BECAUSE WE CARE
Minority AIDS Project (MAP) is the first community-based HIV/AIDS organization established and managed by people of color in the United States. Archbishop Carl Bean and members of Unity Fellowship of Christ Church founded Minority AIDS Project in 1985.
MAP’s services and educational programs are community-wide and available to all people. However, from the beginning, the primary focus of our services and outreach has been to People of color communities in Central and South-Central Los Angeles. Until the doors opened at MAP, these communities had little or no real access to preventive education and essential health care services.
Archbishop Bean and the church congregation volunteered and began the work by providing a culturally competent continuum-of-care of AIDS-related services as well as providing the facts about HIV/AIDS to individuals and community groups who were interested. At the outset, the services met the needs of living with AIDS.
Today, MAP employs a diverse staff of committed professionals who are bilingual and come from all walks of life. The staff work is enhanced by the supportive talents of volunteers to serve the needs of our clients in Los Angeles County living with HIV/AIDS and families who are affected by this pandemic. MAP also provides prevention education through the HIV/AIDS testing program which is free and open to the public year-round.
MAP’s Services Include:
“Wherever you identify yourself sexually along God’s rainbow of sexuality, know that you are not in error. Homosexual, Lesbian, Bisexual, Heterosexual, Transsexual…you are not a mistake. God made you the way you are and God loves you just the way you are. So love yourself and know that you are very special!”
OUTREACH
Our programs address the needs of at-risk men and women in diverse cultural subgroups of the Black and Latino communities.
PREVENTION & EDUCATION
Health education is presented through a broad range of activities within the broad spectrum of cultures and neighborhoods in Los Angeles.
TESTING
Free rapid HIV testing is available without an appointment in our office and we offer simple Home Test Kits at no cost.
CASE MANAGEMENT
Through our unique continuum of care, new clients complete a comprehensive intake interview and are assessed to develop an individual service plan.