Rotten timing indeed though.

A couple of other things came to me in my sleep. I think you live in a good-sized city, right? Would any local AIDS organizations help, perhaps?

I suspect that the granting organizations assume that even people who don't belong to a religion, still have some sort of religious heritage which they don't mind being temporarily involved with so that their church or whatever can help with fundraising. (I don't even know where to start fixing that sentence so will leave it as-is.) That's not the case with you, I know; but is there a Humanist organization nearby which could help? I don't know if that would fit your philosophy or not, just a thought.