About Us

CWAP Staff

Our mission is to empower cisgender and transgender women to take control of their own health and to live as fully and as productively as possible. CWAP provides prevention and treatment education, advocacy, therapy, and support for women at risk or living with HIV in the Chicago area.

CWAP’s History: Women & the AIDS Epidemic

• Since the first AIDS cases were reported in the United States in June 1981, the number of cases and deaths among those with AIDS increased during the 1980s.
• In 1983, AIDS was reported among women indicating that the infection could be passed via heterosexual sex.
• CWAP was founded in 1988 as Chicago’s first support group for women living with HIV and AIDS.
• Originally housed in “the Blue House”, CWAP became a place of support and care for young women.
• CWAP has been an advocate for women’s issues, such as reproductive rights and healthcare.

Read this article to learn more about CWAP’s history and the history of the AIDS epidemic as it applies to women over the last 30 years.

HIV Today

• 1 in 4 persons living with HIV in the U.S. are women (CDC).
• Of the 1.2 million people living with HIV in the U.S., only 40% are engaged in care (AIDS.gov).
• New HIV diagnoses declined 40% among women from 2005 to 2014. They declined 42% among African American women, 35% among Latina women, and 30% among white women (CDC).

1815 E 71st St.
Chicago, IL 60649
Ph: 773-341-1606
Fax: 1-773-262-5578