The South Side Health Home program (S2H2), the South Side’s primary resource for HIV prevention and care, faces significant service reductions following recent federal funding cuts.

After over 10 years of operation, the initiative—which consists of UChicago’s Chicago Center for HIV Elimination (CCHE), Care2Prevent, HIV Prevention and Care Team (UC-PACT), and the Village—faces cuts to personnel, community spaces, and other key resources that support the South Side.

S2H2’s programming provided care in 2024 to 644 individuals living with HIV at UChicago Medicine (UCMed) locations, 938 clients at local federally qualified health centers, and 106 unique pediatric patients. It provides services such as in-house therapy, referrals to local psychiatrists that offer care at a reduced rate, grocery support, transportation support, and other case management services through its service arm.

“We originally started as a research lab and then quickly realized that the folks that we were seeing, because they are some of the most vulnerable folks, were in need of additional services and support,” CCHE Director of Development and Administration Jessi Torres told the Maroon.

Much of S2H2’s care—which is split between CCHE and Care2Prevent, the group’s pediatric branch—operates through UC-PACT, the UChicago HIV Prevention and Care Team based at UCMed. In 2024, UC-PACT, also known as HIV-PACT, provided support services to 1,079 unique clients with 2,937 on-site visits, a 67.5 percent increase since 2023.

The majority of UC-PACT participants receive nonmedical case management services, including care coordination, health education, mental health support, referrals to psychiatric and mental health care, and economic support—including $9,110 in grocery store gift cards and 270 one-day bus passes in 2024. These efforts were in line with “PACT’s commitment to addressing the social determinants of health and ensuring that clients have the resources they need to maintain consistent care” and were some of the most frequently accessed services within CCHE.

PACT’s off-site location, the Village, located on East 55th Street, served 1,034 unique clients over 4,173 site visits in 2024, marking a 17 percent increase from 2023. Much like the UCMed location, their most requested services included resource counseling, mental health services, research, testing, outreach events, and substance use resources.

The Village’s team distributed more than $18,110 worth of financial assistance to community members in 2024, mostly through gift cards and transportation support. In 2024, the Village also began providing microwavable food and high-protein snacks for clients.

Their site also includes a large community “drop-in” space where research participants and clients attending mental health and case management appointments are seen. Over the last year, the Village has opened this space up to all members of the community.

“Many of our clients are street-based or unstably housed, so especially in extreme weather, like heat or freezing temperatures, folks would basically spend the whole day with us. We have couches and try to make [the space] comfortable, and we started providing… meal replacements for folks,” Torres said.

After federal funding cuts to the Chicago Department of Public Health, S2H2’s primary source of funding, the Village, which previously maintained 11 staff members, now operates with only five. This sharp reduction in personnel has had an immediate impact on its ability to provide essential services to the community. A food assistance program that had been slated for expansion was discontinued, and the drop-in space, which provided a welcoming and safe space for up to 20 community members at a time, will be closed.

The Village’s diagnostic capacity has also been significantly curtailed. Two of its primary offerings, HIV and STI testing services, previously relied on a team of four trained testers; they are now operated by just one person. While the group still provides HIV and syphilis testing, it only runs STI tests on a referral basis. The Village has also reduced its operating hours from five to four days a week.

Many of S2H2’s auxiliary services, including food stipends and transportation assistance, also face reduction or elimination.

A legal support program, which covered costs for obtaining new identification and social security cards, has similarly ended, as well as programs providing financial assistance and referrals for legal matters like evictions.

Among the most serious losses is the group’s growing therapy and psychiatry program, which had become one of the most highly requested services in 2024. For many clients, especially those who are uninsured or on Medicaid, the program was one of the only sources of affordable, high-quality mental health care on the South Side.

“It’s taken a long time to get that program up and running, so I’m hopeful we’ll find some alternative funds to supplement [the program],” Torres said. “It would really be a shame to take that service away from community members.”

The group has not given up hope, though, and has continued to apply for alternative sources of funding to stabilize and eventually rebuild its service offerings. While it is currently funded by smaller service grants, S2H2 plans to submit proposals to sponsorships, foundations, and private donors to begin rebuilding its service programming.

However, competition is high. “Many people are turning to foundations to supplement their funding streams, so it makes that pool more competitive. We aren’t hearing back from some of the funders that we typically [would] hear back from,” Torres said. “It’s a little nerve-racking, because everybody’s looking to those resources right now.” The uncertainty has put strain on both staff and clients.

“The culture is definitely a little bit more stressed, not only because you’re seeing all of our clients get reduced services and support that they’ve been relying on, but you’re also considering, ‘What am I going to do too?’” Torres said. Many S2H2 staff are members of the communities and neighborhoods that they serve, and the uncertainty around job security has created a ripple effect of anxiety and instability.

“Even during COVID, I was like, ‘I have me and my team. We have job security. There’s never going to be a time where public health needs aren’t going to need to be addressed, right?’” Torres continued. “It’s really challenging to sit with something that’s so vital for not only the individuals that we’re serving, but also the larger community. It’s hard to sit with that.”

Despite the pressure, Torres has faith in the community that CCHE has created. “I’m not going to say this is a silver lining, because there is no silver lining, but [this situation has] definitely created a strong community within CCHE in terms of staff and taking the time to check in on how each other is doing.”