Improving lives for people living with HIV and AIDS for more than 40 years.
In 1985, physicians, advocates and community members came together to form AFC to support the HIV community. More than 40 years later, AFC continues this critical lifesaving work to end the HIV epidemic and ensure everyone has a home in Chicago and beyond. Thank you for being part of our movement for equity and justice!
Welcome to AFC!
Vision: People living with HIV or chronic conditions will thrive, and there will be no new cases of HIV.
Mission: AFC mobilizes communities to create equity and justice for people living with and vulnerable to HIV or chronic conditions.
Take Action for HIV in Illinois
Join us in advancing health equity and justice in Illinois during the State Legislative Session this Spring. Visit our Action Center and email your legislators today.
AFC’s 3-Year Race Equity Action Plan
AFC prioritizes the work of racial equity to dismantle systems of oppression, racism and white supremacy in support of our common humanity. The Race Equity Action Plan embed equity and justice in all aspects of AFC’s work.
Team to End AIDS (T2)
Our endurance training charity team will prepare you for the race of a lifetime in support of AFC. Train with our amazing coaches and participants for a marathon, half marathon or triathlon! Sign up today!
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The Resolute Advocacy of Community: 2026 End of Legislative Session Report
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Seven Days in June Chicago Event Guide
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Pride Action Tank’s OUTAging Committee members on how we can honor our LGBTQ+ elders
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AFC’s Ryan White CAB Support Group helps people living with HIV come together in a safe space
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How to fight and win: What can be learned from ACT UP Chicago’s resistance and the legacy of Danny Sotomayor
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AIDS Foundation Chicago Announces Transition of President and CEO John Peller After 12 Years of Leadership
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“We don’t wait. We stand up”: Advocacy Day 2026 meets the urgency of this moment
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We asked 2026 Illinois primary candidates for their positions on HIV and housing issues. Here’s what they had to say.
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World of Chocolate Raises over $250,000 for People Living with HIV
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AFC’s Learning Circle Collaborative: Helping emerging organizations to thrive and achieve
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Investing in HIV Isn’t Optional: AFC Responds to Governor’s FY27 Budget
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World of Chocolate Sneak Peek: Meet the Chocolatiers!
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HIV HUB Enters Sixth Year of Helping Chicagoans Get Healthcare
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Welcoming the 2026 AFC Board of Directors and new Board Chair Yusef Garcia
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Legacy Giving Spotlight: Robert Neubert reflects on his decades of service and support to AFC
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Support AFC Clients like David this Holiday Season: “I wanted to turn my mess into a message.”
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Using silence to hear the way forward: Reflections for Transgender Week of Awareness
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Billionaire Trump’s Regime to Defund Housing for 170,000 Americans
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Dreaming up a Positive Way Forward: Fall Fireside Chat Series
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Billionaire Withholds Food from American Families: The Trump Regime Stops SNAP
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Celebrating 10 Years of Pride Action Tank
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There is no separating safety from health. Trump’s deployments are dangerous for people living with HIV, and all our well-being.
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Christopher Pazdernik on CommunityDirect and AIDS Run & Walk Chicago: “It’s just more important than ever”
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The Eighth Annual Women’s Connection Summit of Hope: “When women support each other, incredible things happen.”
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August Spree: the force behind AIDS Run & Walk Chicago and AFC events
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Case Manager Carla Davis on Her Career, Faith, Community, and Life After Diagnosis
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Narcan Newsstand Celebrates its 2nd Birthday
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U.S. House Republicans Pass Trump’s Big BS Bill, Taking the Final Step to Terminate Healthcare for Millions
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Take Action to Stop the Big BS Bill: U.S. Senate Passes the Largest Cut to Medicaid and the ACA in History
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Remembering Kerry Journey
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SCOTUS’ US v Skrmetti Ruling: An Outright Act of Discrimination
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LGBTQ+ Organizations Stand in Solidarity to Condemn Harmful Actions and Rhetoric Against Trans and Gender-Expansive Communities
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Rise Up and Fight Back Against Cruel and Unprecedented HIV Cuts in Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year 2026 Budget
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Amid uncertainty, strong support for HIV funding yields mixed results in the FY 26 state budget
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You don’t have to go through this alone: AFC’s Behavioral Health program
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AFC40 Raises Over $770,000
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Where There’s People, There’s Power: A Reflection on the Power of Advocacy Through Storytelling
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AIDS Foundation Chicago Hails Chicago Man Possibly Cured of HIV and His Care Team
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AFC40 to honor ITW for its longstanding support of the LGBTQ+ and HIV communities
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AFC’s 2025 State Advocacy Agenda and Action Center launches on National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
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AFC 40 to honor Craig W. Johnson, former AFC Board of Directors member and national leader in LGBTQ+ health
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AFC’s Best of 2024 in pictures
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What makes a home?
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Staying Visible: Reflections for Transgender day of Remembrance
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Aging (Re)-Focused: A Deeper Look into Intimacy and the Experiences of Older Adults
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The fight for our rights does not end with Election Day
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Get to know the Ryan White Community Advisory Board, launching a new support group in December 2024
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Rosa E. Martínez Colón: It’s time to return to basics to address the HIV epidemic among Latine communities
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Celebrating 10 Years of Leadership with John Peller, President & CEO of AFC
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To end the epidemic, we need HIV TLC. Tell your state senator to support HB 5417.
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40 years after his HIV diagnosis, survivor and activist Mark S. King is inspiring future generations
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From Diagnosis to Empowerment: DeMarsh and the impact of cultural competency in health care
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Re-envisioning aging with Pride Action Tank’s OUTAging committee
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Correcting the record: Gaetan Dugas, stigma, and the Patient Zero narrative
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Continuing the Conversation: reflections on the 2024 Illinois PrEP Summit
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Windy City Times’ 30 under 30 Honors 4 of AFC’s Brightest Stars
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Meet DeWayne Elliot
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140 Advocates send 1,300 messages of support for HIV Advocacy Day 2024
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Narcan: the only FDA-approved time travel machine
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Will Pettway is tackling HIV stigma as a high school sex ed teacher
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Fresh faces and farewells: The 2024 AFC Board of Directors
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If you listen to them they will teach you: How AFC’s Freddie Shufford is building a Care program responsive to the needs of clients and caseworkers
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Terry Dudley: Access to healthcare – and culturally competent care – should not be a privilege
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Making Black History in Chicagoland: New Learning Circle Collaborative Cohort Announcement
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Johnny Pitts: The Transformative Power of Housing as Healthcare
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Your questions about Doxy-PEP, answered by India Willis, MPH, MSN, FNP-BC
News and Events
Follow along for what is new in our world.
AFC on Instagram
![Check out this recently published Storytelling Toolkit from Pride Action Tank!
This toolkit is for anyone who wants to learn how storytelling can be incorporated into their work with LGBTQ+ older adults and other equity-seeking communities. In this toolkit, we share an easy-to-use and flexible storytelling curriculum used for training older adults to tell short stories about their lived experiences that can be used in a multitude of settings to bring awareness and empathy to others, and to promote change.
Visit the link in our bio to view the full toolkit.
[AFC Communications is not supported with federal funds.]](https://www.aidschicago.org/wp-content/plugins/instagram-feed/img/placeholder.png)
Statistics of Impact
Last year, AFC served 8,247 clients Through case management, housing, emergency financial assistance, and food support.
Provided housing for 2,048 people through AFC programs and our 20+ partner organizations.
Distributed
more than
$683,000
to over 600 households to help people remain in their homes and keep the lights on.