JRI Health will receive nearly $1 million from the federal government to support its work to help Suffolk County youth who are at risk of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS.

The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will grant JRI Health nearly $200,000 a year for five years for the JRI Positive Pathways Project.

The Project will work with racial and ethnic minority youth, ages 13 to 29, with a focus on LGBTQ youth, as well as those who inject drugs, have HIV, and are experiencing housing instability, mental illness, and/or sexual exploitation.

The assistance will range from environmental strategies, such as online awareness and educational campaigns, to one-on-one interventions addressing HIV and substance use disorder and care.

JRI Health, a division of Justice Resource Institute (JRI), is dedicated to improving the health and well-being of underserved individuals and communities living with and at risk for HIV and hepatitis C. They offer a continuum of services to mitigate the social and health determinants while incorporating state-of-the-art best practices and standards of care.

JRI is a social justice organization that works in partnership with individuals, families, communities, and government to pursue the social justice inherent in opening doors to opportunity and independence.

For more information about the  JRI Positive Pathways Project, contact Mio Tamanaha, mtamanaha@jri.org.

JRI is a social justice network of organizations that help underserved individuals, families, and communities with compassion and dignity. JRI provides foster care, help for children who have suffered trauma as a result of abuse and neglect, shelter for homeless families, assistance for people with disabilities, education and residential services for youth in crisis, and a range of other services.