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Education 
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About
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Save the Dates - Volunteer Orientation and Training !!! Application deadline May 15th! Limited volunteer slots available! email: volunteercoordinator-at-HIPS-dot-Org for application form! |
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| HIPS Volunteer Orientation | June
1, 2008 from 1 - 5 pm |
| Program Training Sessions (all sessions mandatory) | June
2, 4, 9, 11 from 7 - 9 pm |
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 Click the picture to download the full page pdf fyler |
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Washington
Post By Susan Levine Washington Post Staff Writer Wednesday, September 5, 2007 (Link to Washington Post Article) |
 Tens of thousands of
condoms provided free by the District to curb HIV-AIDS have been
returned to the health department because of complaints that their
paper packaging is easily torn and could render the condoms ineffective.Demand at two distribution sites in Southeast set up by groups combating AIDS plummeted more than 80 percent after the condoms, in a mustard-yellow and purple wrapper, were introduced this year. More than 2,000 packets a week were scooped up in mid-March, but by late May, only 400 were being given away each week. Volunteers concerned about why interest had dropped began asking people who had picked up the condoms. They were told about packets ripping in purses or bursting open in pockets. As a result, many recipients said they had little confidence that the condoms would offer protection. In addition, expiration dates on some of the Chinese-made condoms were illegible. "People were saying, 'These packets aren't any good,' " said Franck DeRose, executive director of an educational organization called the Condom Project, one of those involved in the grass-roots distribution system. A coalition that includes the Condom Project sent back 100,000 condoms to the city, about 15 percent of what the city says has been passed out to groups. The city's effort to dispense up to 1 million condoms this year has drawn praise, but there has been little applause for the packets. The wrapper is emblazoned with the slogan "Coming Together to Stop HIV in D.C." Concerns arose almost immediately. In interviews yesterday, officials at nearly half a dozen organizations that had been dispensing the condoms said they had received negative feedback from clients. Many said that the packaging seemed shoddy, they said. "We're using them mostly for demonstration programs," said Cyndee Clay, executive director of HIPS, which helps sex workers in the city. Some people were suspicious about the way the wrappers look. Even before reports of ripping, youths involved with the group Metro TeenAIDS wondered why the wrappers weren't plastic or foil, like those sold in stores. "They doubted the authenticity of the condoms" and balked at taking them, executive director Adam Tenner said. "Distribution of those condoms has been really difficult," he said, and the nonprofit diverted funding from other programs to buy its own. "The question becomes, how do we fix this?" The city health department does not consider the situation a problem. "To date, we have not received any substantive complaints," spokeswoman Leila Abrar said in a statement, which says that the District has given out nearly 650,000 condoms through partnerships with 50 organizations. DeRose took issue with the department's position, saying that the groups handling the two high-volume distribution sites in Southeast tried to warn officials before sending back tens of thousands of packages. "There was no talk about [getting] a different condom," he said yesterday. "They said, 'This is what we have.' " The coalition, which launched a condom delivery pilot program last fall called Life Guard, again started buying condoms. Its supplies, made in India and Japan, are being rapidly depleted. Every week, nearly 2,000 free condoms are disappearing from bowls prominently displayed at a 24-hour laundromat and late-night fast-food restaurant. "The community spoke," DeRose said. The health department has taken note of the negative comments about the appearance of the D.C. condom's package. For its next big bulk buy, it will hold a "contest for new versions," according to Abrar's statement. |
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| HIPS Appears on WAMU 88.5 FM's "Metro Connection" | Friday December 9th 2005 |
| WAMU's
Stephanie Kaye speaks with Cyndee Clay,
Executive Director of
HIPS and sits in on a counseling session at the HIPS headquarters in
Adams Morgan. This is a great introduction to the important work HIPS
does. To listen to the program immediately click here (This is an mp.3 file. This should open with any mp3 capable player) To learn more click here to go to the WAMU web site |
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HIPS mission is to assist female, male, and transgendered individuals engaging in sex work in Washington, DC in leading healthy lives. Using a harm reduction model, HIPS’ programs strive to address the impact that HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, discrimination, poverty, violence and drug use have on the lives of individuals engaging in sex work.