While the world remains focused on the coronavirus pandemic, the American Bar Association (ABA) is generously reminding everyone that another virus, HIV/AIDS, is still negatively impacting the lives of millions of people who still need legal help.

On World AIDS Day, December 1, members of the ABA’s HIV/AIDS Impact Project announced it would disburse approximately $1.2 million in grants to nine organizations that are reaching underserved HIV/AIDS populations by providing them with much-needed legal services and policy support.

The HIV/AIDS Impact Project (previously known as the AIDS Coordinating Committee,) received the grant funds from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania after a competitive proposal process. It was selected from over two dozen applicants to disburse the settlement from Beckett v. Aetna, a class action suit initiated by the insurance company’s policyholders who alleged invasion of privacy while they were taking HIV medications.

World Aids Day, the day chosen for the announcement of grant fund recipients, is commemorated around the world and provides many forums, webinars, Twitter threads, and other opportunities for the legal community to bring attention to the millions of people whose lives and legal needs have been impacted, or lost, because of HIV/AIDS.

The grant recipients come from nine states throughout the country. They are: AIDS Legal Referral Panel (San Francisco), Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy (North Carolina), CrescentCare of Louisiana, Equality Ohio, JRI Health (Justice Resource Institute) (Needham, Massachusetts), Legal Council for Health Justice (Chicago), Legal Services of Alabama, Manhattan Legal Services (New York City), and Nevada Legal Services.

These organizations are working to address many areas of concern, including health care, systemic poverty and systemic racism. Law professors and those providing legal services to members of HIV/AIDS communities worry about the uncertain futures of their clients who face challenges from ongoing critical laws and policies. These include the future of the Affordable Care Act, the expiration of COVID-19-related laws regarding evictions, laws targeting and prohibiting discrimination against those with HIV/AIDS, and protections for members of the military who are fighting to prevent their discharge because of their HIV-positive status.

The agencies receiving grant funds will provide legal services related to many of these matters and others. For example, the AIDS Referral Panel in San Francisco says it “meets basic human needs” by taking on landlord/tenant cases to prevent hopelessness and homelessness, handles immigration cases, handles insurance disputes and safeguards access to health care, and advocates for people who rely on disability benefits.

Another recipient, JRI Health’s Justice Resource Institute in Needham, Massachusetts, provides help to those living with HIV/AIDS or who are at risk for infection. It also assists LGBTQ+ youth of color with gender identity issues and provides attorney representation on matters relating to basic subsistence needs, including housing, public benefits, and healthcare.

In addition to the general services normally provided by the organizations currently serving HIV/AIDS populations, the coronavirus crisis is now posing new challenges that make already-difficult lives much worse. Scott Schoettes, counsel and HIV project director for the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, a civil rights organization that focuses on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities, expressed his concern to the ABA about the future of the Affordable Care Act.

Brad Sears, associate dean of public interest law at UCLA School of Law, told the ABA he fears what will happen to hundreds of thousands of tenants if the COVID-19-related federal prohibition on evictions is not extended past its New Year’s Eve deadline. “… housing is critical for people with HIV and or anyone who is vulnerable and trying to take care of a health care situation,” he said.

Margaret Drew, chair of the Project and associate professor of law at the University of Massachusetts, said her organization was honored to have been entrusted with the distribution of the Beckett v. Aetna award funds.

ABA President Patricia Lee Refo also applauded the HIV/AIDS Impact Project’s hard work in selecting the organizations chosen for funding. She told the ABA News, “Since 1987, when the ABA established the AIDS Coordinating Committee to identify, analyze and address legal issues bearing on the HIV/AIDS pandemic, it has been doing vital work to support HIV legal services providers and policy advocates at home and abroad. The HIV Legal Services Fund is but another manifestation of that longstanding commitment.”