Common Ground’s mission is to bring diverse members of the Westside community together in the fight against AIDS. We provide comprehensive social services and public education programs to Westside residents living with and at-risk for HIV. We ensure that people of diverse cultural backgrounds, those living in poverty, youth, and people who are homeless are able to access our services.

Community is the heart of Common Ground. Our community is built upon common goals and interdependence. We believe that community is sustained in an environment where collective ownership, mutual support, positive regard, open communication, creativity and humor are upheld as core values. We believe that self-development is forged through relationships of equality where respect for diverse experiences is essential. We believe that our need to share laughter, joy and celebration is as important as our need for support in times of crisis and despair.

Harm Reduction is the philosophy that guides us in our daily work. We believe that a non-judgmental harm reduction approach fosters self worth, choices, connections and trust while giving individuals the tools they need to protect their health within the context of their own lives. Peer counseling and education are vital components of all our programs.

Action is necessary if we are to uphold our community values. We believe that our society promotes individual freedom at the expense of community and that this causes disconnection and isolation. We believe that HIV must be fought in the context of social change that addresses the impact of poverty and oppression on community health. We believe that homelessness is not a human condition but human indifference to others. We believe that HIV is a human rights issue and that apathy in the face of our global pandemic is an atrocity that we must all fight together.

What makes us different?

Common Ground is the only local agency on the west side of Los Angeles dedicated to providing comprehensive services to people living with and at-risk for HIV and AIDS. Our commitment to serving a multi-diagnosed and particularly disenfranchised client group with harm reduction services often distinguishes us from other social service providers. Frequently our agency is a last resort for those whose issues of severe mental illness, substance use, and homelessness make it difficult for them to access more traditional social services.

What programs do we offer? Who do we serve?

Our direct services for people with HIV include case management, mental health, HIV medical care, treatment advocacy, emergency shelter, and independent living skills training. Annually, we serve a culturally diverse population of approximately 250 clients through our bilingual case management program. Seventy percent of our clients are multi-diagnosed with homelessness, chronic mental illness and/or substance use.

Our prevention programs reach over 6,000 at-risk individuals each year and are harm reduction programs based on peer education and community outreach. Prevention programs include outreach, education and HIV testing targeting youth in schools, injection drug users, homeless youth and adults in shelters and on the street, and several local community-based organizations and drug treatment programs. We recently expanded our services to include two new programs for the Westside community; The Homeless Youth Peer Education (HYPE) Project, offering drop-in services for homeless youth, and The Women’s HIV Prevention Program, offering outreach prevention for women of color.