|
Volume X, Issue No. 7
August, 2004
HIV/AIDS Volunteer Enrichment Network
|
|
Volume X, Issue No. 7
August, 2004
HIV/AIDS Volunteer Enrichment Network
|
Yoga! Yoga!
Yoga!
By Bernadette Zorio, RYT
I would like to thank the members of the HAVEN Community who participated in the Yoga and Meditation classes. It was an honor and a delight to share the teachings of Yoga, and to have the opportunity to do my internship with you. I am now certified as an RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher)!
I enjoyed the program and learned a tremendous amount from everyone. I wanted to invite those who are interested in continuing or starting up with Yoga to join me for a Yoga class I will be teaching at the Annapolis Recreation Center starting Monday, September 20 at 12 noon. It will run for 8 weeks. There is a nominal fee; however, limited scholarships are available if needed. Please contact me (410-956-5969), or Sherry Whiteford at the recreation center (410-263-7958).
Hope you all are having a great summer. Remember to breath, stretch and take time to relax and meditate. Many blessings to all!
By Rhonda Vous
Q. Can you please tell me some statistics about
HIV/AIDS in Maryland?
A. While Maryland ranks 19th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia in total population, it was 9th in cumulative number of AIDS cases and 3rd in AIDS incidence rate, according to the Maryland AIDS Administration.
They also show that Baltimore has the fourth highest incident AIDS case report rate of any major metropolitan area in the nation.
The Central Region, which includes Baltimore City and the surrounding counties, Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Carroll, Harford, and Howard, reported a total of 62% of all living cases.
Maryland living HIV and AIDS cases are predominantly African-American (82%), male (65%), and middle-aged (71% of cases are 30-49 years old). The percentage of African-American cases has been increasing over time.
Of all AIDS cases diagnosed in Maryland in 1985, half were African-American. This proportion has steadily increased to 84% in 2003. Eighty percent of all HIV cases statewide in 2003 are African-American.
24-HOUR WARM
LINE
410-768-5522
By Tony Teano
The space in the headline above is about the size of a business card. So why not cut it out and carry it with you in your purse or wallet?
The Warm Line is run by the Crisis Response System, which is a collaborative effort of the Affiliated Sante Group, Rock Creek Foundation and Sante Associates.
Their goals are to respond to mental health crises in the community; to provide an informational hotline to the community and local health providers; to increase consumer satisfaction with mental health care; and to provide less restrictive alternatives to hospitalization.
The mobile crisis team provide on site assessment, crisis resolution and family education and linkages to those needing further evaluation treatment.
The in-home family intervention team provides short term in house visits to stabilize a crisis and decrease the risk for unnecessary hospitalization (24-hour response time, referrals may only come through the operations center).
The PACT Team specialize in in-house services and linkages to area resources for the homeless with mental health issues.
These are only a few of the services that the Crisis Response System operate directly, including the Warm Line, but if you find yourself or a friend, family member or loved one in a situation where you need access to resources, the Warm Line is an excellent place to begin your search for resources.
QUALITY
OF
LIFE
RETREATS
By
Tony Teano
The Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church sponsors spiritual “Quality of Life Retreats.” Raymond Shattuck is available to answer questions about the retreats (410-626-2834). NOTE: If you register for a retreat and something comes up preventing you from attending, give the retreat coordinator the courtesy of a call saying you will not be able to attend so that he may offer the spot to someone on the waitlist; otherwise, if you are a “no show,” you run the risk of being ineligible for a retreat for an entire year!
By Tony Teano
It has been a pleasure to offer a monthly article about labyrinths for
the HAVEN community over the last quarter. This article concludes the
series. It tells of an unexpected
labyrinth walk with a group of friends, and my surprising epiphanies! While no workshop on the labyrinth will be
scheduled at this juncture for the HAVEN community, I am open to that
possibility in the future. For now, I
am happy to talk to you about it individually if you would like more
information on the subject.
One of my journeys this year has been with the flagship class of 2004 of Leadership Anne Arundel (LAA). For one day each month, the program commits community stakeholders to develop skills, to hone insights, and to explore quality of life issues for Anne Arundel County residents. On Cultural Arts day, I noticed that a labyrinth walk was one of the agenda items. On the opening retreat some six months prior, I mentioned how important the labyrinth was to me. Some folks never saw a labyrinth, so I took off a necklace I was wearing that had one and passed it around. Now, I chuckled at the thought of the labyrinth coming back “full circle,” so to speak, toward the end of our year together. I was really “wowed.”
My attention refocused on the activities we were doing related to culture in the county, but this “wow” feeling persisted. Sure, on Cultural Arts day it made sense to buzz kazoos together with the Annapolis Chorale. It was really appropriate to learn a Steppin’ Dance based on observations a dance troupe picked up from African-American Bates students. Writing a poem together as a group about the county was meaningful and insightful. But, a labyrinth walk… on Cultural Arts day?
I found out that the labyrinth we would walk was a permanent, outdoor, brick installation at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts, available 24-hours a day. The county arts community was collectively committed to a space for a labyrinth installation! That’s dedication. This “wow” feeling that had flown around my head like a butterfly through wildflowers now had all the pleasure of a swarm of yellow jackets at an ice cream social. How could a labyrinth fit in at Maryland Hall for the Creative Arts as much as it does at the National Cathedral?
On the last Tuesday of the Month from 6-9pm, the National Cathedral in Washington, DC, spreads out several Chartres-style canvas labyrinths. Frequently, Sufi, Jewish, and centering prayer are offered. Sometimes there are crafts. Almost always, they have beautiful music. Reflecting on the answer developing in my mind to the question I had asked myself, I realized all the artistic energy there. It renews the inner artist. Despite the fact that even I intuitively bring along paints and sketching paper for participants when I run a labyrinth workshop, until that moment, I hadn’t made the labyrinth-artist-inspiration connection on a conscious level. The “wow!” became a “duh!”
Meanwhile forty-two of my colleagues walked this old symbol of which I have grown so fond, and many of them experienced it for the first time. In awe and speechless, I sat down in the grass a few feet from the labyrinth’s edge in a sunlit patch. I soaked up the warmth. Squinting up at my friends rotating by me in the light, I smiled, and I sent a silent, heart-felt thanks for showing me something new about the labyrinth.
WAD awareness
luncheon 8/26
world aids day is
december first. what can you do to get
ready for it? find out more about
hiv and faith-based activities at a luncheon on thursday august 26th
from noon until 2pm at broadneck baptist church. more info? Call 410-571-9849
By Diane Goforth
The H.A.V.E.N. Board of Directors will be meeting until further notice at the county Health Department offices at 1 Harry Truman Parkway. Board meetings are held regularly on the fourth Tuesday of the month, from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m. They are open to the H.A.V.E.N. community. If you would like to sit in, are interested in becoming a member, or have an item you wish the board to consider, please contact Diane Goforth, Executive Director, at 410-544-2244 or DSGoforth@aol.com. Items for the agenda must be submitted 10 days in advance of the meeting. No advance notice is needed for you to sit in.
h.A.v.e.n. FRIENDS
is back on the
third thursday of the month. if you
need transportation, call the office by noon on the wednesday before haven
friends; if it slips your mind and you call after that time, call vance at
410-672-7571.
h.A.v.e.n.
Telephone Numbers
Bob Davis, President
703-841-4460
email: bdavis@caci.com
or: write to
P.O. Box 514, Arnold, MD 21012
or: Diane or
Tony can have him call you
Executive Director
Diane Goforth
(410) 544-2244
Director of Volunteers & Client Services
Tony Teano
(410) 224-2437
Housing Director & Buddy Services
Coordinator
Vance Larson
(410) 672-7571
Our House Resident Manager
Sharon Dawson
(Reach through Vance or Diane)