Nebraska AIDS Project moves headquarters to Benson from central Omaha

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) - The Nebraska AIDS Project, known as NAP, is celebrating the grand opening of its new location.

NAP has moved to the corner of 63rd and Maple in Benson, after being in Central Omaha for more than a decade.

Diontre Veland says as a gay man, NAP is a lifesaver. It helps prevent and test for human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted infections, while also providing much-needed emotional support.

“A breath of fresh air,” Veland said. “A relief to know that I have someone who is not looking down upon me but is looking directly across from me.”

Veland says getting that support will be much easier, now that NAP’s headquarters are in Benson.

“You can catch the bus here, there’s Ubers, there’s many, many forms of transportation to get here,” he said. “It’s not far.”

The Outreach Manager for NAP, Tommy Dennis, says they are now in a better place to reach the communities that need it the most.

“African Americans and minorities, especially the Latin-A community, are disproportionally impacted by HIV,” Dennis said.

The move seems to come at a good time. Dennis says those same communities were also hit hardest by the pandemic, making it more difficult to get tested for HIV.

“We experienced a drastic drop in our testing numbers,” Dennis said.

However, Dennis says the numbers are going back up to about 115 tests per month.

“If that tracks for the rest of the year, I think we’ll be well on our way to meeting and possibly exceeding our goals pre-COVID,” he said.

NAP is open Monday through Friday, with walk-in testing available on Mondays and Tuesdays. NAP hopes to expand its hours to include the weekends.

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