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Allies for Health and Wellbeing is a Pittsburgh-based nonprofit that provides inclusive holistic care by recognizing their clients’ full-lived experience. By removing financial barriers and stigma, they ensure everyone can access the care they need while building trusting relationships with each client.
Founded in 1985 as the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, the organization opened a clinic on Penn Avenue when they rebranded as Allies for Health and Wellbeing in 2017. This clinic is an outpatient office that delivers primary medical and specialty care to people who experience stigma and marginalization in traditional medical settings, including LGBTQ+ folks, PoC, those who are underinsured, or not insured at all. This clinic sees as many as 40 patients a day, providing a range of care that includes routine gynecological care, MAT, STI testing, gender-affirming care, and much more. At Allies for Health and Wellbeing, they pride themselves on providing integrated care by incorporating traditional clinic services with other client services.
Client Services encompasses a variety of supportive services including case management, behavioral health, Emergency Financial Assistance, food pantry, transportation assistance, a legal program, linkage to care coordination, and housing programs.
“Our three major goals are keeping people engaged in medical care, attempting to help people attain stability, and helping clients achieve optimal health outcomes,” says Jacque DeRubbo, Director of Clinical Services.
As the organization has grown, Allies has also been able to grow the number of therapists on staff as well as the kinds of clients they can serve, including individuals from the community at large, STI/HIV trauma-based intervention, acceptance and commitment therapy, gender-affirming care, and other evidence-based interventions.
The Community Health program at Allies is focused on educating people about prevention and treatment of STIs, PrEP, PEP, and more. They offer free testing in the community and can set up testing sites in libraries, community centers, universities, parks, and wherever the need might be. They even have a mobile testing van they use to spread awareness about their services.
Allies for Health + Wellbeing is also currently organizing a Community Advisory Council to provide feedback on Allies’ programs and services to drive quality improvement activities and help staff stay connected to the communities they serve. If you are interested in getting involved with the CAC, please visit the alliespgh.org to learn more and apply!
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