AIDS Action Committee setting up house on Amory St. in JP

The AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts is moving their main offices from Downtown Crossing to 75 Amory Street on the Jamaica Plain/Roxbury border on Wednesday, Jan. 13, and will officially begin operations in the renovated building on Tuesday, Jan. 19.

After an extensive search for their new home, the AAC selected the Amory Street building. The larger space will be more convenient for staff and clients, and aid them in providing improved client support and more community involvement.

"We are very excited about our new location," Rebecca Haag, president and CEO of the AAC, said. "As we approach thirty years of HIV/AIDS, the needs of our clients and the agency have changed." According to Haag, those changing needs will be met by "a more client-centered approach which will include a more spacious waiting area with computer terminals, more private meeting rooms, and a large amount of new meeting space for job training, housing workshops, peer groups, and community meetings."

Haag plans to allow neighboring organizations use of the meeting rooms. "We will offer our new space to other service providers and government agencies that serve our clients and encourage them to make their services available onsite," Haag said. The AAC's new neighbors include Community Servings, Dimock Community Health Center, Family Service of Greater Boston, Martha Eliot Health Center, the Multicultural AIDS Coalition (MAC), and the Whittier Street Health Center.

"We welcome AIDS Action to the community," Randal Rucker, CEO of neighboring Family Service of Greater Boston, said. "Their work is critical to advancing leading-edge education and prevention strategies to combat HIV and AIDS. We've seen firsthand the impact of HIV and AIDS on the families we serve."

The AAC provides direct client services to more than 2,500 people, and reaches more than 30,000 with their prevention and education work.

The MALE Center will continue operations at 571 Columbus Avenue in Boston's South End.

If you would like to add your name or the name of a loved one to the entrance of the new building, join the AAC's Spirit of Action Society. Contact Dan Scanlan at [email protected] for more information.