NAESM, Inc.

NAESM, Inc. is a 501(c) (3) non-profit organization located in Atlanta, GA. NAESM was founded in 1990 in order to address the lack of HIV/AIDS services being provided to Black gay men in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s. NAESM’s mission is to provide national and local leadership to address the myriad of health and wellness issues confronted by Black gay men through advocacy, services, and education. NAESM is one of the first African American community based non-profit organization to stand on the frontlines in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Atlanta, Georgia. The organization’s founders originally distributed condoms and safer sex messages at Atlanta bars and night clubs frequented by African American Men who have Sex with Men (MSM) and other areas where African American MSM were known to congregate: a practice that continues today.  

NAESM’s services include peer counseling; mental health and substance abuse counseling; psychosocial support; emergency rent assistance; utility assistance; food and clothing pantries; transportation assistance; education; free HIV and STD testing; risk reduction workshops; and capacity building assistance.  We provide community outreach at clubs, college campuses, and barbershops. We provide condom distribution at the office and through community outreach.

Specific services NAESM provides at its main site in Southwest Atlanta, as well as at a second NAESM location in the Grant Park area include:

· HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs targeted to high-risk groups; particularly African American young men who have sex with men (YMSM), African American men who have sex with men (MSM), and people living with HIV (PLWHIV); serving well over 1,000 individuals annually

· Case management, substance abuse counseling, mental health counseling and other support services for over 150 clients

· nSPIRE—a mentoring program for HIV positive young MSM

· A Resource Center for young MSM (under 29)

· A safety-net community based clinic that offers free HIV/STD health screenings to uninsured persons

· HIV Testing and Counseling to over 1500 persons per year

· STD Testing and Counseling to over 1000 persons per year

· Housing Services for over 100 persons living with HIV per year

While NAESM serves whomever presents at the agency seeking services, its intended beneficiaries are Black gay, bisexual and same-gender-loving men. NAESM local programming serves the 29-county metro Atlanta area, with particular focus on Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Clayton counties. Nationally, NAESM seeks to support capacity expansion among Black MSM-serving organizations, primarily through its annual African American MSM Leadership Conference on Health Disparities and Social Justice.