Introducing The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation & the Testing4All Project
In 2013 The Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation (ETAF) hired Joel Goldman as its first Managing Director to continue Elizabeth Taylor’s work and vision of caring for those affected by HIV/AIDS and to help elevate the conversation around prevention and testing. Notably, in the same year, the Foundation also committed to grants in excess of $1,000,000. We’re thrilled not only to introduce the FCAA community to its newest member, but to also highlight an organization that has mobilized critical new money in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Elizabeth Taylor wisely set up her estate so that all of ETAF’s operating costs continue to be covered, ensuring that 100% of every dollar donated goes directly to helping people affected by HIV/AIDS. Read on for an introduction into ETAF’s important work, and to learn about an exciting new video coming out for #NationalHIVTestingDay.
Until her passing in March of 2011, ETAF’s founder Elizabeth Taylor was at the helm of her Foundation. She launched ETAF in 1991 to complement the work of amfAR, The Foundation for AIDS Research that she co-founded in 1985. She also knew that helping people stay in care through integrated services would ultimately decrease transmission. Ms. Taylor’s overall funding strategy was simple: to help places and programs that were hardest to fund or even forgotten. She wanted to expand access of direct services, care, prevention, and testing to vulnerable communities whether they be in Portland, Oregon or rural Malawi. To date, ETAF has awarded more than $14 million to 600 organizations in 32 countries and 41 states.
ETAF continues to serve Ms. Taylor’s vision through partnerships and grants that look for new innovative ways to help stop the spread of HIV.
Photo credit: Quinn Tivey, grandson of Elizabeth Taylor. Pictured: Michael Lee Howard, who does testing for CAP’s Testing4All program. |
One such ETAF-funded project—Cascade AIDS Project’s Testing4All—is a great example of a new approach to HIV testing in the United States. Based in Portland, OR, Testing4All offers free, rapid HIV testing to all populations—not just high risk ones. Thanks to Testing4All, CAP saw a 20% increase in 2013 in the number of people getting tested. In commemoration of National HIV Testing Day on June 27th, ETAF is releasing a new video in partnership with CAP, to highlight the importance of “Testing4All.”
On an international level, ETAF partnered with Global AIDS Interfaith Alliance (GAIA) in 2008 to launch the Elizabeth Taylor Mobile Health Clinics in
Pictured: GAIA CEO & President, Todd Schafer addresses the crowd during a recent launch of a new Mobile Health Clinic. |
the rural Mulanje district of Malawi, where 17% of the adult population is HIV+ and where villagers often had to walk many kilometers to access health care. Today, with five mobile clinics in operation, every resident of this region (including more than 50,000 HIV+ people) is within an hour’s walk of a free, quality health care facility. These clinics have also become a way to test more residents of the Mulanje district. A recent pilot program, “Men’s Health Day,” hosted by two local churches, utilized a mobile clinic to encourage testing on weekends when men are not working. Due to the pilot’s success – the clinic tested more men on two weekend days than they do in an entire month – the program is being scaled up in 2014.
ETAF is proud to partner with organizations like CAP and GAIA to find new creative ways to reduce HIV transmission. And, as the newest member of FCAA, we look forward to partnering with other members to ensure that our collective efforts will usher in an AIDS-free Generation. As a first step, please share the #Testing4All video online, with your grantees, and with your colleagues to expand the conversation about the vital importance of increasing HIV testing in more communities.
Learn more about The Elizabeth AIDS Taylor Foundation:
1. Visit the ETAF website: http://elizabethtayloraidsfoundation.org/
2. Interact online: Facebook, Twitter and Instagram
3. Learn about the 2nd annual Elizabeth Taylor Human Rights Award to be given at AIDS2014
4. Share the “Testing4All” Video (http://youtu.be/aK-S87ltnX4) online for #NationalHIVTestingDay, #Testing4All #ETAF