Morris Brown College, which was once a groundbreaking college in Atlanta and one of the few HBCUs with a black founder, has seen some major struggle in the past few years. However, they seem to be on the incline with three-year $900 million grant to stem HIV infections among young black adults.

HBCU Digest reports that this is the second such award for the college in the last two years. The money will be used to launch seminar-style education sessions on campus with a focus on substance abuse prevention among college-age youths to prevent risky sexual behaviors.

The grant was reportedly part of a national enterprise created by the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration targeting HBCUs as service delivery partners in vulnerable areas.

“It is part of the Morris Brown College legacy to reach out and help persons in our community that are most at risk”, said Dr. Stanley Pritchett, president. “The Cache Plus Project is an opportunity for us to continue to collaborate with community based leaders and advocates to help curb an epidemic that negatively impacts our youth by providing prevention education and access to supportive services.”

Morris Brown College was established in 1816 and is one of the only HBCUs, which was founded by African Americans. It has become a leading institution in the program since 2014 to help public health outcomes among the youth in Fulton and DeKalb counties.

The Greater Atlanta metropolitan area has scarily high rates of HIV infections. The state of George ranks second in United States in the rate of new HIV diagnoses. Only 73 percent of people in the Atlanta metro area who have HIV know it, but that is because not enough people are getting tested for the virus. (The national average is 87 percent.)

The program at Morris Brown plans to have more than 400 participants by 2017.

(Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons)