The Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH), STI/HIV Services Division and our community partners send immense gratitude to the National Coalition of STD Directors (NCSD) and the manufacturers of Trojan condoms for their generous 2015 donations, which included condoms, lube, and multi-speed vibrating rings. The donations were a huge success in many community areas as we collectively continue the fight against Sexually Transmitted Infections in Chicago.

In January, CDPH distributed the donations to over 16 community partners who serve diverse youth and young adults, MSMs, LGBTQAs, and high risk heterosexual populations. CDPH was strategic in making sure that donations were shared with partners who work with special populations in underserved community areas in north, south, and west side neighborhoods.

The donations were part of NCSD’s Condoms Still Work campaign which complements our Chicago Wears Condoms campaign nicely by sharing resources and working with internal and external partners as it relates to condom distribution.  We welcome an on-going partnership with NCSD.

In honor of STD Prevention month, we would like to share a few statements of success from some of our partners who received the Trojan donations.

Austin CBC Initiative

Austin CBC Initiative uses the Trojan donations for special events and testing incentives. We also offer them to clients after their medical appointments. We primarily service people who live on Chicago’s greater west side, in the Austin, West Garfield Park, West Humboldt Park, and North and South Lawndale communities. We serve all populations, but chiefly work with people living with HIV/AIDS, Black HIV+ MSM, commercial sex workers, and people with substance abuse and mental health issues.

Austin CBC Initiative has distributed over 100 Trojan products this far and plans to continue to distribute the products to the community members of Chicago’s greater west side and the populations we serve.

Howard Brown Health Center

Howard Brown Health would like to sincerely thank you for your generous donation of condoms and lubricant that have helped many people within our served communities in Chicago. At Howard Brown, we primarily focus on the LGBTQ community, an underserved community which has traditionally been at greater risk for HIV/STIs. However, we see any and all people who would like to access our services, and we never turn anyone away regardless of their ability to pay.

Between February 8^th and 12^th of this year, our Sheridan Walk-In Clinic and Broadway Youth Center (BYC) hosted an event during which each person receiving HIV and STI testing services was provided a Care Package in celebration of Valentine’s Day. Each Care Package included five Trojan condoms, a bottle of lubricant, and extra safer sex goodies for our patients to enjoy. With your generous donation, we created 200 Care Packages and were able to give them all away!

Puerto Rican Cultural Center—PRCC-Vida/SIDA

PRCC-Vida/SIDA serves Latino MSM & TSM ages 13 through 49, as well as Latino and African-American high risk populations. PRCC-Vida/SIDA has been able to use the Trojan condoms for many different activities throughout the communities we serve in Humboldt Park, Wicker Park, Hermosa Park, Washington Park, and Logan Square.

We have, for example, put them in safer sex kits that we offer as incentives to participants who attend our Mpowerment Program “Generation L” workshops. We have also been able to use them during health presentations in schools across the city of Chicago. Recently, as weather has permitted, we have been able to set up outreach tables outside our testing location to encourage people in our community come in to get tested. We have used some of the donated products on this table as incentives.

Test Positive Awareness Network (TPAN)

The donated items from Trojan have been a huge hit—combined with the familiar Lifestyles swag and some premium (silicone, glycerin-free, and flavored) lube we purchased—we have been putting them to good use in specialized kits for folks in our target populations. These kits are distributed at outreach events such as The Closet’s monthly “Sex Booze and Bingo” where we provided testing, and our National Women* and Girls* HIV/AIDS Awareness Day which took place early in March.

South Side Help Center

South Side Help Center hosted an International Condom Day event at our offices. The Trojan donations were used in a condom demonstration to educate high risk women about eroticizing condoms. The presentation went extremely well and each of the women was given a safer sex kit containing a Trojan vibrating ring along with Trojan Ecstasy condoms. Later that day, the staff of South Side Help Center went into the Roseland community to offer condom demonstrations and HIV testing to all genders. The clients we served there were predominately African American. Again, the Trojan donations went over well. Finally, during the walk for International Condom Day, the Trojan donations were used as a conversational tool to begin to discuss HIV testing.

The Trojan donations have been helpful in inspiring our clients to use condoms. Many of our clients were discouraged about condoms or felt that condom use wasn’t for them, primarily because they were in monogamous relationships. The Trojan donations has enhanced our ability to encourage condom use and provide HIV testing. Thank you for your donations.