It is with great pleasure that we write an introduction to this eagerly anticipated special issue that is devoted to challenges and interventions among people of color with HIV/AIDS. Our goal is to provide a window into how social work has contributed to the development of innovative, culturally appropriate prevention and treatment approaches and to the empowerment of people of color. The challenge of addressing HIV/AIDS in the United States remains as multifaceted as the virus. Although there has been an increase in the number of individuals who are tested and screened for HIV and in the number of people who have access to medications (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2006), a treatment regimen or vaccine to prevent or cure HIV/AIDS has not yet been found. The AIDS phenomenon is considered as a set of overlapping, cross-cutting local epidemics, each with its own configuration of risk factors, at-risk populations, incidence, and prevalence. Some of the overarching issues are related to increasingly high rates of poverty, teenage pregnancy, substance abuse, and crime. These factors interact to contribute to endangering the quality of life for people of color throughout the world. HIV infection occurs against a backdrop of longstanding sociocultural issues and challenges in affected communities. These challenges include macro forces of racism, sexism, homophobia, and poverty as well as fear and stigma (Cargill, Stone, & Robinson, 2004). These forces fuel not only the high transmission rate, but also the complex array of responses to the virus. The interplay of these factors affects every aspect of the HIV/AIDS epidemic among people of color: prevention, access to health care, mental health support, treatment, treatment adherence, and participation in clinical research. Superimposed on this matrix are the cultural contexts of risk behavior and cultural norms around sexual and other behaviors, including gender roles (Valleroy et al., 2000). On many fronts, the particulars of race, gender, geography, income level, and sexual orientation play powerfully into a person's risk for HIV. In May of 2009, the CDC reported that 63 interventions have been rigorously evaluated and have demonstrated efficacy in reducing HIV, STD incidence, HIV-related risk behaviors, or in pro-rooting safer behaviors. However, in its previously published review of 25 years of AIDS prevention and treatment research (1981 to 2006), the CDC (2006) noted that we are encountering obstacles in diffusing these evidence-based interventions to at-risk populations. At the same time, in an examination of the 25-year legacy of AIDS prevention and treatment published for the National Minority AIDS Council, Fullilove (2006) reported that the most striking issue of this time period is the racial divide of HIV/AIDS. Several factors influence the racial divide of HIV/ AIDS. First, indigent members of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American populations may choose to forgo health or other necessities to survive. Thus they may delay medical care, including seeking testing and treatment for HIV/AIDS, in favor of obtaining basic human needs. Second, in the United States, women comprise about 27 percent of HIV infections, up from about 8 percent in 1984. In many countries around the world, women already represent over 50 percent of HIV infections. Rates of sexually transmitted infections among youths and teenage pregnancy have risen over the past several years--both indicators that we may soon see a corresponding rise in HIV infections among both young women and men. And, although generally considered a chronic manageable condition in the United States, HIV continues to be the leading cause of death among African American women ages 25 to 34 years. During the same period, it was the third leading cause of death for black women ages 35 to 44 years and the fourth leading cause of death for Hispanic women ages 35 to 44 years (CDC, 2006). …