Giving Compass' Take:

• Atlanta Voice reports on the Elton John AIDS Foundation, among other funders, committing $650,000 to fight HIV/AIDS in the South, most recently with grants to three Atlanta-based organizations.

• The collective effort here to help local groups is important to note, since Atlanta is fifth in the U.S. for new HIV infections. Will other nonprofits follow suit to fill in funding gaps across the U.S.?

• Here's why more investment is needed to fight HIV/AIDS.

Elton John is doing good work in Atlanta.

Well, to be specific, the foundation bearing his name — the Elton John AIDS Foundation — is giving money to three local organizations. The EJAF is joined by the Elizabeth Taylor AIDS Foundation and the Aileen Getty Foundation. Together, these groups have pledged $650,000 to win the fight against HIV/AIDS in the American South.

Three Atlanta organizations have been the most recent recipients of their generosity. The Georgia Equality Foundation received a grant of $75,000; the Racial Justice Action Center also received $75,000; and SPARK, a reproductive justice organization, received $50,000.

The Elton John AIDS Foundation was set up in 1992. The EJAF seeks to fund and support new treatments, services and educational programs for individuals who are living with HIV. In its lifetime, the Foundation has raised an estimated $200 million dollars in fifty-five countries. According to a 2014 Huffington Post story, Funders for LGBTQ Issues recognized EJAF “as the largest funder of programs for black lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer individuals.”

For Atlantans, these grants are welcome news. In December 2017, data provided by the Atlanta Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) estimated that over 17,000 Metro Atlantans living with HIV were unstably housed, with that number expected to increase. When it comes to new HIV infections, Georgia ranks second in the U.S., and Atlanta is fifth among all metropolitan areas.

Read the full article about orgs in Atlanta receiving grants to fight HIV/AIDS by Jason Rhode at Georgia Voice.