Philly AIDS Thrift was born out of a love for junk and an activist spirit, says Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou, cofounder and executive director of the nonprofit thrift store.
“I think we’ve done a pretty good job creating this safe space for people,” Kallas-Saritsoglou says. “It’s a little bit more than a thrift store; it’s a real communal space.”
Located at 710 South 5th Street, Philly AIDS Thrift is an eclectic, artsy retailer that doubles as a local haven for LGBTQ folks and HIV-positive people. Over the last 20 years, Philly AIDS Thrift’s activism and philanthropy have resulted in more than $5 million in donations to HIV/AIDS nonprofit service organizations in the Delaware Valley.
“That’s from selling toasters and T-shirts and used books,” explains Michael Byrne, board president of Philly AIDS Thrift. The donations come from the proceeds of both the thrift store and Philly AIDS Thrift @ Giovanni’s Roomi, the oldest LGBTQ and feminist bookstore in the country, which sits at 345 South 12th Street.
We have to come together and actually be a community. We have to rely on each other.”
— Christina Kallas-Saritsoglou, Philly AIDS Thrift
Previously, Philly AIDS Thrift donated exclusively to AIDS Fund Philly. But in 2014, it created its own grants program for local organizations providing HIV prevention, education and support services. The program has awarded more than 200 grants to more than 50 organizations.
In February, Philly AIDS Thrift announced this year’s grant winners: 34 nonprofits received $358,085 to continue their work. The next grant application cycle opens in October.
Both Byrne and Kallas-Saritsoglou say these grants are more important than ever in today’s political climate. Funding uncertainty abounds under President Donald Trump’s administration and marginalized groups are facing backlash.
“We have to come together and actually be a community,” Kallas-Saritsoglou says. “We have to rely on each other.”
Here’s some of this year’s grant awardees, the work they do and how they plan to spend their grand funding.
Prevention Meets Fashion
Prevention Meets Fashion is a sexual health education nonprofit founded in 2020 by Nhakia Outland, a community social worker.
Outland, who is also the executive director, says her organization uses fashion advocacy to increase sexual health knowledge among Black people and other communities of color, as well as among LGBTQIA+ and nonbinary communities.
“We recognize that there’s a barrier in our city, that a lot of folks are not understanding what comprehensive sex education is,” Outland says. “Everyone’s teaching it differently, if at all.”
In addition to sex education, Prevention Meets Fashion also offers social work internships and support groups, such as one about fashion and trauma.
The organization used its Philly AIDS Thrift grant money to put on its third annual Women’s History Month and HIV/AIDS Awareness Panel & Brunch in March.
“Women and girls are still being diagnosed with HIV, but also HIV prevention is still geared toward gay men,” Outland explains.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), heterosexual women accounted for 15% of the 31,800 new HIV infections reported in 2022, the most recent year for which data is available.
Outlands says cisgender, heterosexual women often don’t take advantage of HIV-prevention tools, such as PrEP, a medication used to protect people from the spread of HIV.
“We just want to make sure that that population is getting the right information,” Outland says.
The Attic Youth Center
The Attic Youth Center, founded in 1993, provides support for Philadelphia’s LGBTQ youth, ages 14 to 23.
Located at 255 South 16th Street, the center offers individual, couples and family counseling for youth. It also offers dinner for youth Monday through Friday.
Jasper Liem, executive director of the center, says the organization provides a nonjudgmental place for youth to talk with staff about their sexual choices and get connected with other community partners if needed.
“We know that marginalized communities are more likely to make safer choices when they have the resources they need,” Liem says.
The center also provides support groups and training. It works with gender-sexuality alliances in schools, too.
Additionally, The Attic Youth Center offers free HIV testing for youth at the center every other Friday through a partnership with the Mazzoni Center.
“Everything that we do at The Attic also ties back to HIV care and prevention,” Liem says, adding that both sex education and community spaces help youth make safer choices for their health.
The Attic Youth Center will use the funding from its grant award for program supplies, food costs, staff salaries and stipends for youth on its leadership council.
Galaei
Galaei, located at 118 Fontain Street in Norris Square, helps people navigate an HIV diagnosis by connecting them with doctors and counseling. Galaei also offers free OraQuick self-tests for HIV.
Tyrell Brown, Galaei’s executive director, says shame still associated with HIV can deter people from seeking medical care, making Galaei’s work all the more important.
“HIV has a stigma that’s against it that has really crippled [the] care mechanisms that we want to exercise,” Brown says. “Somebody who’s HIV positive is looked at as, ‘What did you do wrong in order to contract HIV,’ right? And that stigmatization often creates that barrier.”
Founded in 1989, Galaei focuses primarily on Latinx, Black and Indigenous folks, as well as other people of color. The organization also prioritizes trans, nonbinary and queer people, as well as men who have sex with men, Brown says.
Galaei also has affinity discussion groups and outreach events, as well as a clothing closet and food pantry on-site. Additionally, Galaei organizes Philly Pride and National Coming Out Day festivities.
As for the Philly AIDS Thrift grant, Galaei will use those funds for rapid housing and transportation for people who come to Galaei seeking help — many of whom are unhoused or housing insecure.
“Your care oftentimes is directly tied to your housing situation,” Brown says.
Galaei will help people find short-term places to stay so they can keep medical appointments and get connected with other wraparound services.
Bebashi – Transition to Hope
Bebashi – Transition to Hope, founded in 1985, is a community health organization that offers health care services, sexually transmitted infection prevention and other resources.
The organization moved its main campus to 4101 Woodland Avenue on April 1. Bebashi also has a satellite location at 1237 Spring Garden Street.
Both sites have wellness centers that offer primary care, health screenings, breast exams and STI testing. Both sites have a food pantry, too. There’s also a boutique with free clothing and toiletries at the Spring Garden site.
Additionally, Bebashi offers a housing program and a prevention navigation program with resources for people at high risk of contracting STIs.
Bebashi also provides free HIV, hepatitis C and syphilis testing at Philly AIDS Thrift every other Friday from noon to 4 p.m.
Nafisah Houston, Bebashi chief operating officer, says the nonprofit is using its Philly AIDS Thrift grant to support programs that aren’t typically covered by other funding.
It will use the grant money to stock its boutique with underwear, socks, period products and other toiletries. The funds will also be used to cover lab costs if additional testing is necessary after an HIV test result.
Additionally, funding will go towards Bebashi’s HYPE program, which educates youth on sexual wellness, STIs and testing.
“It’s just creating that conversation, getting it going,” Houston says.
Philly AIDS Thrift’s support is essential to make sure Bebashi and other HIV services organizations can facilitate these conversations, Houston adds.
“It’s very important,” she says. “Philly AIDS Thrift is always there supporting organizations like ours.”
I’m an ally and advocate, I have a transgender daughter but I live in Delaware, This work and combined resources is so important. Keep it going. Have you had any interfacing with AIDS DELAWARE? Another awesome organization.