About

The Harlem Health Promotion Center (HHPC) is a collaboration of community, academic, and public health stakeholders to improve the health and well-being of the Harlem community. Since 1990, HHPC has been working with Harlem leaders and community members through research, education, advocacy, and service delivery. 

The Harlem Health Promotion Center has set itself apart through its focus on health through innovative education and modern communication technologies. As part of Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health, the HHPC fosters the extensive use of proven methods to promote good health.

Mission

The Harlem Health Promotion Center’s mission is to use community partnerships, health training, program evaluation, information technology, and infrastructure to improve the health and well-being of the Harlem community, and effectively communicate and disseminate public health practices to Harlem’s residents. As an innovative and inclusive non-profit organization serving Harlem and Upper Manhattan, The Harlem Health Promotion Center addresses a broad spectrum of health issues ranging from chronic disease to HIV and sexually transmitted infections.

In response to the evolving needs of the community, the center has developed a socio-ecological model that incorporates community-based research, education and outreach, and health service delivery to accomplish its goals. With its dynamic community and academic collaborations, the HHPC connects both local resources in Harlem and Upper Manhattan with the broader public health community and stakeholders throughout the city and state of New York.

Areas of Focus

Community-based research

The Center efficiently uses its resources to provide high-quality prevention research aimed at implementing and evaluating sustainable, effective community-based strategies that address health disparities and priorities in the Harlem and Upper Manhattan communities. 

Health education and outreach

Within its direct service arm, the Center uses trained health educators to provide outreach, education, counseling, and screening in community settings. It also makes use of groundbreaking online platforms to teach consumers about chronic disease and general wellness issues.

Health service delivery

HHPC uses a client-centered model and integrated-team approach to provide careful, considerate, and developmentally-appropriate medical and psychosocial services for young people ages 13 to 24 living with HIV as well as those at high risk for HIV and Sexually Transmitted Infections.

Affiliations

The Harlem Health Promotion Center is under the administration on the Department of Sociomedical Sciences in the Mailman School. Project STAY (Services to Assist Youth) is housed within New York and Presbyterian Hospital, Inc. and is a partnership between HHPC and the hospital.  HHPC has partnered with New York-Presbyterian on several other adolescent HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infection initiatives in an effort to enhance medical and psychosocial services that are made available to NYC youth who are at risk for or living with HIV/AIDS and STIs.