by SPEAKIN’ OUT NEWS with reporting from WWNO, WBHM, KFF Health News, and the Gulf States Newsroom.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — In a modest apartment not far from downtown, Walter Smith and his partner, David Austin, live on a razor’s edge. Both are living with HIV, and federal and nonprofit programs help keep their home, their care, and their lives from unraveling. But now, sweeping funding cuts under the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE)and proposed federal rollbacks threaten to dismantle the very safety net they depend on.
What the Numbers Now Say…