Bee Hiv

About the Organization

Organization category

Public Charity

Country / State

United States / Arizona

Mission

Bee HIV+ Foundation is dedicated to HIV education, prevention awareness, stigma reduction, advocacy, and support services, with a special focus on increasing visibility and access for women and heterosexual communities impacted by HIV.

Programs or services

Bee HIV+ Foundation provides HIV education, prevention awareness, stigma-reduction advocacy, and community support services. Our programs focus especially on women, heterosexual communities, and individuals who may not recognize their personal risk for HIV.

Services include community presentations, HIV awareness campaigns, testing and prevention education, referrals to local health and support resources, patient advocacy, peer support, educational materials, and outreach at community events. We also use lived experience and storytelling to correct misinformation, encourage routine HIV testing, promote earlier diagnosis and treatment, and help people living with HIV feel visible, supported, and empowered.

Detailed programs

Bee HIV+ Foundation delivers community-based HIV education, prevention awareness, stigma reduction, advocacy, and support programming designed to reach people who are often overlooked in traditional HIV messaging, particularly women, heterosexual adults, and individuals who do not believe they are personally at risk.

HIV Education, Prevention and Community Support Program
This core program provides clear, relatable, and medically responsible information about HIV transmission, prevention, testing, treatment, and healthy living. Educational activities include community presentations, workshops, social media campaigns, printed materials, outreach events, and one-on-one resource guidance. The program helps participants understand HIV risk, recognize the importance of routine testing, learn about prevention options, and access appropriate local services.

Visibility Project: HIV Education, Prevention and Stigma Reduction
The Visibility Project uses lived experience, storytelling, public speaking, digital education, and community engagement to challenge stereotypes about who can acquire HIV. The project centers voices that are often missing from HIV awareness campaigns and addresses misconceptions affecting women and heterosexual communities. Its goal is to replace fear, shame, and misinformation with accurate knowledge, compassion, dignity, and earlier engagement in care.

HIV Testing and Prevention Navigation
Bee HIV+ Foundation promotes routine HIV testing and connects community members with local testing providers, prevention resources, healthcare organizations, and support services. Outreach explains testing options, including clinic-based and at-home testing, and provides education about prevention methods such as condoms, PrEP, regular screening, and informed conversations with healthcare providers. Bee HIV+ does not provide medical treatment but helps individuals identify and access trusted services.

Peer Support, Advocacy and Resource Referrals
The Foundation provides compassionate peer-based support for people living with HIV, newly diagnosed individuals, families, and community members seeking guidance. Services include emotional encouragement, stigma-free conversations, self-advocacy education, healthcare-navigation support, and referrals for medical care, mental health services, housing assistance, food resources, domestic violence support, transportation, insurance assistance, and other community needs.

Women and Heterosexual Community Outreach
This initiative addresses the persistent belief that HIV is limited to certain populations. Programming focuses on women, heterosexual adults, communities of color, faith communities, survivors of trauma or domestic violence, and people with limited access to culturally relevant prevention education. Outreach encourages individuals to understand their health, communicate openly with providers and partners, and make informed decisions without judgment or shame.

Target Audience

Bee HIV+ Foundation primarily serves women, heterosexual communities, individuals living with HIV, people who may not recognize their HIV risk, and underserved populations affected by stigma, limited access to prevention education, or delayed testing. We also engage families, caregivers, community organizations, faith-based groups, healthcare partners, and the broader public through education, advocacy, and outreach.

Geographic Focus

Nationwide (United States)

Current projects

Bee HIV+ Foundation is currently advancing several community-based projects focused on HIV education, prevention, stigma reduction, visibility, and support.

The Visibility Project
This initiative challenges misconceptions about who can be affected by HIV, with a particular focus on women and heterosexual communities. Through lived-experience storytelling, public speaking, social media education, community presentations, and awareness campaigns, the project encourages routine testing, earlier diagnosis, informed prevention, and compassionate treatment of people living with HIV.

HIV Education, Prevention and Community Outreach
Bee HIV+ Foundation is expanding its educational programming through health fairs, community events, churches, podcasts, conferences, nonprofit partnerships, and digital platforms. Current outreach addresses HIV transmission, testing, prevention options, treatment literacy, stigma, disclosure, women’s health, and access to trusted community resources.

Trick, Treat or Test
Trick, Treat or Test is a planned annual Halloween-themed HIV awareness, prevention, and testing event in Phoenix. The project is designed to engage adults and nightlife communities in a welcoming, stigma-free environment while providing HIV education, prevention information, testing connections, resource distribution, entertainment, and community engagement.

Bee Safe Initiative
Bee Safe is a developing collaboration focused on the intersection of domestic violence, health, trauma, and HIV vulnerability. The initiative will provide education, advocacy, referrals, and supportive resources for survivors while helping community organizations recognize the health risks that can accompany abuse, coercion, and limited control over sexual health decisions.

Digital HIV Education Campaigns
The Foundation is producing relatable social media content, educational graphics, videos, myth-versus-fact campaigns, and prevention messaging to reach people who may not attend traditional health programs. These campaigns are designed to correct misinformation, encourage HIV testing, reduce fear, and promote respectful conversations about people living with HIV.

Community Resource and Referral Network
Bee HIV+ Foundation is strengthening partnerships with HIV service organizations, healthcare providers, testing companies, advocacy groups, faith communities, domestic violence organizations, and local nonprofits. This project helps connect individuals with HIV testing, medical care, prevention services, mental health support, food assistance, housing resources, transportation, and other community services.

Bee Well Center Planning Project
The Foundation is also developing the long-term vision for the Bee Well Center in Chandler, Arizona. The proposed center would bring together HIV prevention education, testing navigation, wellness programming, peer support, advocacy, and coordinated community services in a welcoming and stigma-free setting.

Organization goals

Bee HIV+ Foundation’s primary goal is to reduce HIV-related stigma and expand access to accurate, relatable prevention education and support, especially for women, heterosexual communities, and individuals who may not recognize their personal risk for HIV.

Our organizational goals are to:

1. Increase HIV education and prevention awareness by delivering community presentations, workshops, digital campaigns, printed resources, and public outreach that explain HIV transmission, testing, prevention, treatment, and healthy decision-making.

2. Reduce stigma and harmful misconceptions by using lived experience, storytelling, advocacy, and culturally relevant messaging to challenge stereotypes about who can acquire HIV and what it means to live with HIV.

3. Encourage routine HIV testing and earlier diagnosis by helping community members understand their risk, identify testing options, and connect with trusted local providers and at-home testing resources.

4. Expand support and resource navigation for people living with HIV, newly diagnosed individuals, families, and underserved community members through peer support, advocacy, healthcare navigation, and referrals to medical, mental health, housing, food, transportation, and domestic violence services.

5. Strengthen outreach to women and heterosexual communities by developing targeted programs that address gaps in prevention messaging, testing awareness, provider communication, and access to culturally responsive resources.

6. Build sustainable community partnerships with healthcare organizations, nonprofits, faith-based groups, businesses, advocacy networks, and community leaders to expand education, testing connections, resource distribution, and coordinated support.

7. Increase organizational capacity and sustainability by securing diversified funding, strengthening board and volunteer engagement, improving data collection and program evaluation, expanding staff capacity, and developing

Leadership

Bee HIV+ Foundation is led by Founder and Executive Director Marie Niles, a healthcare professional, author, public speaker, advocate, and woman living openly with HIV. Marie brings more than two decades of experience in surgical and clinical healthcare, along with firsthand experience navigating diagnosis, treatment, stigma, grief, trauma, and patient advocacy.

Her leadership is grounded in both professional knowledge and lived experience. After receiving her HIV diagnosis in 2024, Marie transformed a deeply personal challenge into a mission to educate communities, reduce stigma, encourage testing, and increase visibility for women and heterosexual people who are often overlooked in HIV prevention messaging. She uses relatable education, storytelling, public speaking, digital outreach, and community partnerships to help people understand that HIV can affect anyone.

Marie is also a Gold Star Mother whose son, United States Air Force Staff Sergeant Kylle Jacob White, died while serving his country. Her experiences with loss, resilience, healthcare, domestic violence, and HIV have shaped a leadership style centered on compassion, authenticity, dignity, perseverance, and service.

The Foundation is governed by a volunteer board that provides oversight, accountability, financial stewardship, strategic guidance, and community connections. Current leadership includes:

Marie Niles — Founder and Executive Director
Provides organizational vision, program development, advocacy, public education, fundraising, partnership development, and day-to-day leadership.

Pastor Lisa Cimino — Board Chair
Provides board leadership, governance support, faith-community engagement, and strategic guidance.

Michael Cimino — Vice Chair and Treasurer
Supports financial oversight, organizational accountability, board operations, and long-term sustainability.

Michael Franklin — Board Member
Contributes community perspective, strategic support, outreach guidance, and

Funding Needs

Grant categories you're seeking

Aging and Seniors, Arts and Culture, Awards, BIPOC, Business, Capital Funding, Children, Climate Change, College Scholarship, Community and Economic Development, Community Services, Conflict Resolution, Disabilities, Disaster Relief, Domestic Violence, Education, Elementary Education, EMS and Homeland Security, Energy, Entrepreneurs and Startups, Environment and Conservation, Faith Based, Farming and Agriculture, Financial Assistance, Health and Medical, Higher Education, Homeless, Housing, In-Kind Support, Individual, International, Justice and Juvenile Justice, Literacy and Libraries, Mental Health, Municipalities, Nutrition and Food, Operating Support, Pets and Animal Wildlife, Preschool, Preservation, Quality of Life, Refugee and Immigrant, Research and Evaluation, Science, Secondary Education, Small Business, Social Justice, Special Education, Sports and Recreation, Students, Substance Abuse, Teachers, Technology, Transportation, Travel and Tourism, Tribal Nations, Veterans and Military, Women, Women-Owned Startups and Businesses, Workforce, Youth and At-Risk Youth

Funding needs

Bee HIV+ Foundation is seeking funding to expand its HIV education, prevention awareness, stigma-reduction, advocacy, and community support programs. Funding is needed to strengthen both direct program delivery and the operational infrastructure required to serve more individuals across Arizona and beyond.

Primary funding needs include educational materials, community outreach supplies, event expenses, venue costs, printing, digital campaigns, technology, transportation, volunteer support, and the distribution of prevention and resource information. Support is also needed for community presentations, health fairs, faith-based outreach, women-focused education, stigma-reduction campaigns, and partnerships that connect individuals with HIV testing, prevention, medical care, mental health services, and other community resources.

The Foundation is also seeking general operating support for staffing, program coordination, insurance, software, website development, communications, administrative expenses, data collection, evaluation, and nonprofit capacity building. These resources will allow Bee HIV+ Foundation to increase its reach, improve program consistency, document measurable outcomes, and build sustainable services.

Additional funding priorities include the Visibility Project, Trick, Treat or Test, the Bee Safe Initiative, digital HIV education campaigns, peer support and referral services, and long-term development of the Bee Well Center in Chandler, Arizona.

Funding will help Bee HIV+ Foundation reach people who are often overlooked in traditional HIV messaging, particularly women, heterosexual communities, communities of color, survivors of trauma or domestic violence, faith communities, and individuals who may not recognize their personal risk for HIV.

Website & Social Media