Nonprofit to Serve Sex Workers and Drug Users on H Street NE

A city organization created to aid sex workers and drug users will open a new drop-in center in Ward 6.

The nonprofit HIPS is planning to move from Brookland to H Street NE in January, executive director Cyndee Clay said. The group that conducts outreach to sex workers on health, safety and housing will add drug treatment and mental health services to its offerings at 906 H St. NE.

Clay said her staff is looking forward to addressing reports of “street-based sex work” and drug use on H Street NE.

“Those are things that we help with,” she said. “It means a referrals to HIPS is just around the corner.”

HIPS was founded in 1993 to serve “individuals and communities impacted by sexual exchange and/or drug use due to choice, coercion or circumstance.” They serve 75 to 100 people of all ages per week.

HIPS, which signed a five-year lease in the two-level, 6,500-square-foot building, plans to reach out to ANC 6A and 6C in the coming months, Clay said.

“I bet we can relieve a lot of problems we see on H Street, rather than contribute to them,” she said.