By Daily Press staff
Be safe, smart and well fed. Get an AIDS test this Friday. Common Ground, a Santa Monica-based AIDS services organization, and Night Light Youth Outreach, a project of Ocean Park Community Center that serves the needs of homeless youth on the Westside, are preparing special services for national HIV Testing Day, Friday, June 27th.
Free testing and information will be offered from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the new Youth Drop-In Center, located at 2012 Lincoln Blvd. in Santa Monica. Snacks and refreshments will also be served.
Common Ground and Night Light Youth have worked together since 2000 in assisting homeless and runaway youth with emergency services, case management, living skills, HIV and hepatitis testing and counseling, referrals and advocacy.
Thanks to a March 2003 California Endowment grant, Common Ground through its Homeless Youth Peer Education project runs the Youth Drop-In Center every Tuesday and Friday evening. The center gives kids a hot meal and access to a range of programs and services.
The drop-in center is operated in collaboration with Night Light Youth Outreach services and staffed by employees from both agencies as well as a generous base of community volunteers.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 26, 2003. Read the original PDF.