By: Jennifer McMillen Smith, LISW-S, HIV Social Worker at MetroHealth Medical Center and medically reviewed by Ann K. Avery, MD, Infectious Disease Physician at MetroHealth Medical Center
Why buy condoms when people will give them to you for free?
That’s right: other people buy condoms so you don’t have to. All you gotta do is know where to go to pick a few up!
Too afraid to get them in person? No sweat. Just order them online and get free condoms delivered right to your mailbox.
Free condoms in NE Ohio
We are lucky to have tons of free condom sites across NE Ohio. Here are just a few places with a variety of rubbers and lube to spare 😉
- OHIV.org sponsors the Free Condom Project, which delivers condoms to anybody over the age of 16 living in the state.
- MetroHealth, sponsor of Positive Peers, can give you free condoms at its sites in the Cleveland area. (Jen, our superstar HIV caseworker, has a closet full of them).
- AIDS Taskforce of Greater Cleveland
- Care Alliance
- Circle Health Services
- Cleveland Department of Public Health (CDPH). Free condoms and lube at their two STD Clinics: Glen Smith & Thomas McCafferty Health Centers
- Cuyahoga County Board of Health: East & West side clinics
- The LGBT Center of Greater Cleveland
- NEON Health Services
- Planned Parenthood – All Cleveland area locations
- Recovery Resources / Safe on The Scene
- University Hospitals – Special Immunology Unit
Free condoms outside of Ohio
A few programs are limited to people living in specific regions of the country.
- TeenSource delivers free condoms to 12- to 19-year olds in California.
- NYC Condoms supplies free condoms and other safer-sex products to more than 3,500 locations in New York City.
- Rubber Revolution helps companies in Washington, D.C., provide free condoms to their customers.
- San Francisco AIDS Foundation supplies condoms at three locations and distributes them to bars, restaurants, and other businesses throughout the city.
You can always search online with the name of your city and the phrase “free condoms” to see what’s available nearby. For example, a search on “free condoms Miami” finds Test Miami’s site for people living with HIV. Miami folks can request a free “Personal Protection Package.”
Come join our private, stigma-free, supportive community.
Health management tools with medication & appointment reminders.
Social networking in a community conversation & private chats.
Other ways to find free condoms
- Hospitals: Check with your nearest hospital and ask if they have a free-condom program. If they don’t, ask if they know who does.
- College health centers: If you’re going for your degree, check in with your local campus health clinic and see if they have a condom-giveaway program.
- Resource Centers: Places like your local LGBT Center often have ample supplies of condoms and lube.
- Bars/Clubs/Shops: LGBT bars, adult stores, hostels, and other businesses around Cleveland often have a supply of free condoms. If you don’t see a fishbowl of colorful condoms at your hang out of choice, ask the bartender or shopkeeper if they have them behind the counter. If they don’t, feel free to suggest they contact their department of public health to become a condom distribution spot 🙂
The important thing is that you know you have access to condoms every time you need them, that you know how to put one on the right way, and that you get tested regularly to be sure you don’t have HIV or other STDs.
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