Macklemore And Ryan Lewis Reveal Lewis’s Mom HIV Positive: Launch The 30/30 Project, See Macklemore’s Announcement Here [VIDEO]

Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, the Grammy-winning hip hop duo, launched a nonprofit organization, the 30/30 Project, built around Lewis’s Mom’s story. Ryan Lewis revealed on his Twitter on Tuesday, April 22, that his mom, Julie Lewis, is HIV-positive. He tweeted the news as part of an announcement about the 30/30 Project, which he created with his mom and Macklemore."A huge part of what's made me who I am, is something I haven't talked about in interviews, until now," Lewis tweeted, with a link to the fundraising page for the project. Macklemore also made a video announcing the project, which can be seen below.

A longer explanation appears on the organization's official site. "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," Lewis wrote on the 30/30 Project page. "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." Thanks to the miracle of modern healthcare and HIV medications, Julie Lewis is alive today.

Lewis then writes about what the purpose of the 30/30 Project is: "To honor the 30 years my mom has been a survivor, our family is raising funds to build health centers worldwide that will stand strong for at least 30 years," Lewis explains. "We're calling it the 30/30 Project." The goal is to raise $100,000 to build a health care center in the Neno District of Malawi, Africa, an area where 1 in 10 people are HIV-positive. That will hopefully be followed by three clinics in Kenya and a training center in Uganda. Donors will receive gifts depending on how much they contribute: rewards include T-shirts, tote bags, signed Macklemore & Ryan Lewis merchandise, and concert tickets. The Seattle-based nonprofit group Construction for Change has signed on as a partner to the 30/30 Project.