Help for Marginalized -- Alder Health Services Opens Office in Manheim Township, Pa.

Alder Health Services, founded more than 25 years ago as the Lancaster AIDS Project, opened a new Manheim Township office this spring, offering HIV testing, medical care and counseling as well as social opportunities.

"We want to get people to learn about health and engage with each other in a healthy environment," said Alder's president, Philip K. Goropoulos. Alder targets people with HIV/AIDS, the LGBT community and persons struggling with addiction; it also has an office in Harrisburg.

Alder's new Manheim Township facility, located at 1891 Santa Barbara Dr., Ste. 104 in Lancaster, includes exam and counseling rooms. A meeting room hosts gatherings including Mpowerment PA, a social group for gay, bisexual, and questioning men that meets Thursday evenings. There is walk-in STD testing and treatment as well. Medical care and counseling are offered on a sliding fee scale. Its medical appointments begin on July 17.

Alder publishes a booklet called "Out & Active" that details available programs and forums. It also sponsors a program designed to address the higher level of obesity found in lesbian and bisexual women and a seminar on financial security for LGBT couples.

Goropoulos said the group offers a broad spectrum of services to promote an overall healthy lifestyle for its clients. "You have to address the whole self," he said.

The organization's name was chosen because the alder tree is known for improving the soil where it grows and for its healing capabilities.

[PNU editor's note: For more information, visit www.alderhealth.org.]

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