LEGACY OF LOVE

A LIFESAVING LEGACY

THIRTY YEARS AFTER THIS NONPROFIT WAS FOUNDED BY LEGENDARY HIVPOSITIVE TENNIS CHAMP ARTHUR ASHE, ITS IMPORTANT MISSION ENDURES.

BY ANDREW STILLMAN

THE NEW YORK-BASED Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health (arthurasheinstitute.org) and Floridabased health care nonprofit IMG Helps (imghelps.org) recently formed a partnership to reach people of color and those in underserved communities so they can be fully aware of their HIV status.

Together, AAIUH and IMGH will focus on education, sexual wellness, and overall health to provide resources, life-saving treatments, and care, mostly for people living in Florida.

With 30 years as an organization, AAIUH will replicate one of its core educational programs, Barbershop Talk With Brothers. This will serve as the anchor and launchpad to the alignment. There’s also planned “text to treat” campaigns, a #KnowYourStatus tour at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and influencers getting the message out about prevention and treatment.

These various opportunities aim to remove the stigma behind HIV and other illnesses that a ect marginalized groups.

AAIUH was initially founded in 1992 by tennis champion, activist, and humanitarian Arthur Ashe, who in the early 1990s was one of the most high-profile individuals living with HIV. The goal of his organization was to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes for underserved communities.

Current CEO Dr. Marilyn Frasher said, “Now in our 30th year, we are delighted to replicate our innovative community health promotion programs in neighborhoods throughout Florida in partnership with a trusted and established organization such as IMG Helps. Together, we will work to reduce health inequities.”

IMG Helps is a nonprofit that launched in 2020 to expand the philanthropic work that IMG Health Clinic set up. They’ve served more than 12,000 people in the state of Florida, operating as a community clinic specializing in testing, treating, and managing

HIV, hepatitis C, STIs, PrEP treatment, and more.

IMGH cofounders Clifford W. Knights II and Steve Vixamar said, “We are excited and beyond honored to be partnering with the amazing Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health organization. Through this collaboration, we look forward to expanding each other’s services to Florida and nationwide where we are confident that we can help save more lives together in underserved communities.”

WHO IS ARTHUR ASHE?

THE AMAZING MAN BEHIND THE NAMESAKE INSTITUTE.

BY LESLIE DOBBINS

Tennis legend Ashe at Wimbledon

ARTHUR ASHE (1943-1993) was the first African American tennis player to be selected to the U.S. Davis Cup team, and the only Black man to ever win singles titles at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and the Australian Open. Ashe reportedly contracted HIV from a blood transfusion during heart surgery and announced his illness in 1992. He soon after founded the Arthur Ashe Foundation for the Defeat of AIDS and the Arthur Ashe Institute for Urban Health. Ashe died of AIDS-related pneumonia in 1993. After his death, President Bill Clinton honored him with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his 8% The percentage of Black people eligible for PrEP (an HIV prevention option) in 2019 who were actually prescribed it — proving unequal coverage persists. e orts to eradicate HIV and AIDS, and Source: PrEP Coverage in the U.S. by for his battle to end Race/Ethnicity, 2019, CDC.gov discrimination in sports.