since the company brought its first therapies to the market. Through global partnerships, Gilead’s medicines today reach millions of people in low- and middle-income countries around the world. In the United States, Gilead has committed more than $100 million over 10 years through the COMPASS Initiative^® to community organizations that are working to combat HIV in the U.S. South. In 2020, Gilead launched the Racial Equity Community Impact Fund to support organizations tackling racial inequities affecting Black communities across the United States.

About the Gilead Zeroing In Grant Program

Zeroing In builds on previous Gilead funding and grant programs, while supporting organizations to increase the overall health and wellness of communities most impacted by HIV and COVID-19. Gilead provides support to organizations whose programs align with international and country-specific goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative. This includes local community programming and coalition-led proposals from organizations collaborating to end the HIV epidemic in their respective city, state, country or region. Zeroing In programming focuses on comprehensive HIV innovation, digital health innovation, and/or community outreach and education.

For more information on Gilead’s Zeroing In grant program to help end the HIV epidemic, please visit https://www.gilead.com/purpose/giving/zeroing-in-ending-hiv-epidemic.

GILEAD, the GILEAD Logo, ZEROING IN and COMPASS INITIATIVE are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc.

For more information about Gilead, please visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com, follow Gilead on Twitter (@Gilead Sciences) or call Gilead Public Affairs at 1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000.