Greetings!!!

My name is Jennifer D. Medina and I am the new Director of Programs at Cable Positive. I have been working in the HIV/AIDS field for the past ten years; from my internship in Development to my work as a COBRA Case Manager and then Assistant Director of Health Education and Prevention, my years in the field have truly been phenomenal learning experiences. As I come on board to the Tony Cox Community Fund, I hope to use my HIV/AIDS prevention skills and meld them with the new cable industry language that I am slowly but surely learning! Although I am newly integrating into the Cable Positive family, I have been able to introduce myself to quite a number of grantees and I must say that I am extremely excited to continue the great relationships established.

Now some of you AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) and Community Based Organizations (CBOs) out there are reading this blog and may be saying to yourself, what is Cable Positive and what is the Tony Cox Community Fund? Let me bring you up to speed! Cable Positive was founded in February 1992 by three concerned cable executives, with the mission of organizing cable's resources in the fight against AIDS. Our mission is to mobilize the talents, resources, access and influence of the cable and telecommunications industry to raise HIV/AIDS awareness; support HIV/AIDS education, prevention and care; and strive to end stigma by creating a more compassionate climate for people whose lives have been affected by HIV or AIDS. Cable Positive’s Tony Cox Community Fund is a national grant program that exists to encourage community-based AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs) and cable outlets to partner in joint community outreach efforts, or to produce and distribute new, locally focused HIV/AIDS-related programs and Public Service Announcements (PSAs). Over the years, the Tony Cox Community Fund has become one of the nation’s largest and most targeted HIV/AIDS grassroots funding mechanisms.

In layman’s terms, Cable Positive and its’ programs strive to be the liaison between the cable industry and national HIV/AIDS prevention efforts. Understanding that funding sources do not always allocate enough money for media outreach, the Tony Cox Community Fund works to bridge that gap. Through a grant of up to $7,000, the TCCF endeavors to produce public education messages, or public service announcements, for agencies that have a fantastic program that they would like to promote or a very important event (focused around HIV/AIDS prevention) that they would like to advertise to the television watching public, which is basically, all of us!! I look forward to seeing your submissions for Cycle 1, which are due on March 14, 2007. If you have any additional questions or need further clarification on what we do as an agency, please do not hesitate to contact me at either jennifer@cablepositive.org or at 212.459.1504.

Best Regards,