Crystal Meth and Communities of Color in New York City

Check out Terry Evans, Positive Health Project "Public Health Outreach Coordinator" speak about Crystal Meth and Communities of Color in New York City
Follow this Link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c8Avum59fTM

Supporting the Transgender Community

A significant number of transgender individuals live and work in the Chelsea/Clinton area. Many of them are sex workers who do not have access to health care services, that include services associated with gender transition. Multiple sexual contacts and self-administered hormone injections put this population at extremely high risk for HIV infection and reinfection.

PHP has developed one of the most comprehensive transgender harm reduction initiatives in the country. Our Transgender Initiative (TGI) employs transgender individuals to conduct outreach and provide services to transgender sex workers, substance users, and hormone injectors.

TGI distributes harm reduction materials that were created by transgender peer educators to teach safer injection practices to hormone users. It also runs support groups and syringe exchange hours exclusively for transgender individuals.

PHP's continued success in providing services to this extremely hard-to-reach and hard-to-retain population is attributable to its commitment to maximizing participant input. All transgender program services are the result of discussions between staff and transgender individuals.

How PHP sees Outreach to drug users and sex workers

A vital component of PHP's work is street outreach. Our outreach workers, who are themselves peers of the target population, meet sex workers and substance users on street corners and near drug selling locations. They distribute condoms, literature on HIV/AIDS, bleach kits, and instructions on condom use and safe injection practices, and respond to questions.
Additionally, outreach is conducted regularly in night clubs located throughout the Chelsea/Clinton area. There, PHP staff and volunteers provide young adults who engage in substance use and risky sexual behavior with condoms and educational materials about PHP's program services.

Outreach workers also conduct outreach in adult entertainment establishments, providing educational workshops specifically tailored to sex workers and their partners.

Why operate a syringe exchange?

According to studies conducted by the Chemical Dependency Institute of Beth Israel Medical Center, the rate of HIV infection in New York State among intravenous drug users enrolled in syringe exchange programs has been reduced by 50%. These programs educate participants about the dangers of sharing contaminated syringes and provide a gateway to drug treatment and HIV-related services.

PHP has been authorized by the State Department of Health to conduct needle exchange since 1995. The goal of this service is four-fold:

* Eliminate the need to share used syringes by providing injecting drug users with sterile syringes
* Reduce HIV transmission among substance users by helping them develop and maintain safer behaviors and providing supportive services such as nutrition education, health care and case management;
* Help substance users achieve and maintain stability of drug use and enhance their ability to achieve their personal goals; and
* Educate substance users about their personal responsibility in reducing the transmission of HIV and Hepatitis to others

Positive Health Project History

Since the summer of 1993 Positive Health Project (PHP) has assisted some of New York City's most challenged residents. PHP's participants include injecting drug users, sex workers, transgender individuals, people who are homeless or precariously housed, residents recently released from New York's correctional system and people addicted to crack/cocaine and other illicit substances. PHP offers its services in the heart of the Chelsea and Clinton communities, steps from Port Authority Bus Terminal, Times Square and Penn Station.

How to donate to Positive Health Project (PHP)

Do you want to help fund Positive Health Project to aid prevent the spread of HIV and Viral Hepatitis? Do you want to make sure under severed populations get access to life saving health services? Then please click on this text and it will transfer you to our donation site:

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What is Positive Health Project?

Our mission is to reduce the spread of HIV by providing health and prevention services designed for people who use drugs, including injection drugs users, club drug users, sex workers, transgenders, women and the homeless.

Our philosophy is based on harm reduction. We respect people who are using drugs and work with them to improve their quality of life and overall health. We work with people "where they're at."

Our programs assist people in preventing the spread of HIV and we provide services to people who are HIV positive. Positive Health Project is an advocate for substance users and for those who are HIV positive. We serve as a bridge to other services such as: drug treatment, medical care, housing and education.