HIPS After Dark: Engaging Sex Work Communities Through Overnight Mobile Outreach

Website

www.HIPS.org

How would you cultivate a deeper relationship with the community you’d like to serve?

HIPS assists female, male, and transgender people engaging in sex work and drug use in Washington, DC to lead healthy lives through a harm reduction model. From 11pm-5am, the HIPS van goes out to the “strolls” to provide condoms, syringe exchange, emotional support, and HIV testing, since we have found that sex workers are more likely to access services offered at the time they are working. Most poignantly, one sex worker told us that HIPS doesn’t “treat us like animals or waste, you save our lives!” We will cultivate a deeper relationship with the communities we serve by training and incorporating sex workers and drug users on our outreach van. Peer educators will gain skill sets like counseling skills and safer-sex knowledge, as well as financial compensation. Moreover, HIPS’ volunteer group will include the very community members we wish to assist, gaining knowledge about contemporary sex work as it is experienced on the ground. "Like" us on Facebook; Follow us on Twitter! @HIPSDC

How would you use the $1,000 to turn your idea into a reality?

We will train current and former sex-workers and drug users as peer educators to conduct our mobile outreach activities. Tangible barriers, like time constraints and money, prevent community members from having the resources to volunteer during our overnight initiatives. This grant will compensate for such barriers:
- $50/person x 6 people for 2 days of training = $300
- $75/person x 6 people for 3 nights of mobile outreach = $450
- $50/person x 5 people for 2 optional nights of mobile outreach = $250
All funds will go directly to our community members and are necessary to compensate for potentially lost wages. Our training session will be compressed to cater to the time constraints and personal experiences of our new peer educators.

Discussion

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