Metro TeenAIDS runs a diverse set of outreach, education, advocacy and community-level programs aimed at helping young people at risk of HIV infection and supporting those who are already affected by HIV/AIDS.

To find out more about our programs, please click on one of the following links.

• HIV Counseling and Testing and Care Advocacy (Youth Connections)
• Outreach and Education Services
  • Freestyle Drop-In Center
  • StreeTeam and Young Women of Color Council- Peer Education Program
  • HIV Prevention Education in Schools
• Training
• Testing Social Marketing Campaign

HIV Counseling & Testing and Care Advocacy

HIV Counseling and Testing

Metro TeenAIDS currently provides HIV testing services for Children’s National Medical Center’s Adolescent Clinic, Ophelia Egypt Youth Clinic at Planned Parenthood in Anacostia, as well as at Freestyle. New programming includes expanded testing services to homeless youth and youth living in shelters as well as our new Friday night van outreach to youth on the streets (late night 10pm - 2am).

Care Advocacy (Youth Connections)

Our team of young professionals is trained to connect HIV positive young people to life-saving care. Through our Youth Connections program and our close relationship with Children’s National Medical Center, MTA staff are able to provide continuing support to HIV positive teens and young adults.

Outreach and Education Services

Metro TeenAIDS has one of the sharpest teams of young professionals in the country. We’ve been featured in a number of magazines and honored by national organizations for our work. We believe in giving young people the tools, the education and the skills to end the HIV epidemic. Trained Outreach Workers and peer educators bring important information out to those young people who need it most.

“Freestyle” Drop-In Center

Open from 4-8 every weekday, young people come for a safe place to hang out with their peers while learning skills and doing educational activities that help them to protect themselves and their peers from HIV! The center generally hosts 15 to 25 youth a night. Special activities include “Where my girls at?” - our Wednesday night group for young women, “Express Yourself”- a night where youth design T-shirts and other works of art that promote HIV prevention messages and “Floetic” - our Friday night open mike where youth can perform rap, poetry, singing and more.

Peer Education Program

This program focuses on leadership development and peer education for youth from local high schools. Peers go through rigorous training on how to talk to their peers about HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, pregnancy and much more. The Peer Educators consist of two groups: the StreeTeam and the Young Women of Color Leadership Council. These young people get the message out to young people that adults just can’t reach! Plus, for many of the young peer educators, working at Metro TeenAIDS is their introduction to the working world and all that comes with it - being on time, following through on your word, working as a team. The work they do is truly remarkable.

HIV Prevention Education in Schools

MTA and City Year’s HOPE team are educating youth in 20 DCPS schools by facilitating the Making Proud Choices curriculum. Making Proud Choices is a Center for Disease Control approved curriculum that educates through interactive activities, such as role-playing, brainstorming, and small group discussions. Participants will gain an enhanced understanding of HIV/AIDS and its affect on our communities and the role they can play in prevention and support for those affected. MTA is delivering MPC! to over 3000 DCPS students for the 2007-2008 school year. A study conducted concluded that students who completed the MPC! program during the 2005-2006 school year exhibited positive behavior changes.

Training

From “First Aid” to “grant writing”; from our “Train-the-Trainers” to “Effective Outreach through the Internet”, Metro TeenAIDS has sought to leverage resources that will benefit the entire community - youth, schools, community based organizations, and faith based organizations. This past year we were able to provide many local providers with trainings on the Making Proud Choices! curriculum. This curriculum includes eight informational and skills building sessions - proven to be effective at protecting young people from HIV.

Social Marketing Campaign

Metro TeenAIDS is implementing a community level intervention designed to change youth attitudes about HIV testing, increase access and utilization of HIV testing by youth and enhance the capacity and expertise of HIV counseling, testing, and referral service providers serving high risk heterosexual adolescents and young adults of color ages 13-24 in Wards 5, 6, 7 and 8. This successful social marketing campaign, designed to reduce HIV transmission among adolescents and young adults, will actively engage the target group in the planning process, create mechanisms for influence in the creating and framing of positive messages and provide leadership opportunities during the implementation.