Adrianne Jackson, 39, regularly gets tested for HIV after witnessing a family member contract the virus.  

“That’s what made it possible for me to understand how it’s contracted and where to get tested,” Jackson said. 

Thanks to an HIV prevention clinic put on by the Aliveness Project and the Indigenous Peoples Task Force at the American Indian Center on Thursday, Jackson was able to get her test for free. 

But free clinics like these are in jeopardy after the Trump administration has threatened to cut $700 million in funding for HIV prevention from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The move would affect hundreds of clinics and organizations nationwide.

“If they did that it’d be a horrible decision,” said Jackson. “Events like this make it possible for people who don’t know where to get tested to get help.”

The federal cuts come as two other Minnesota nonprofits, Rainbow Health and the African American AIDS Task Force, closed last year, in part due to state funding cuts. The Aliveness Project took over case management for many of those clients.

The south Minneapolis nonprofit has worked for 40 years to help people living with HIV through case management, food and housing support, free testing and low-cost medications.

The Aliveness Project receives nearly $700,000 a year from the CDC, primarily for HIV prevention work, such as the free clinics, said development manager Sonya Bieza. 

That work is a cost-effective way to help slow the spread of HIV, she said. 

“It’s just such a slap in the face,” she said. “A lifetime of medical costs for a person living with HIV can be in excess of $500,000 — who has $500,000?”

Minnesota has close to 10,000 people living with a HIV diagnosis, according to the state Department of Health. The state estimates another 1,100 Minnesotans have HIV but are unaware of their status. 

A report released by the agency last year showed 324 new infections statewide in 2023, which was a 24% increase from 2022 and the highest increase in more than a decade.

New HIV cases disproportionately affect communities of color, with 66% of new cases being nonwhite patients. Men who have same-sex sexual relations and people who use intravenous drugs are much more at risk of contracting the virus.

The HIV prevention and care team with the Indigenous People’s Task Force is in the fourth year of a five-year contract with the CDC that pays the organization $441,000 per year. Calvin Hylton, the team’s HIV program manager, said the funding allows them to target their HIV prevention efforts and resources on Native American adults who use intravenous drugs.

The loss of funding for that last year would be devastating, and derail the progress they’ve made over the last four years, Hylton said.

“Our program tests on average over 700 people each year for HIV and connects people living with HIV to critical resources to decrease their viral load,” he said. “Our piece of that effort would be completely disrupted and put our community in jeopardy and at risk for another HIV outbreak.”

At Thursday’s clinic, Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said the federal funding cuts aren’t just hitting public health programs. He cited a letter from the Trump administration weeks ago threatening to cut all federal funding to the city.  

“We’re talking about $70 million,” Frey said. “This is money for things like emergency management, this is money that supports our bomb squad … this is money for affordable housing and shelters and health care for our communities.”

Another letter came the next day rescinding many, but not all, of the proposed cuts, which the mayor said illustrates what state and local agencies are contending with. 

“We’re all kind of left scratching our heads about what in the world is going on,” he said. “The decisions that are coming down are neither wise nor smart, and they certainly aren’t done in the best interest of the communities that we all are charged with serving and keeping safe and healthy.”

Bieza said she has heard from people who come into their clinic that they’re scared of losing access to the services available at the Aliveness Project. But, she said, despite the uncertainty, the clinic will remain open. 

“We want people to know we’re still here, we’re still open and we’re going to figure this out,” she said. “We’re just leaning on our community more than ever.”

Minneapolis school board members on Tuesday are expected to detail their plans to close a $75 million gap for next school year. District leaders have signaled already that school nutrition and special education will be affected. Some layoff notices have already been sent.

Officials in recent months have also been examining the district’s building use for possible savings. They’ve estimated Minneapolis Public Schools is operating now at 65 percent of the enrollment the buildings could ideally support, though district leaders haven’t said whether they plan to close buildings.

Now the state’s fourth-largest district, Minneapolis has struggled for years with budget deficits driven largely by shrinking enrollment. Last year as the district faced an even larger budget gap of $110 million, it drew from its reserves, cut jobs and left nearly 5 percent of its open staff positions unfilled to make ends meet. Some of the cuts included positions in finance, human resources and cleaning staff.

Minnesota’s school funding system is based on a per-pupil formula, so when kids choose to learn elsewhere,the thousands of dollars in state and federal funds that go with them is spent elsewhere.

Student counts rose slightly this year to about 29,000 according to records collected by the state Department of Education, but that’s still down roughly 20,000 students from 2000. The district also took a significant enrollment hit during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier this week, district leaders said they were planning cuts to special education assistants and were restructuring school nutrition sites, but were attempting to avoid getting rid of major programs that students interact with directly. 

“Funding for some school-based programs and staffing may see slight declines but we are pleased to share that there are no complete eliminations proposed to student-facing programs in school allocations,” Deputy Superintendent Ty Thompson told board members on Tuesday.  

School budgets struggle across Twin Cities region

While the Minneapolis district struggles are well-known, a recent survey of Twin Cities area school districts shows many other school systems struggling to close gaps.

The survey by the Association of Metropolitan School Districts shows all but a few districts dealing with deficits, many in the millions of dollars. 

Added together, districts expect to see a shortfall of $280 million. That would slip to $264 million if Gov. Tim Walz’s budget proposal is approved. Those numbers are slightly better than the more than $300 million in expected shortfalls districts reported last year.

St. Paul, now the state’s second largest district behind the Anoka-Hennepin schools, faces a $51 million shortfall.

Minneapolis school leaders say they are moving forward with budget plans, although board members worried aloud recently about what might happen if the federal government cuts spending on special education or Title 1 — funding that supports children from low-income homes. 

“What would be the reality if Title 1 is taken away?” board member Adriana Cerrillo asked at a recent meeting. “I hope that we are thinking about that.”

“We are monitoring,” said Ibrahima Diop, the district’s chief financial officer. “It would be devastating across the country … we would have a budget shortage of about $25 million that is right now in schools.”

Copper wire theft continues to be a growing issue in Minneapolis, leaving residents in the dark both near Lake of the Isles and in Stevens Square.

“It’s been hard with the darkness,” said Arden Haug, pastor of Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church.   

 Most of the lights surrounding Lake of the Isles Lutheran Church have been dark for months.

“We’re concerned when people walk out and there is complete darkness out here,” said Haug.

Haug said it is a safety issue and an especially big one during Lent.

“We told everyone to keep their Christmas lights on as long as possible,” said Haug.

“One night of theft equals about one week of public works repair to follow up on that theft,” Park Board Commissioner Elizabeth Shaffer told WCCO back in December.

Since then, Shaffer said the problem around Lake of the Isles has gotten even worse.

The city said it had repaired the lighting in both 2023 and 2024 around Lake of the Isles. However, the majority of the wire around the lake has once again been stolen.

Copper wire theft is also a problem in Stevens Square. Neighbors on Clinton Avenue said none of their streetlights work.

A spokesperson with the City of Minneapolis said eight blocks of the neighborhood have suffered streetlight wire damage and theft. All told, roughly 15 miles of below-ground wiring is missing throughout Minneapolis, according to the city, with streetlight wiring repair costs between $30,000 to $40,000 per mile.    

The city said they are testing ways to harden the bases of streetlights. They have also used aluminum wire for lights, marked with the message “no scrap value.”

Despite the markings, even those wires have been swiped.

“It would be great to have lights. We would also feel a lot safer at night because even though we can think that it’s a very safe neighborhood, there’s still carjackings, there are people that are concerned about every time they go out at night and park in this neighborhood,” said Haug.