U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell, Jr. (D-NJ-09) announced today that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has awarded $107,443 to Saint Joseph’s Hospital and $146,917 to the City of Paterson to help the community combat HIV/AIDS amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The grant will aid low-income individuals and families by enhancing access to care and providing direct financial assistance to areas most severely affected by HIV/AIDS.

“While our brave health care workers combat COVID-19, we must also ensure that efforts to protect individuals who are immunocompromised continue to receive federal support,” said Rep. Pascrell, a former Paterson mayor and former member of the House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health. “This grant will directly assist our citizens in need of treatment. Federal funding is essential to our community, as it will ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS have access to the care they need to continue treatment in order to stay healthy during this pandemic.. As long as I’m in the Congress, I will continue to work with federal agencies to secure life-saving federal support like this for North Jersey.”

Even as he abides by social distancing guidelines, Rep. Pascrell has remained in constant contact with federal agencies to secure critical federal funding for New Jersey coronavirus response efforts. This week, he’s announced $63 million in federal funds for New Jersey’s child care services and $157,000 in coronavirus relief funding for Teterboro Airport. He also announced recently $14.6M in emergency housing and urban development grants for local governments to ensure that our underserved neighbors needs are met during the pandemic.