Ryan Lewis Starts Very Personal Non-Profit

Music producer Ryan Lewis, who is best known for pairing up with Macklemore, shared some extremely personal news on Tuesday in an attempt to better the world for others. Ryan Lewis revealed that his mom is HIV positive and that they have joined together, along with Macklemore and Construction for Change, to start a non-profit called the 30/30 Project. Lewis tweeted a link to the project's website saying, "My friends and family, I am pleased to share with you #The3030Project" along with a picture of himself and his mother.

The 30/30 Project's funding website includes a message from Lewis explaining his mother's story.

A huge part of what's made me who I am, is something I haven't talked about in interviews. If I could just take a few moments of your time, I'd love to tell you about the strongest woman that I know, my mom, Julie Lewis.

In 1984, my mom gave birth to my older sister, Teresa. Due to a complicated delivery, she needed a blood transfusion and at that moment, my mom had HIV+ blood put into her body. When she was finally diagnosed, she was given only a few years to live. By that time, she had already given birth to my sister Laura and me. We each had a 25% chance of being born HIV+, but we were extremely fortunate (today, the risk of a mother passing HIV to her baby is 2% or less if she is taking medication). Thanks to advanced medicine and healthcare available here in the U.S., my mom has lived despite her odds.

To honor the thirty years my mom has been a survivor, our family is raising funds to build health centers worldwide that will stand strong for at least thirty years. We're calling it the 30/30 Project.

Lewis goes on to explain that the project's first goal is to raise $100,000 to build a center in "Malawi, a place where 1 in 10 people are HIV+." After that goal is reached, the project will continue raising funds in order to build more centers. Lewis says, "What would 30 new health centers worldwide look like? Access to comprehensive healthcare for roughly 600,000 people (almost equal to the population of Seattle)!"

Lewis also created a video for the 30/30 Project which includes interviews with his mother and sister and shows how Lewis decided to use his fame to start what will hopefully become a life-changing non-profit.

Click here for more information on the 30/30 Project or to make a donation.