Meetings

All our meetings are free and confidential. Anyone with herpes (HSV) or human papillomavirus (HPV) is welcome. We also welcome friends or loved ones who come for moral support and a better understanding of these infections. All meetings are held at 7:30 pm, in the Administrative Conference Room of UCSD-Hillcrest Medical Center at 200 W. Arbor Drive, San Diego, 92103.
Free parking is available on the streets near the hospital starting at 7:00 pm, or you can park in the hospital's parking structure.

Social Meeting

When: The 1st Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm.
Where: The Administrative Conference Room of UCSD-Hillcrest Medical Center at 200 W. Arbor Drive, San Diego, 92103.
Purpose: To meet and discuss relationship and support issues, such as the emotional impact of a herpes (HSV) or human papillomavirus (HPV) diagnosis, anger at the person who gave it to you, and the need to tell future sex partners before you put them at risk. We try to avoid discussing medical issues at this meeting since it tends to sidetrack the discussion.

Medical Meeting

When: The 3rd Thursday of each month at 7:30 pm.
Where: The Administrative Conference Room of UCSD-Hillcrest Medical Center at 200 W. Arbor Drive, San Diego, 92103.
Purpose: To discuss medical issues and share the latest information on the state of herpes (HSV) or human papillomavirus (HPV) research. We have an M.D. at this meeting to discuss treatment options, transmission, etc. and to answer your questions.

E-mail meeting notice

If you would like an e-mail reminder of our meetings, please send an e-mail to ContactUs@SanDiegoCityHELP.org with the words "E-mail meeting notice." as the subject of the message. The notice will be sent as a Blind carbon copy (Bcc) so no-one on the list will see your e-mail address. When emailing us, make sure your spam filter is set to allow us to respond. (Add us to your favorites list.)

Directions to the UCSD Medical Center:

From Highway 163:
Exit at Washington Street West.
Follow Washington Street for 5 or 6 blocks to First Street.
Turn right on First Street. Take First Street 3 blocks to West Arbor Drive.
Turn left on West Arbor Drive.
Parking on the street is free after 7:00 pm, or you can park in the hospital's parking structure.

From Highway 5:
Exit at Washington Street and head east. Stay on Washington Street as you go up the hill. First Street is approximately 2 miles from the freeway.
Turn left on to First Street. Take First Street 3 blocks to West Arbor Drive.
Turn left on West Arbor Drive.
Parking on the street is free after 7:00 pm, or you can park in the hospital's parking structure.

Remember, you can also call the National Herpes Hotline 1-919-361-8488, if you have questions that cannot wait until the next meeting.


Afraid to come to a meeting? A few words from a "first timer."

For years, HELP was simply an address on the back of a pamphlet at the doctor's office. Feeling alone like I did, all I envisioned when I thought of inquiring was an empty office covered with dust and an answering machine. Circumstances then gave me the attitude of "What have I got to lose?" and I made a phone call.

What followed was a challenge. Was I really going to attend a meeting where the topic for discussion was what I considered a dark, horrible secret? What I sometimes considered the end of any chance for happiness?

When I was preparing to leave for my first meeting, I felt very nervous and somewhat crazy. What if nobody was there? What if this was some cruel joke? I parked my car and sat with thoughts of everything from "What's a nice person like me doing in a place like this?" to "If this doesn't help, I have nowhere else to turn." Then I got as far as opening the car door. But it felt like chains were around my ankles. I couldn't make myself budge. After a deep breath or two to calm the beating of my heart, which I felt was surely audible, I finally went inside.

Well, it was one of the best days of my life. I was greeted with smiles and introductions. I became immediately aware that I was surrounded by people who cared about one another. It's hard to explain what it feels like to look into another person's eyes and know in some way they share the same heartache. Or what it's like to have friends you don't have to censure discussions with.

All I do know is the burden on my shoulders was lessened more in those first few moments than in all my experience of the years preceding. Please be go