About Us
The PEER Center helps plan and implement successful, sustainable peer programs that improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS. We offer resources and support that help agencies and communities launch a peer program, or strengthen one that’s already in place. For a person facing an HIV diagnosis, we believe that peers can help close the gap between despair and hope for the future.
The PEER Center is a collaboration between the Boston University School of Public Health’s Heath and Disability Working Group and the Justice Resource Institute (JRI). We provide experience and expertise in implementing peer programs through three national peer education, training and capacity-building sites:
- Lotus Project Located in Oakland, CA–a collaboration between the Center for Health Training (CHT) and Woman Organized to Respond to Life-Threatening Diseases (WORLD)
- PACT Program Located within Harlem Hospital in New York, NY
- People to People Located in St. Louis and Kansas City, MO–a collaboration among the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter, Kansas City Free Health Clinic, and Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center of Missouri
The PEER Center is funded through the Health Resources and Services Administration’s HIV/AIDS Bureau (HRSA), which is a program within the federal U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (funded through the Minority AIDS Initiative)
The goal of HRSA’s Peer Education Initiative (2005-2010) is to improve HIV-related health outcomes for communities of color and reduce health disparities through HIV peer education by:
- Providing training and education to HIV peer educators
- Replicating successful peer education programs through training-of-trainers
- Building capacity in existing HIV/AIDS peer programs or in organizations developing a peer program
