The Site

In 2011, APLA opened its newest site, the APLA Health & Wellness Center in Baldwin Hills. The site offers a comprehensive range of services, including HIV prevention programs, HIV and STD testing and treatment, key linkages to health care services, and a range of other programs.

The Context

The community surrounding the new site is one of the most under-resourced in Los Angeles County and is particularly hard-hit by HIV/AIDS. Many who are infected with the disease do not even know it, significantly raising the chances of infection via unprotected sex.

Ninety-five percent of South L.A. residents are African American or Latino – two of the groups highest at risk for HIV infection. In fact, African Americans account for more new HIV infections, AIDS diagnoses, and HIV-related deaths than any other racial or ethnic group in the U.S., and Latinos now comprise nearly a quarter of all new HIV infections.

Many residents, regardless of HIV status or sexual orientation, face considerable roadblocks to accessing services, including lack of funds for health insurance, lack of citizenship documentation, language and cultural barriers, inadequate transportation, and pervasive stigma related to race, sexual orientation, gender identity, or HIV status.

The Services

The APLA Health & Wellness Center seeks to stem the tide of new HIV infections by linking those who are positive to health care and by providing a wide range of wellness programs aimed at battling addiction, reducing stigma, and bolstering economic empowerment.

Site staff will work closely with a network of community partners to enhance and strengthen the health care and social service resources available in Baldwin Hills and throughout the wider South Los Angeles region.

Programs and Services Include:

  • The African American Gay Men’s Health Initiative (AAGHMI), offering group and individual HIV prevention programming to men of color who have sex with men.
  • The Crystal Methamphetamine Program which uses a harm-reduction approach aimed at reducing or eliminating crystal meth use, one of the key drivers of HIV infection.
  • Mpowerment, our youth HIV prevention program for young, gay, bisexual, or questioning men.
  • The Red Circle Project is the only HIV prevention program in Los Angeles County that specifically provides services to the Native American / Alaska Native community.
  • Project TND (Toward No Drug Abuse) is a group-level intervention that seeks to reduce or eliminate substance use and HIV risk among young gay men of color.
  • HIV Testing and counseling, which seeks to identify those already living with HIV/AIDS and link them to life-sustaining care.

Location
APLA Health & Wellness Center
3743 South La Brea Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90016
323.329.9900

Building Hours
Monday through Friday from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM, and Saturday from 12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.
HIV Testing hours are Tuesday through Friday from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM, and Saturday from
12:00 PM to 5:00 PM.

The 6,800-square-foot site also offers a range of conference spaces, for use at no cost by other community organizations, service providers, and health and wellness groups.