HIPS

HIPS was formed in 1993 by community representatives in response to the recognized need for specialized services for youth engaging in sex for gain in Washington, D.C. We have since grown into a comprehensive program providing a variety of services, education and advocacy to sex workers and the community.

HIPS is pleased to announce that it will host a legal fellow from the Ford Foundation in 2015. We are also thrilled to announce an unprecedented collaboration where this legal fellow will work alongside a HIPS Peer Educator Fellow and together they will work on HIV/AIDS policy issues for women, including transgender women, who exchange sex or use drugs in our community.  This is an innovative approach to policy work, combining legal expertise with community expertise, and represents a collaboration between the Ford Foundation, who is providing support for the legal fellow, and Brother Help Thyself, who is supporting the community fellow. 

HIPS promotes the health, rights, and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by sexual exchange and/or drug use due to choice, coercion, or circumstance. HIPS provides compassionate harm reduction services, advocacy, and community engagement that is respectful, non-judgmental, and affirms and honors individual power and agency. There have been great strides in policy work around HIV/AIDS in the District of Columbia. This opportunity has great potential to create change, improve lives, have impact and to address common barriers in accessing HIV prevention and HIV/AIDS related medical care, and address HIV/AIDS policy in Washington DC for women.  It also furthers our mission of personal and professional development for sex workers and drug users her in the city, and ensuring that those most affected by policies are included in dialogue about their lives.

HIPS would like to thank the Ford Foundation and Brother Help Thyself for making this innovative collaboration happen. In order to make this partnership a truly great success we need to raise $25,000 to provide health insurance and other basic benefits to our legal fellow and our peer educator.