Our New Home

Update: June 10, 2011

Greetings!

We are thrilled to share highlights of our new, beautiful and expanded home at 446 West 33rd Street. We moved during the weekend of April 15 and we were open for services starting on Tuesday, April 19. This is our eighth week in our new home and we continue to receive praise from clients, volunteers, staff, board members and supporters.

Some additional and exciting events also recently occurred. On Sunday, May 15, we hosted our largest fundraiser—the 26th Annual AIDS Walk New York. Close to 45,000 walkers braved the rainy weather and helped to raise $6.2 million. Amazing! We are incredibly grateful to the walkers, volunteers, celebrities and sponsors who made the event a great success. We made sure everyone was welcome to visit us; and in fact, have already provided a few tours to people who attended the Walk.

We marked the 30th year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on June 5 by opening our home to KUDOS, the annual volunteer reception. We
honored Larry Mass, MD, one of GMHC’s six founders, who was a first responder and continues in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Larry
shared heartfelt thoughts about the courageous pioneers who began as volunteers in the epidemic. His remarks were inspiring
not only to those who have been volunteering for a long while, but to the new volunteers who didn’t know what activism looked like 30 years ago. Larry has remained a gentle revolutionary and unwavering hero to us all.

Now as we enter the month of LGBT Pride, we are proud to celebrate our new home because we are grateful to have moved, we are grateful to move forward with our growing services and programs, and above all, we are grateful to share our new home with our clients and all who connect to us. Our new home is a beacon of hope filled with new opportunities as we continue to provide the best care possible. We are proud of the expanded new space, larger dining room, Keith Haring food pantry program and new pharmacy service. Plus, we have seen a 32% increase in new clients, which means we are able to help more people with HIV/AIDS have healthier lives. Health + Hope = Pride!

Please join us at our Pride Open House on June 27. Thank you and hope to see you soon.

Marjorie Hill, PhD
Chief Executive Officer

Highlights from 446 West 33rd Street

The larger dining room has spectacular Keith Haring artwork decorating the walls, with thanks to our friends at the Keith Haring Foundation, and a 94-foot-wall of windows overlooking the northern part of Manhattan. The room is bright, welcoming and cheerful. The kitchen has all new, state-of-the-art equipment with the ability to prepare 30% more hot and nutritious meals to our clients. Even with the packing, moving and settling into a new home, healthy and delicious hot meals are being prepared and served—Monday through Thursday for lunch, and Friday for dinner.

The increase of space by approximately 40,000 square feet is an upgrade in quality. We were fortunate to receive over $4.6 million
worth of furniture from the departing tenant, WNET. Client Services has reported that we are serving more new clients than ever. The Legal Department is better able to serve clients as their offices are now in close proximity to Housing and Benefits programs. At recent meetings with CEO Marjorie Hill, the overwhelming majority of clients have reported that they are deeply satisfied with the new location.

News from the GMHC Center for HIV Prevention

HIV prevention and testing services are currently housed in offices at West 33rd Street and the former building on West 24th Street while construction is being completed. The mobile testing van continues to travel the boroughs to offer free HIV testing as well. Community outreach for testing is also on the rise. The new GMHC Center for HIV Prevention will be opening on July 1, at 224 West 29th Street, and will include the brand-new Geffen Testing Center, MOMS Pharmacy and Community Health Center. Stay tuned for more details about the ribbon cutting ceremony!

Please join us for our Pride Open House — Monday, June 27

 Questions?

If you have any questions about our updates, please call Krishna Stone in the Communications Department at (212) 367-1016 or send an e-mail to krishnas@gmhc.org.