Metro TeenAIDS

In 1997, Second Lady of the United States Tipper Gore joined MTA on World AIDS Day to present the award to Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala.

[citation needed] Like many other AIDS service organizations, MTA offered a wide range of programs, including peer education; youth leadership development; HIV/STI/pregnancy testing and referrals; evidence-based sexual and reproductive health education in schools; and a capacity building program to help other youth-serving professionals offer culturally competent youth services.

What set MTA apart from many AIDS service organizations was its commitment to advocacy work and policy change to improve the lives of young people into the future.

[citation needed] In 2007, MTA and the MTA-led DC Healthy Youth Coalition (DCHYC) succeeded in getting the Health Learning Standards passed.

Although the organization experienced unprecedented growth in this period, changes in the local funding environment, as well as projected changes in the national funding landscape due to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, made it difficult for the organization's leadership to envision sustaining its budget and scope of programming when they looked more than two years into the future.

[citation needed] MTA's Board of Directors and Executive Director determined that the best course of action to continue MTA's programs into the future was to join forces with a Federally Qualified Health Center that would be able to bill Medicaid and insurance for services and that would provide seamless integration of HIV prevention and treatment services for DC youth.

In order to avoid closing suddenly and potentially leaving clients stranded, as well as to ensure the long-term viability of its programming, MTA aligned with Whitman-Walker Health in February 2015.

[citation needed] MTA's mission and vision statements served as guides for Metro TeenAIDS' leadership and staff during the transition.

Mission Statement: Metro TeenAIDS (MTA) is a community health organization dedicated to partnering with young people to end HIV/AIDS.

Through education, support and advocacy, MTA works to prevent the transmission of HIV, promote informed decision making and improve the quality of life for all young people, especially those living with or impacted by HIV/AIDS.