Women On Maintaining Education and Nutrition (W.O.M.E.N.) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, which was founded in 1994 with the mission to bridge service gaps to reduce health disparities. Created in Catherine Wyatt-Morley's home, W.O.M.E.N. has grown significantly in more than 17 years of operation. Wyatt-Morley's desire to create a safe place for women, mothers and families remains the central focus of programs and services. W.O.M.E.N. remains community-based, with all programs emphasizing peer-based advocacy. Our purpose is to provide HIV counseling/testing/referral, support, education, and nutrition services for people infected/affected by HIV/AIDS as well as those at risk for the infection.

W.O.M.E.N.'s target population has specifically been African American women of child bearing age. However men and children have taken advantage of our services. Because of its work in the community, W.O.M.E.N. has developed a track record of accessing hard-to-reach populations and populations that mistakenly perceive themselves not to be at risk that have traditionally suffered exclusion from mainstream interventions. In keeping with the agency's mission, W.O.M.E.N.'s targeted interventions and outreaches directly impact the hard-to-reach and underserved populations such as poor women who have little or no resources, sex industry workers, current/former substance abusers, and homeless individuals.

Not only does W.O.M.E.N.'s interventions target suspected high risk population such as women who trade sex for money or female substance users (high risk) but moreover W.O.M.E.N.'s target population include women who attend church regularly; employed educated women; young and middle age women who have had multiple births; women who are heads of households (single parents); women who are having or have had unprotected sex with men released from prison/jail and women in heterosexual relationships. W.O.M.E.N. has found that these groups in fact have the highest risk of infection nevertheless believe themselves exempt from HIV or STD's. Current data shows that to be the case.

For many years clients have received services that include housing, food distribution; clothing closet, HIV counseling and testing, support group, direct care services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS, transportation, case management, education seminars, workshops, community forums, community health fairs, peer to peer education sessions, HIV positive patient education curricula, and street and college campus outreach and prevention education. Outreach activities also include print media, books, radio and television.

W.O.M.E.N.'s capacity to address health disparities has grown each year since its inception. We provide both prevention and education to those at risk, and direct care services to individuals living with HIV/AIDS. W.O.M.E.N. is a Health Education and Risk Reduction (HERR) services provider. In addition to being a HERR service provider, the agency is certified in HIV testing and counseling and has received Hepatitis C and Stigma and HIV/AIDS training.

W.O.M.E.N. has a long history with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and is (DEBI) - Diffusion of Effective Behavioral Interventions certified in such areas as SISTA, a group-level, social skills training intervention for African-American women aimed at reducing HIV sexual risk behaviors.

W.O.M.E.N. interests also include homelessness, race relations and reconciliation, human-trafficking, addiction and treatment, women and family empowerment programs, male and female cancers, family unity, and world interests. Each program established within W.O.M.E.N. will hold these truths in their development and practices.

W.O.M.E.N. has been represented in such countries as Africa where representatives visited Lagos, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Ikeja, in Nigeria as well as Accra in Ghana. W.O.M.E.N.'s travel history also includes the stories of Thailand, and Poland, Nigerian, Ghanaian, Canadian, Switzerland, Chinese, Guyana South America and Trinidadian women. In these countries the focus has been HIV/AIDS education, STD's, prevention, awareness, gaps in services, governmental issues, growing rates of worldwide infections among women, and gaps in treatment (i.e. clinical trials/vaccines) for women and families. W.O.M.E.N. intends to continue its outreach efforts abroad and has worked with UNAIDS in those efforts.