Northern Colorado AIDS Project

Northern Colorado AIDS Project (NCAP) maintains offices in Fort Collins and Greeley and provides services to those with HIV/AIDS in a mostly rural, eight-county area of Northern Colorado. NCAP’s caseload includes more than 200 clients diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, which represents about 50% of the reported cases in the NCAP service area.

NCAP strives to reach all those living with this life-threatening disease in this remote section of Northern Colorado. This is done through key community partnerships, counseling, educational programs, affordable care and case management. Services are provided at no cost, and are offered without regard to age, sex, race, religion, disability, sexual orientation or gender expression.

Counties served (8): Larimer, Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld, and Yuma

NCAP’s Fort Collins office houses the only Syringe Exchange Program in the region. This Larimer County Board of Health-approved-and-contracted program provides needs-based services for people who inject street drugs. Services include sterile syringes, new injection equipment (cottons, cookers, etc.), hazardous waste disposal, risk reduction counseling, and referrals for substance use treatment/mental health services. NCAP Syringe Exchange Program services are provided anonymously at no cost to program participants.

Syringe Exchange Programs like NCAP’s are a time-tested and proven public health approach for reducing the disease burden of their host communities. Syringe Exchange Programs have this effect on the communities in which they exist because they reduce the high-risk potential for blood borne infections, namely HIV and Hepatitis C, to be transmitted through the sharing of used injection equipment. Syringe Exchange Programs also help to increase the safety of the community through the collection and proper disposal of hazardous waste, significantly reducing the number of improperly disposed syringes. Syringe access programs provide dignity and resources to those they serve through harm reduction practices.