Tampa Bay

mission

Connect to Protect® Tampa Bay’s mission is to reduce HIV/AIDS among black girls and young women in Central Tampa through the development and implementation of comprehensive strategic structural changes that promote a safe, healthy and nurturing community

General coalition structure

The coalition meets on the 3rd Wednesday of every month. All subcommittees meet once a month.   Currently, the coalition has a membership of 20 agencies and continues to engage new partners.

The current subcommittees are as follows:

  • Faith-based subcommittee

  • STI’s In School Aged Girls subcommittee

  • Sustainability and Advocacy subcommittee

Each subcommittee has chairs that are appointed by subcommittee members.

The coalition’s primary areas of focus are:

  • Elevated STIs & pregnancy rates among school aged girls

  • Perceived Faith-based stigma around HIV and mental health

  • Young women being infected by their partners that were recently incarcerated

  • Advocacy related to young people and HIV prevention Sustainability of the coalition

A few of the coalition’s accomplishments include:

  • Bringing together faith-based organizations and the Department of Health to provide ongoing HIV testing and outreach at local churches.

  • Forming a partnership between the Girl Scouts of West Central FL and the City of Tampa to develop a training video to help detect sexual abuse affecting young women (accessible on the Connect to Protect Tampa Bay website - see website address below).

  • Linking the Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) and the Florida Department of Health to register the DJJ as an HIV testing site

To help achieve its goals, the coalition has worked with AIDS service organizations, social service agencies, local churches, local businesses, the Health Department, state attorney’s office, City of Tampa Police Department, Tampa Housing Authority, youth programs, and university researchers.

Coalition Contact Information

Primary contact:

Cristian Chandler, MPH

Community Coordinator

cchandle@health.usf.edu

Amanda Schall, MA
Project Director
aschall@health.usf.edu

Diane Straub, MD, MPH
Principle Investigator
dstraub@health.usf.edu

Connect to Protect® Tampa Bay
University of South Florida, Department of Pediatrics, Division of Infectious Disease
17 Davis Blvd. Suite 200
Tampa, Florida 33606
Phone: (813) 259.8612

Website: http://c2p.health.usf.edu