Media Credit: Photo Illustration by Grace Hromin | Master Photo Editor
Students can take advantage of a variety of resources around DC that promote sexual health.
As a busy student on a budget, it can be daunting and time-consuming to find the right resources to meet your sexual health needs.
There are many affordable and accessible resources around DC where you can get tested for sexually transmitted infections and receive birth control, emergency contraception, and information about safer sex practices. We’ve compiled information on five DC clinics and resource centers to help you better manage your sexual health when things like money, time, and fear of shame become obstacles:
Foggy Background Plan B
Run by members of the GW community, Foggy Bottom Plan B is a donation-based organization independent of the University. Anyone in the Foggy Bottom area, not just college students, can fill out a simple, confidential Google form to receive free emergency contraception within 24 hours. On the form, you can indicate your preferences for delivery, such as the semi-private space where you would like to meet for your pickup, whether you would like condoms delivered with your emergency contraception, and a preferred gender for the Foggy Bottom Plan Voluntary Delivery B. The organization provides the drug Preventza, which is taken as a single-dose pill to prevent pregnancy after birth control problems or unprotected sex. You can find detailed information about emergency contraception on the group’s website.
Family Planning, Carol Whitehill Moses Center
Located at 1225 4th St. NE, just two blocks from the NoMa-Gallaudet U subway station, this Planned Parenthood center offers services such as STI testing and treatment, multiple birth control methods including condoms internal and external, and LGBTQ+ resources such as hormone replacement therapy. If you don’t have health insurance or Medicaid, you can get information about other government-funded programs or lower fee scale options. On its website, you can make an appointment 24/7 without having to call the clinic, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on Sunday and Monday, until 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday and until 4:30 p.m. Thursday to Friday. .
Whitman-Walker Health Clinic
The Whitman-Walker Health Clinic, located at 1525 14th St. NW at Logan Circle, is a good option if you need care quickly and is just a three-minute walk from the 14th Street & Rhode Island Avenue bus stop DC Circulator. Through its donation-funded business model, this clinic is able to provide people with free rapid HIV tests and free STI self-test kits. You can also get free access to pre-exposure prophylaxis, commonly known as PrEP, a daily medication designed to protect high-risk demographics, like people who have anal sex, against HIV. Post-exposure prophylaxis, or PEP, is also available as a control treatment if exposure to HIV is suspected. The clinic is open Monday to Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. and Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 2:30 p.m. to 5 p.m.
HIPS
This non-profit organization was established in 1996 as a helpline and counseling service for people working in the sex industry. While HIPS has expanded to also offer harm reduction services and tools for addicts like Narcan, HIPS remains a valuable tool for anyone who engages in sex work. The HIPS Visitor Center is located at 906 H St. NE, a two-minute walk from the H & 8th St. NE Metrobus stop. The center provides resources ranging from showers, laundry and bathrooms to inclusive safer sex materials, drug testing kits and clinical services. The establishment is open from 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Monday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. from Tuesday to Thursday and on Friday from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
Sex is…
This DC-sponsored health campaign was launched in 2017 and aims to provide factual information via primarily online resources about sex, sexuality and sexual health to young people in the city in particular. You don’t need immediate medical attention to get answers about your own sexual health. Sex Is… is a great resource for non-emergency information, like how the digital world can influence our sex lives, advice on sexual assault and consent, and even a sex podcast. The campaign also offers free internal and external condoms for local delivery, and all you have to do is fill out a simple form. You can even browse local medical providers by services offered and service if you need in-person treatment or resources. Although this is primarily an online resource, you can find campaign resources in the HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Administration offices on the fourth floor of the DC Department of Health building at 899 North Capitol St. NE.
This article originally appeared in the November 15, 2021 issue of The Hatchet.
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