Transforming Health Outcomes Through Collaboration: Funded Partner Profile
Collaboration with our community partners is a vital part of our efforts to address the conditions that create an upstream impact on health outcomes in the Greater High Point community. The work done by Triad Health Project is a wonderful example of collaboration in action.
Triad Health Project (THP) was founded during the height of the AIDS epidemic in 1986 when a group of 14 friends were experiencing the death of many in their community. They came together and formed THP so that those with HIV/AIDS could die with dignity at a time where there was tremendous stigma, including in the medical field, around working with people experiencing HIV and AIDS.
Today THP has grown into an organization focused on helping people with HIV live with dignity. They are committed to sexual health and justice, providing case management and other tools designed to remove barriers to care, especially in the vulnerable communities where HIV tends to be more prevalent.
Several years ago, THP realized that there was an imbalance between the services provided in Greensboro and those provided in High Point. “It became obvious that a lot of our resources were coming from the Greensboro community and so therefore, a lot of our work happened in the Greensboro community,” said Adriana Adams, THP’s executive director. “But there were people living with HIV in High Point who needed services.” About ten years ago, the organization decided to focus on finding the community support to expand their High Point services, with an emphasis on growing their prevention efforts. In 2021 they opened a new office in a more prominent and convenient location, allowing them to be open about their presence and the services they provide. “We want people to know that we’re here, and we want our clients to feel more comfortable being embraced in the community.”
Throughout its evolution and expansion, collaboration has been a vital aspect of THP’s success. Says Adams, “Partnership is the name of the game for us – I think that’s the only way we can create change, and systems change in particular.” THP partners with a wide range of entities, including harm reduction organizations, immigrant and refugee groups, other nonprofits, medical providers, and government agencies. But there is always room for improvement. Stakeholders need to have a better understanding of what each brings to the table, and of the ways in which their organizational cultures and processes differ. These differences can be used as tools for driving systems change.
To that end, Adams has started working with the state to develop ways these entities can work together and have a sense of synergy that is effective for the people they’re serving. “In our state Department of Health and Human Services, there have been some really great partners trying to build some understanding around how community-based organizations actually work,” said Adams. Organizations like THP are asked to understand and navigate the logistics of working with government entities; inviting these partners to learn more about nonprofits and how they work provides an opportunity to leverage organizational cultures and logistical differences to drive systems change. “We’re looking to build some tools and workshops to help us better understand one another, with the goal of really moving the needle.”
Adams is particularly proud of THP’s collaboration with FaithAction International, an immigrant and refugee organization. FaithAction has a space in THP’s office, which allows them to better address sexual health in the Latino community, and especially in monolingual Spanish-speaking communities. “It was really important to us to start developing ways to communicate in a culturally responsive way. It’s not enough to just have materials in Spanish. We need to have bridges in the immigrant and refugee community,” said Adams. Many of these families come to FaithAction International for other reasons, looking for other resources. The partnership with THP allows relationships to develop so that conversations around healthcare, testing, and prevention can occur in a comfortable space with someone familiar who speaks their language.
THP’s efforts dovetail perfectly with the Foundation’s focus on building sustainable systems of care. In 2022, they launched a program for telehealth access to PrEP, a medication that prevents HIV. The program is easily accessible via the website, and clients who come in for testing can talk to health educators about PrEP. “We really view this as one of the best preventive measures for HIV,” says Adams. “One of the benefits of this programming is that we’re able to get people free access to healthcare coverage. So it’s not only preventing the spread of HIV in our community, but coverage for a myriad of other things. I really see it as going way upstream and seeing the whole person.” In addition, a federal drug pricing program enables THP to generate revenue and sustain this program going forward. The Foundation helped to start these efforts by supporting expansion of THP’s network and resources.
The Foundation was one of the first organizations to support THP’s expansion into the High Point community. As prevention efforts have expanded, the Foundation has embraced THP’s work, particularly their efforts to meet clients where they are through telehealth. “If we want a future free of HIV, we have to focus these prevention efforts,” said Adams. “That won’t happen unless we are doing this preventive work – more testing for STIs, more passing out of condoms, more education in the community about HIV.”