Hudson Pride Center is a 501(c)(3) non-profit community-based organization situated in Jersey City, one of the most vibrant and diverse cities in this country and home to the largest Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer/Questioning (LGBTQ) community in New Jersey. Hudson Pride was established in 1993 to serve as an advocate and social service provider for both the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities in Hudson County at a time when few organizations in our area were willing and able to do so, and more than 25 years later, we continue to deliver a wide array of services, programs, and events to meet their on-going health and social support needs.

Our current programs and services include:

• Social/educational groups for LGBTQ youth and for LGBTQ seniors;
• Specialized support groups for transgender individuals and for gay/bisexual men;
• HIV prevention support group for women of color (of any sexual orientation);
• Linkage to HIV care services for HIV-infected men who have sex with men, transgender women and women of color who have fallen out of HIV medical care or have never accessed such care;
• HIV treatment adherence counseling for HIV+ men who have sex with men, HIV+ transgender women and HIV+ women of color (of any sexual orientation);
• HIV Pre-Exposure Prevention (PrEP) counseling and linkage to PrEP healthcare services for HIV-negative gay/bisexual men and transgender women delivered in either English or Spanish;
• Transgender-affirming counseling for accessing necessary documentation for gender marker changes, hormone replacement therapy and gender affirming surgical interventions;
• Brief (4 session) support counseling for LGBTQ individuals to assess their counseling needs and to allow time to secure linkage to on-going counseling with a matched LGBTQ-affirming provider;
• LGBTQ-affirming service referrals, mentoring, and career development;
• LGBTQ intern program for BSW and MSW students and other disciplines, as appropriate;
• LGBTQ-focused community programs and events (e.g., delivering student-targeted HS and college presentations, hosting our annual LGBTQ youth prom, open-mic nights or monthly Lez-Fest gatherings, tabling at local cultural festivals, co-sponsoring Jersey City Pride and Transgender Day of Remembrance vigil, arranging HIV Testing and Health Screen events, etc.);
• LGBTQ youth-focused education focusing on issues related to HIV/STI prevention, alcohol/drug prevention, intimate partner violence, LGBTQ history, Healthy Relationships and Anti-bullying;
• LGBTQ-focused continuing professional education programs for health, academic and social service providers on topics such as Human Sexuality in LGBTQ-Affirming Care, HIV Care & Prevention, Minority Stress & Health Disparities, and LGBTQ Stigma and Oppression.

Hudson Pride is dedicated to improving not only individual lives but also the communities we serve each day through our advocacy efforts and on-going commitment to social and economic justice. We provide professional training and education to facilitate changes in attitudes and behaviors among service providers throughout the region who work with members of the LGBTQ and HIV/AIDS communities. We serve on task forces and other local working groups and assist governmental entities in conducting local needs assessments to better identify existing gaps in care that LGBTQ individuals may be experiencing through unintentional, yet still pervasive, institutional marginalization. We serve as the fiscal conduit for Jersey City Pride, enabling its organizers to hold this important festival that has been bringing our community together each year since 2001 to socialize, remember our history, embrace our present and ensure our future. We routinely mobilize our volunteer and client base in response to calls for action on important social issues such as transgender rights, LGBT non-discrimination legislation, and HIV funding.

Lastly, we want you to know that all our client services are provided for free as we know that gaining access to care and support should not depend upon one’s ability to pay but rather on need and opportunity. These are challenging times for our LGBTQ community. For every progressive step forward we take, a headwind of bigotry and oppression tries to push us backward. We would, therefore, welcome all who visit our webpage to consider donating to Hudson Pride so that we can not only continue to meet our clients’ current needs but also be well prepared to successfully respond to the inevitable new challenges our clients will likely face from an even more uncertain tomorrow. We were there in 1993 for our community in difficult times. We remain here for our community in these current difficult times. We will be here for our community in the uncertain times ahead. Your help will ensure that we can.