Project STAY has its origins in the school-based clinic movement. We were in the vanguard of programs establishing clinical services in NYC high schools in the mid-1980’s, under the auspices of St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital. In the process of providing primary medical care and psychosocial services, we identified several young people who had sexually transmitted infections. Concerned that this could be the “tip of the iceberg”, we got a small grant to hire a health educator to conduct HIV testing and focused screening these young people. Out of the first ten high school students she screened, four were found to be HIV. All were asymptomatic. During this time period (late 1980’s) there were no specific programs serving adolescents living with HIV in Northern Manhattan.

In an attempt to meet the complex needs of these young people, we collaborated with Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health to write a grant which was sent to the New York State Department of Health’s AIDS Institute. Subsequently, we were awarded funding to establish a regional Specialized Care Center (SCC) to provide comprehensive services to youth living with HIV. The initial name for the program was CAYACC (Comprehensive Adolescent and Young Adult Care Center). Over time, the program grew and changed affiliations from St. Luke’s Roosevelt Hospital to what is now the Columbia University Irving Medical Center and was renamed Project STAY.