NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — Funding cuts could lead to a surge in HIV and sexually transmitted infections in the 757. That is the fear of Stacie Walls, CEO of the LGBT Life Center.
“The reality is the people that we’re reaching are the people who are not going to walk into the doctor’s office so much on their own,” Walls said.
The LGBT Life Center, which is a lifeline for many in the community living with HIV, is losing hundreds of thousands of dollars in state funding, and the cuts are coming at a really bad time. LGBT Life Center is opening two brand new primary care clinics next month in Hampton and Norfolk.
For years, the LGBT Life Center has used multiple grants from the Virginia Department of Health to fund its operations. Last year, it received $480,000 via seven grants. This year, the VDH combined the grants into one, but with a stipulation that capped recipients at $100,000.
“This is largely because of federal funding cuts,” said Elaine Martin, director of the division of disease prevention for VDH.
Martin told WAVY that overall, the state has lost $800,000 in federal funding since 2017.
“It’s it’s pretty devastating for these agencies who are [and have] been, really, the mainstay of our prevention work and really reach out to communities,” Martin said.
The LGBT Center has laid off several employees and will be doing less in-house testing in favor testing out in the community, Walls said. They have also done away with sexual health and prevention education. Both Walls and Martin said they are fearful the area will see an increase in HIV and STI cases.
“One HIV case can have annual — can have lifetime costs of over $400,000,” Martin said. “So, to prevent a single case really makes their programs cost-effective.”
Walls does not blame the VDH, but said the state could step in and fund the programs, especially since earlier this week Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced a $1.2 billion budget surplus.
Both Walls and Martin said they will be prioritizing replacing lost funds to bring back those critical services.
