County Share of Federal AIDS Funds Up by 70%

The amount of federal money being sent to help AIDS patients in Ventura County will jump by nearly 70% this year, due to the increasing numbers of local residents diagnosed with the disease, a local AIDS activist said Saturday.

Edie Brown, chairwoman for the Ventura County HIV Care Consortium, said both public and private organizations in Ventura will be eligible to receive a portion of $317,000 in federal aid this year.

Last year, local organizations received about $187,000 in federal money.

“The (federal) Ryan White funds are administered based on the numbers of people in the county diagnosed with AIDS, so we knew there would be an increase,” said Brown, whose 22-group consortium will administer the federal money.

“We just didn’t know it would be this big.”

The most recent figures released by the Ventura County Public Health Agency show that more than 400 people in Ventura have been diagnosed with acquired immune deficiency syndrome and nearly 250 people have died from the disease here since 1981.

Grants will be given to local organizations helping those infected with the disease to find housing, health care and other needed services. One of the organizations hoping to win a grant is Christopher House, a hospice for people with AIDS.

“We’re very pleased the funds have been substantially increased over last year,” said Tim Rawle, the administrator of the facility, which will house about 15 people with the disease when it opens in May. “We could definitely use the money.

“The money is really meant to make sure people don’t wind up on the street,” he said.

The HIV Consortium is accepting applications from any organization that provides one of a wide range of services, including dental care, legal advice and housing assistance, Brown said.

Applications can be obtained from the Ventura County Public Health Agency at 3147 Loma Vista Road, Suite 12, Ventura. They are due no later than May 13, and the grants will be awarded in July. For more information, call Brown at 529-0564 or Susan Attaway at 652-5905.