The Ryan Center's Prevention Education and Outreach Program targets individuals in places where they congregate, including street corners, gay bars, bath houses, parks and selected areas throughout the community, to provide immediate individual counseling or small group presentations, as well as peer education and specially designed workshops.

The Program provides frank information about HIV/AIDS that will enable you to make the best, most informed choices. You will also learn how to avoid sexually transmitted diseases.

The Program meets the changing and growing needs of the community's HIV infected and at-risk residents by continually assessing where the greatest unmet needs are, as well as providing coordinated care. These activities result in contacting and engaging at-risk individuals with HIV prevention messages, introducing safer sex negotiation techniques, encouraging individuals to contemplate behavior modification, and providing harm reduction materials.

The Peer Training Institute (PTI) trains at-risk and community youth aged 14 to 22 to be effective HIV prevention peer educators with a focus on:

• HIV and STD prevention
• sexual and drug use decision making skills
• relationship and communication skills
• accessing adolescent services.

For further information about the Prevention Education and Outreach Program, please call: 212/769-7269.

Aggressive Prevention Education and Outreach efforts include:

• Peer Education
• Literature Distribution
• Linkages to Health Care Services
• Street and Community Outreach Intervention Activities
• Outreach Minivan
• Group Level Interventions
• Informational Presentations
• Workshops at Community Events