California: New Web Site Offers Information on HIV/AIDS Plague in Black Communities

OneLove, a project of Ontrack Resources funded by the California Office of AIDS, has established a Web site that tackles the impact of AIDS and health disparities among the state's African Americans.

The site was designed as an educational resource to coordinate statewide prevention services, epidemiological data, research, and policy. It also provides access to technical assistance and training opportunities to increase the capacity of organizations and state agencies to respond to the epidemic.

"It has made our work so much easier," said Nosente Uhuti, a regional coordinator for Inland Empire in San Bernardino. "Our region views it as an opportunity to develop resources in our community. It's a really accessible resource for our clients. If they don't have access, it's really easy [for our staff] to pull information for them."

Prevention professionals find the site helpful as well: "When developing policy, it's necessary to know the history and who's already done the research so that we're not trying to reinvent the wheel," said Uhuti.

Jamal Bey, project manager for OneLove, said the site seeks to support regional collaboration among various groups doing HIV prevention work. He said he hopes the site will add podcasts to promote such cooperation.

OneLove complements the objectives of AB 1142, which was signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2005 and targets the HIV/AIDS epidemic among blacks in five regions: Los Angeles, the Inland Empire, Sacramento and the Central Valley, San Diego, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Visit the site at www.oneloveca.org.

Back to other news for August 2008