With support from the Ford Foundation, AIDS United granted $1.4 million to 29 community-based organizations in the Southern states to bolster their HIV/AIDS advocacy efforts, according to an AIDS United statement. The initiative will support the development and expansion of programs that seek to achieve social change, shape responsible HIV/AIDS public policy, and/or respond to the underlying legal, political and systemic barriers contributing to disproportionate rates of HIV/AIDS in the South. The grants are part of AIDS United’s Southern REACH (Regional Expansion of Access and Capacity to Address HIV/AIDS). Funding will go to organizations in Alabama, Arkansas, Northern Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.