SpotU is a peer-to-peer youth and adolescent empowerment portal to HIV and Health Awareness issues.  SpotU  is an venue for at-risk youth to openly discuss a full array of youth issues relating to health education, human sexuality and HIV/STI prevention. SpotU is a web based youth HIV/AIDS Awareness empowerment program which ask youth to: Get the Facts, Get Tested and Volunteer.  SpotU utilizes social networks, blogs, webcasting and other new technologies that enable youth and adolescents to connect with their peers on a local, national and international level.

You, too, can help spread the word and stop new HIV infections among your peers. 
Click on the video to go to our YouTube SpotU Channel and spread the word. 

Add the videos to your MySpace, Facebook, PhotoBucket, Flickr and YouTube page.

Upload your own videos to our site so that everyone can see what you are doing to help stop young adolescents from getting HIV.

Get FREE cool stuff while supplies last by simply participating in spreading the word among your friends. 

Why is SpotU Different?

 By engaging youth through a safe, culturally-based, peer to peer portal using the tools that are intuitive to today’s youth and adolescents, SpotU provides a resource for youth and adolescents to engage in discussion, debate, education, fact-finding and resources in order to “Get Tested – Learn! Knowledge = Power”, “Get the Facts – Move It! Action = Life” and “Do Something – Action! Advocate” about HIV.

SpotU includes weekly broadcasts (webcasting) of shows address youth related issues.   These broadcasts,  are a peer-developed, topic driven weekly live blogcast.  Shows are live and additionally uploaded to the Foundation’s other websites, social network sites and branded channels.  The webcasters address the need for their peers to:

1.  “Get the Facts”:What is AIDS? What is HIV? Am I at risk? How do I overcome my community-level stigmas? Where do I go for  general questions about STDs and HIV?.

2.  “Get Tested”:  Where do I go? Why should I get tested? What if I test positive? What if I test negative? If I have an STD am I at risk for HIV?

3.  “Do Something”: How can I help an AIDS Service Organization? How do I spread the knowledge of HIV? Where can I go to get involved in outreaching to my community?

Each webcast enable viewers to interactively participate in the show by asking the hosts questions related to their community, their health and their knowledge of HIV facts and resources. Additionally, for those viewers who respond as being HIV Positive or test positive, the program provides linkage to program and services to ensure adherence to healthy living. Participants can also actively engage in personal discussion through their own personal blogs linked to the program. By encouraging participants to blog, SpotU provides a positive social outlet by bringing together other youth and adolescents by connecting them, not only to their entire community, but the world youth and adolescent community.  SpotU provides an understanding of the unique needs and concerns of the youth and adolescent community to healthcare provider networks, public health agencies, community-based organizations and other agencies who provide services under National HIV Continuum of Care Policies as dictated by the Center for Disease Control.

So you think you've never met a person with HIV before?
You probably have and didn't even know it.

Meet Nick Morgan. Age 21
Diagnosed HIV Positive Feb 4, 2009

You're probably wondering what has happened to Nick Morgan since he moved from Long Beach, California and returned home to Tracy, CA.   We have several blog links posted here, one from Nick himself as he discusses his daily struggles in life post-diagnosis. This is no "cake-walk" in life for Nick. 

There are up days and there are down days. Follow Nick and comment on his blog.

Also follow our blog's that reflect on the postings by

Nick and by others.

Learn about other HIV+ youth

AIDS has already killed millions of people, millions more continue to become infected with HIV, and there's no cure for AIDS – so AIDS and HIV will be around for a while yet.

AIDS is one of the biggest problems facing the world today and nobody is beyond its reach, so everyone should know the basic facts about HIV and AIDS.

What is AIDS?

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is a medical condition. People develop AIDS because HIV has damaged their natural defenses against disease.

HIV is a virus. Viruses infect the cells that make up the human body and replicate (make new copies of themselves) within those cells. A virus can also damage human cells, which is one of the things that can make a person ill.

HIV can be passed from one person to another. Someone can become infected with HIV through contact with the bodily fluids of someone who already has HIV.

HIV stands for the 'Human Immunodeficiency Virus'. Someone who is diagnosed as infected with HIV is said to be 'HIV+' or 'HIV positive'.

Testing Facts:

Why should you get tested?
You might have HIV and still feel perfectly healthy. The only way to know for sure if you are infected or not is to be tested.

Anyone can become infected with HIV. It has nothing to do with race, age, religion, nationality or sexual orientation.

People who are infected with HIV but not aware of it are not able to take advantage of the therapies that can keep them healthy and extend their lives, nor do they have the knowledge to protect their sex or drug-use partners from becoming infected. Knowing whether one is positive or negative for HIV confers great benefits in healthy decision making.

Am I at risk? Evidence suggests that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, has been in the United States at least since 1978. The following are known risk factors for HIV infection. If you answer yes to any of these questions, you should definitely seek counseling and testing. You may be at increased risk of infection if any of the following apply to you since 1978.

• Have you injected drugs or steroids or shared equipment (such as needles, syringes, cotton, water) with others?
• Have you had unprotected vaginal, anal, or oral sex with men who have sex with men, multiple partners, or anonymous partners?
• Have you exchanged sex for drugs or money?
• Have you been diagnosed with or treated for hepatitis, tuberculosis (TB), or a sexually transmitted disease (STD), like syphilis?
• Have you received a blood transfusion or clotting factor between 1978 and 1985?
• Have you had unprotected sex with someone who could answer yes to any of the above questions?

If you have had sex with someone whose history of risk-taking behavior is unknown to you or if you or they may have had many sex partners, then you have increased the chances that you might be HIV infected.

If you plan to become pregnant, counseling and testing is even more important. If a woman is infected with HIV, medical therapies are available to lower the chance of passing HIV to the infant before, during, or after birth.

If I think I have been exposed to HIV, how soon can I get tested?
To find out when you should be tested, discuss it with your testing site staff or personal physician. The tests commonly used to detect HIV infection actually look for antibodies produced by your body to fight HIV. Most people will develop detectable antibodies within 3 months after infection, the average being 20 days. In rare cases, it can take 6-12 months. During the time between exposure and the test, it is important to avoid any behavior that might result in exposure to blood, semen, or vaginal secretions.

If I test HIV negative, does that mean that my partner is HIV negative also?
No. Your HIV test result reveals only your HIV status. Your negative test result does not tell you whether your partner has HIV.

HIV is not necessarily transmitted every time there is an exposure. Therefore, your taking an HIV test should not be seen as a method to find out if your partner is infected. Testing should never take the place of protecting yourself from HIV infection. If your behaviors are putting you at risk for exposure to HIV, it is important to reduce your risks.

United States Statistics

• Roughly one million people living with HIV/AIDS in the United States.
• Since the start of the AIDS epidemic, 1.5 million Americans have been infected with HIV and more than 524,000 have died of AIDS.
• At least 40,000 people are infected each year.
• African Americans account for 48% of new HIV infections.
• AIDS is the leading cause of death for African American women aged 25 to 34 and HIV rates among Hispanic women are increasing.
• The number of women living with HIV has tripled in the last two decades.
• At least half of all new infections are among people under the age of 25.
• Washington, DC has the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in the United States - one in 20 people are living with HIV or AIDS.

What can you do? Get the Facts, Get Tested, Get Involved.