HEALTH INITIATIVE FOR MEN
A Community Caring For Its Own

When the monkeypox virus, which broke out worldwide last year, was identified as a particular risk to sexually active gay men, one, if not the first, organization in Vancouver to offer testing and vaccination as soon as it became available was Health Initiative For Men (HiM), a West End based non-profit.

Executive Director aaron Purdie leads the team at West End based Health Initiative For Men.

The AIDS crisis that shook the gay community in the 1980s and ‘90s revealed many things about private, public, and institutional attitudes — few of them pleasant — to homosexuality and sexual diversity in general. Among the revelations was the problem of inequitable access to the healthcare system, which in some regards endures to this day. Numerous initiatives and organizations emerged from that crisis to address the challenge, including Vancouver Persons With AIDS (PWA), AIDS Vancouver, and the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS at St. Paul’s Hospital. However, more work needed (and needs) to be done on many fronts.

HiM, located in the heart of Vancouver’s gay village, was founded in 2008 as a grassroots initiative following years of discussion among gay men in Vancouver about the need for a stand-alone gay men’s health organization. By 2009, HiM had entered into a formal contract with the Vancouver Coastal Health Authority to facilitate the delivery of health promotion services to gay men. In 2014, HiM forged a partnership with the Fraser Health Authority to expand the reach of its health-based programming and services to the Fraser region – ultimately establishing five health centres and numerous health-based programs in the Lower Mainland.

Three years ago the organization expanded its services beyond the Lower Mainland to the Northern, Island, and Interior health regions.

With its home base still in the West End, HiM has matured from a small initiative to become a cornerstone for the health and well-being of gay, bi, and queer (GBQ) men and gender diverse people. Today, the organization collaborates on important research projects, offers primary and sexual health care, and engages with communities in a wide range of community health-based programming. Through the tireless work of a team of dedicated volunteers, HiM now offers a full spectrum of health-based programming and services to meet the sexual, mental, physical and social health needs of self-identified GBQ men and gender diverse people in British Columbia.

HiM’s health centres, as well as their anonymous testing events in the BC Interior, provide GBQ men and gender diverse people with HIV/STI prevention and treatment services.

Additionally, their mental health programs provide our communities with access to counselling and support. Peer counsellors work with clients on matters relevant to their mental health such as loneliness, anxiety, coming out, racism, self-esteem/body image, aging, sex, substance use-related issues, and more.

Physical and mental health programs at HiM provide GBQ men and gender diverse people with opportunities to take a more holistic approach to health, offered in a setting that cultivates a sense of connection and builds community.

Valuing GBQ men’s and gender diverse people’s ability to make informed decisions, HiM offers a wide variety of evidence-based, non-judgemental, and sex-positive programs and services, including peer counselling, vaccinations, and customized events and workshops, which range from yoga and dance to art and peer support groups.

In 2022, HiM, in partnership with Vancouver Coastal Health, launched a ground-breaking program focused on sexualized substance use. The PnP & Me program is harm reduction-based and offers participants counselling groups, peer-led drop-in spaces, and wrap-around case management. Participants set their own goals and receive incentives for attending the program and meeting their goals.

To learn more about and connect with HiM, visit their website here.