Rainbow Health

Target demographics: the LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected communities

Direct beneficiaries per year: 2500 Minnesotans

Geographic areas served: Minnesota

Programs: Hiv care services:hiv services focus on optimizing the health and well-being of people living with hiv and reducing hiv transmission to others. Housing services focus on assisting households with hiv-positive members in finding and accessing safe and decent housing, provides these households education to better understand their rights and responsibilities as renters, and helps them create plans to maintain housing into the future. -assisted 79 hiv-positive individuals and an additional 53 family members in finding and maintaining housing. -100 % of clients completing the program had on-going contact with hiv medical provider-100 % of clients completing the program maintained medical insurance-84 % of clients completing the program successfully accessed or maintained qualification for sources of income transportation services reduce barriers to comprehensive care by providing transportation assistance for a range of health related needs including: doctor appointments, case management visits, pharmacy pick-ups, and mental health care. -provided transportation services to 221 individuals. -distributed 108 bus cards. -arranged 3,498 cab rides. Legal services provides expertise to resolve legal issues related to hiv by helping people address concerns in the issue areas of disability planning and individual rights. Disability planning encompasses estate planning and probate, permanency planning, debtor and creditor issues, and benefits including social security disability. Individual rights encompasses discrimination, employment, confidentiality, immigration, and stigma reduction services. -legal services served 358 individual clients in 430 matters through a full range of legal services including direct representation, brief services, advice, information, referrals to other legal services agencies, and responding to questions from providers regarding their clients. -legal services staff, committed volunteer attorneys, and law student interns closed 336 cases for clients across 22 counties. -legal services provided 60 legal advice clinics staffed by its staff attorney and volunteer attorneys. -fifteen volunteer attorneys provided services to 108 clients, and six law student interns provided over 1000 volunteer and work study hours. -in addition, legal services staff provided professional consultations regarding legal issues to 50 hiv service providers and community providers. Benefits counseling services assists individuals and providers in understanding how to access and maintain health care and other basic needs benefits at times when they might also be managing major life changes. Benefits counselors have expertise in navigating minnesota's aids drug assistance program, minnesota health care programs, employer-sponsored insurance, private insurance, medicare, disability benefits, and the affordable care act. -provided 371 individual consultations to people living with hiv. -provided 222 consultations to providers such as case managers and other professionals to help them meet their clients' benefits needs. -provided 19 group trainings for clients and providers - 15 in the twin cities metro (10 in collaboration with project for pride in living) and 4 in greater minnesota. The mnsure program, which began october 8, 2013, collaborates with rural aids action network, rainbow health initiative, outfront mn, and minnesota transgender health coalition to conduct outreach about affordable health care coverage and enroll uninsured or underinsured minnesotans. The coalition specifically targets three populations: 1) people living with hiv who are above the income limits for ryan white funding, 2) the lgbtq population, and 3) people who belong to a community disproportionately impacted by hiv. Accomplishments of the program in 2014:-map navigators completed 284 individual enrollments into health insurance through mnsure, 56. 8% in our target populations. -246 additional individuals were assisted by map navigators. Assists include: reporting life changes, analyzing benefits, and sending verifications to county agencies. -conducted outreach events that reached a total of 7,000 minnesotans. Examples include a get covered party at a local bowling alley, events held at public libraries, and tabling at pride events across the state of minnesota. Case management services provides people living with hiv with individual support to help them navigate the healthcare and social service delivery systems. Working with a case manager, clients develop a plan to connect to services that best meet their needs and help them make informed decisions based on their needs, abilities, resources and goals. -provided care planning and coordination to 451 individuals living in the twin cities metro area as well as those living in and around duluth. -completed 25,963 interactions with or on-behalf-of clients totaling over 10,225 hours of activity. Of these, 2,898 hours were face-to-face with clients. -98% of case managed clients had health insurance as of december 2014, greatly increasing the likelihood they will access and maintain needed medical care. -94% of case managed clients had documentation of having seen a provider within the last six months as of december 2014. -70. 2% of case managed clients had suppressed hiv viral loads as of december 31, 2014 which is higher than the state's viral suppression rate for those living with hiv which is 63%.

hiv education and prevention:risk reduction services focuses on stopping the spread of hiv by reducing the risk for new infections, helping those at highest risk learn their hiv status, and supporting open communication and disclosure. Our pridealive team provides hiv counseling, testing, and referral for men and transgender persons who have sex with men. The team builds a community of people who promote social norms that reduce hiv and std risk. -in 2014 we provided 1,091 hiv tests with 12 previously unknown individuals testing positive resulting in a 1. 1% reactivity rate. All 12 individuals were referred to hiv medical care, and we were able to confirm that at least 8 accessed that care. -in 2014 we made 6,021 contacts through outreach and health education activities including distributing safer sex kits and risk reduction information in venues frequented by men and transgender persons who have sex with men. -in 2014 we leveraged over 1,154 hours of volunteer time from 94 volunteers to reach our program objectives. Chemical health services are comprised of evidenced-based interventions, hiv testing and outreach services designed to assist hiv-positive and high risk negative individuals in maintaining their health, improving their lives, and reducing their risk of acquiring or transmitting hiv. -rule 25 treatment linkage case management provided chemical health assessments, referrals to chemical dependency treatment, and brief counseling to 101 hiv-positive individuals in 2014. The licensed alcohol and drug counselors provided 116 rule 25 assessments, referred 86 clients to chemical dependency treatment and provided aftercare coordination for 61clients. -our ctr (counseling, testing, and referral) team provides hiv testing for our clients who inject drugs. In 2014 our team also provided 140 hepatitis c tests with 9 individuals testing positive resulting in a 6. 4% reactivity rate. -outreach services are an effort to reduce hiv, stds and hepatitis c infections among individuals at high risk due to substance using behaviors. In 2014 we provided individual outreach and education interventions including syringe exchange to 5,488 unduplicated clients, distributing 256,557 clean needles during 5,506 syringe exchange meetings designed to reduce hiv and hepatitis c risk from injecting drug use or due to other substance use risk behaviors. -collected and disposed of 297,421 used needles resulting in 115% return rate. Positive link builds a community of men living with hiv who take an active role in reducing the impact of hiv in their community and work together to manage and maintain their health. -conducted individual meetings with 67 gay/bisexual men who were newly diagnosed or recently moved to the twin cities to provide education, emotional support, and orientation to positive link and hiv care services. -reached 237 individuals living with hiv during internet outreach including the positive link facebook group that assists in connecting members statewide and informs participants about upcoming events, and provides hiv risk reduction and transmission information. -served 571 gay/bisexual men living with hiv by providing 30 social and 19 health education eventslinkage services help to provide a link between people seeking services and the hiv community, whether for people newly diagnosed with hiv, those at risk for hiv infection, or those seeking a way to become engaged as volunteers or advocates. Aidsline provides hiv education, risk assessment and access to needed services to individuals seeking information throughout minnesota. -maintains a comprehensive database of statewide hiv prevention and care resources that is available online through our website or in print. Updated nearly 550 entries to insure the accuracy of this database. -quick connect met with 143 hiv-positive people to link them to medical and other health or social service care. Quick connect clients are newly diagnosed, have recently moved to minnesota, or may not have received hiv related care for some time. The program emphasizes getting individuals into care by setting up clinic appointments and checking in with clients to ensure medical appointments were kept. -responded to 4,071 contacts via phone, online chats, texting, email or drop-in visits. Training, education, and capacity-building for hiv (teach) provides curriculum-based hiv education and speakers for various community and professional groups. -delivered hiv and hepatitis c instructors training to 180 individuals. -delivered professional continuing education courses to 435 participants. -delivered advanced hiv training in our hiv institutes to 432 participants. -delivered a 2 day training curriculum for licensed alcohol and drug counselors titled: "the intersection of chemical health and hiv" at 8 sites throughout minnesota, reaching 162 individuals. -provided basic hiv education in-person at 419 events, reaching 8,380 individuals. -distributed 3,861 hiv educational materials to the general public.

emergency assistance:emergency financial assistance provides financial assistance for food, rent, mortgage, utilities, and medical care to low income hiv-positive households throughout minnesota. In 2014 the program provided assistance to more than 1,600 households through:-2,918 food certificates. -116 payments for health care insurance. -805 payments to landlords for rent. -135 payments for medical costs not covered by insurance. -902 payments for utilities such as heating or electric utilities in order to avoid shut-offs.

other programs:public policy program advances legislation and organizes advocates for hiv awareness, education, and prevention. -built community support for hiv policy initiatives through grassroots organizing, lobbying of policy makers, and building strong partnerships and coalitions that share common policy goals. -coordinated a group of 6 positive leaders, a policy program for people living with hiv who want to develop their leadership and advocacy skills. -organized a network of over 3,000 individuals statewide through the hiv action network. -organized a voter outreach and education drive to organize communities of color disproportionately impacted by hiv. -organized a community forum on fighting hiv in the african american community with legislators. -hosted the annual aids action day at the minnesota state capitol and registered 60 minnesotans who met directly with their legislators to stress the importance of hiv prevention. -increased the hiv action network's facebook page from 700 fans to 800 fans.