Gay, Bi, Queer, Gender-Diverse & Healthy
Back in the day, a grassroots organization with savvy took shape. The West End is the proud home of Heath Initiative for Men (HIM), where it all began. When HIV struck and GBQ men were experiencing layers of trauma, HIM created community, health, and services, one man at a time.
Decisions for Wellness, Rooted in Research
“HIM clinics provide HIV and STI prevention and treatment for all members of the GBQ and gender-diverse community,” Executive Director, Aaron Purdie, explains. “Our health centres and testing opportunities are across the province, including Davie Village. Our West End centre is the busiest STI treatment clinic anywhere in B.C. We partner with all levels of government to provide wholistic services, including counselling, harm reduction substance use education, and opportunities to form community connections. HIM is a peer-led organization with a track-record of service provision success and sustainability. Our services are appreciated, supported, and operated by the community we serve.”
Physical & Mental Health Supports
As a registered Canadian charity, HIM works with government funding sources and private donors to provide fixed-site and pop-up HIV/STI testing and other essential health and wellness tools. Volunteers provide non-judgmental, sex-positive resources for education, evaluation, and representation. Built around the values of quality information, researched solutions, strengths-based positivity, and collaboration across all aspects of the GBQ and gender-diverse population, HIM contributed to the successful reduction in the historically high rate of medical avoidance due to trauma fears.
“We offer vaccination services for mpox — the West End has seen our highly effective social marketing campaigns at bus stops and other local spots with our distinctive logo and provocative ads. We reach men where they’re at, as members of the community ourselves. This isn’t an expert organization looking for a target population — we’re a family of community members figuring out effective and innovative solutions to the physical, social, and mental health challenges we’re all facing together. We have been strategic, focused, and top-notch in our professionalism, right from the start, and we’re seeing the results in our record treatment and facilities access numbers,” Purdie said.
Building Healthy Lives Together
If you are looking for a place that’s safe and understands, HIM is waiting to meet you. The days of toughing out life alone as a gay man are gone. If isolation has crept up on you and loneliness, anxiety, body image struggles, aging, or substance use are interfering with your health and wellness, HIM has an understanding ear and compassionate solutions.
HIM’s original mission, starting in Vancouver’s West End, was health for community members who were isolated and facing challenges alone. Fast forward more than fifteen years and HIM is the go-to source for health information, testing, clinical services, and empathetic support in the GBQ/gender-diverse population. Under the banner ‘Host, Promote, Support’, HIM’s peer-led, non-profit corner-stone location in the West End stretches its influence around the entire province. Reach out today to find the help you need, close to where you live, work, and play.