On August 14th 2013, the Boards of Directors of CitiWide Harm Reduction and Bronx AIDS Services unanimously voted to create a newly merged and rebranded Bronx-based organization, BOOM!Health, that now delivers a full range of prevention, syringe access, health coordination, behavioral health, housing, legal, advocacy and wellness services to over 8,000 of the hardest to reach communities in the Bronx, New York. BOOM!Health strengthens efforts to remove barriers to accessing medical care, with particular emphasis on HIV and viral hepatitis prevention and care services.

BOOM!Health enables New Yorkers living with and at highest risk for illness, addiction, homelessness and poverty to realize their full potential by integrating services to create a seamless continuum of prevention and care.

The BOOM!Health Legal Advocacy Program provides representation, advice and advocacy to Bronx residents living with HIV/AIDS. We provide legal assistance – free of charge – to our clients in a broad range of civil matters. Each year, we help hundreds of clients avoid eviction, keep themselves safe and their families intact, and maintain the income necessary for them to meet their basic needs.

Housing
BOOM!Health Legal Services provides representation in housing court eviction proceedings (nonpayment and holdover proceedings) to families with at least one minor child residing in the household whose household income is below 200% of the federal poverty level. We can assist some childless households in these proceedings if one of the adult members of the household is HIV+. Legal services are also available to families seeking to sue their landlords in a housing court HP Action to compel their landlord to perform repairs, in termination proceedings regarding Section 8 tenancies and subsidies, and in administrative hearings before the DHCR regarding rent stabilization rights.

Public Benefits
Our Legal Services program assists people living with HIV/AIDS with all HASA benefits issues or, where an individual is HIV+ but not eligible for HASA, with public assistance, food stamps (SNAP), and medical assistance matters. Legal assistance includes advocacy with HASA (or any HRA unit/division), representation in fair hearings, and Article 78 proceedings in Supreme Court. We also provide representation to people living with HIV/AIDS in Social Security Administration appeals regarding Supplemental Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability (SSD) benefits.

Family Law and Domestic Violence
We assist people living with HIV/AIDS in a wide range of proceedings before the Family Court, including custody/visitation proceedings, abuse/neglect proceedings, guardianship proceedings, and support proceedings. Our Family Law practitioners specialize in representing domestic violence survivors in obtaining Orders of Protection as well as with all other ancillary family law matters, including obtaining uncontested divorces from their abusers.
Advanced Directives/Future Care

For people living with HIV/AIDS interested in planning for their future care and arrangements, we can prepare a Health Care Proxy, Living Will, Power of Attorney, and Last Will and Testament. We assist those who have children with Designations of Standby Guardianship so that they can designate whom they want to be their children’s caretaker in the event that they are no longer able to care for their children themselves.