HAVEN  Newsletter   Volume XII, Issue No. 7                                                                                                                                         AUGUST,  2006 HIV/AIDS Volunteer Enrichment Network P.O. Box 514, Arnold, MD 21012; (410) 224-2437; (410) 571-9328 – Fax HAVENINC@aol.com           http://www.havenannapolis.org/ The next newsletter deadline is close of business on the second Friday of the month.  Submissions should be submitted by email as an MS Word document.

 

Food Link donated the main courses for the picnic, and they have identified donors of warm meals for Monday groups!    Food Link offers nutritional assistance to individuals and families in need throughout Anne Arundel County.  To donate food or request services: 410-222-7853.

Fifty-four people felt at home at the Annual Picnic on July 8^th.  It was a wonderful day.  The weather was nice.  Everybody was friendly.  The food was scrumptious!  It was really nice, relaxed and enjoyable.  According to a French proverb, gratitude is an expression of the heart.  I couldn’t give a more heart-felt thanks to everyone who attended—and assisted with—the Annual Picnic.  And thanks yet again to Pete and Diane for hosting the event. 

 

HAVEN welcomed five new volunteers into the family in July!  Kathleen and her daughter Birgitta, Amelia, Aylin, and Jason are all super, energetic, bright and talented individuals whom I know will make a difference in our community.

This workshop is for HIV+ people covers: integrating medication regimens into daily life; dealing with difficult emotions; communication skills; evaluating symptoms and treatments; and more.  Raymond Shattuck will offer the workshop at HAVEN (dates to be determined).  Feel free to call him to find out more info (410-626-2834), or go to or gffonline.org or patienteducation.stanford.edu/programs/.  

The Chesapeake Pride Festival will be held from 1 to 7 PM on Saturday, August 26, at the Historic London Town and Gardens, located at 839 Londontown Road in Edgewater; its website is http://www.historiclondontown.com/.  The festival is a fantastic celebration of pride for all Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender people and their families, friends and supporters living in Chesapeake Bay area.  Scheduled entertainment includes Steven Gellman (folk singer, http://www.hiddenpoet.com/), Bread & Roses (http://www.dcbreadandroses.org/), and Dianne Daly (jazz musician).  Drag kings and divas, comedians, and other musicians have been invited.  Catered food and a variety of beverages will be available for purchase.  The event will showcase businesses and non-profits supportive of gay citizens through table and booth space.  The Festival website (http://www.chesapeakepridefestival.org/) will be continually updated.  For more information, contact Chairman Wayne Schwandt at 410-353-5534 or Schwandtw@aol.com.

 

 

The pattern of one new member a month was broken in June, when two new members joined the Support Group for POZ Gay Men.  Now with eight members, we continue looking for few more good men living with AIDS who are seeking a nurturing, support, and fun group!  The group begins with a member randomly selecting a Rune (a ceramic marked with anletter from an ancient Germanic alphabet) and reading a passage on healing associated with it. From there the theme of the evening is often set and off we go.  Serious conversation concerning issues of living with AIDS are interrupted with roars of laughter as we get to know, and care for, one another on this journey.  Gay men never seem at a loss when it comes to our sense of humor and camp! 

Contact group co-leaders Wayne Schwandt at 410-353-5534 or Richard Warren at 443-848-8484.  Or, you may call the HAVEN Office for more information.   The group meets on the third Wednesday of every month from 7 to 8:30 PM.

 

A small group big-hearted people birthed HAVEN in the summer of 1991.  One of the midwives, Suzy Ochs, recollects where we came from 15 years ago.  We hope to bring you more memories soon.   -Tony

 

HAVEN was born out of a need for an organization to address the multitude of issues facing folks who found themselves HIV positive in Anne Arundel County in the early 1990’s.  In 1987, I heard a lecture by a Johns Hopkins researcher on the “new virus” surfacing in New York, San Francisco and Florida.  As a student of medical science, I found this to be an amazing phenomena. I went up to Johns Hopkins Hospital and volunteered for about a year on Osler 6, their research unit, visiting those afflicted early on with what I found to be a devastating disease.  One young man was from Anne Arundel County.  When he found out I was also from the same place, he quietly said in a terrified voice, “You won’t tell anyone, will you?” When I went to our county health department to inquire about services for HIV/AIDS, I was informed there was not much to worry about in our county. A year later in 1989, I left a teaching position and was hired by the health department to conduct anonymous testing for the virus.  Well, we did have HIV/AIDS in our county!  What did one do after informing a person they were HIV positive?  At that point, there was nothing to do.  Few doctors in the area knew much about this virus much less how to treat it.  The mode of transmission was still not entirely clear.  The public was afraid.  By late 1989, early 1990, a support group called “Common Threads” the name taken from a film about the virus was formed for folks with HIV.  Held at the Anne Arundel County Health Department, it was well attended from the start.  Then enter Joyce Wearstler, a bank vice president and a mover and shaker who had a “buddy” in Baltimore and had taken the Buddy training in Baltimore.  “I want to do something in this county,” she said.  In July of 1990, we organized a buddy training of our own, training 18 volunteers and matching them with HIV infected individuals.  This was an intrepid group of volunteers.  We were still nameless.  By March 1991, we knew we needed an organization to support HIV infected individuals in Anne Arundel County.  We had thus far, been working with the health department but it was clear that we needed to be an independent entity. On a still cool April 25th in 1991, on an oak round table in a living room warmed by a fireplace, we came up with the name HAVEN:  HIV/AIDS Volunteer Enrichment Network.  We had considered several acronyms like AHAAA, HAHAHA, GRASP.  Which of the attendees individually came up with “HAVEN” is questionable.  You see, each of us believe that she or he did. But it could have been Joyce, Jan, Tim, Jane, John, Sharon, Megan, Sue or Malcolm, Selma, Ron, Robert. Steve, Jackie, Ed, Max or Suzy.  It was a name that simply fit and felt right to us all.  By July 1991, we had a HAVENews letter and a wonderful core of volunteers committed to service.   And now in 2006, it still goes on.

 

I am only one

But still I am one.

I cannot do everything,

But still I can do something.

And because I cannot do

everything

I will not refuse to do the

something that I can do.

--Edward Everett Hale

 

 

We will meet on Fri. Aug 25, & Fri. Sept. 8 from 12:15 to 1:45 PM.  In Oct., our meeting will return to the first Fri. of the month.  Hope to see you there!  New members welcome to join returning folks to share a healthy, nutritious lunch and nurturing support and conversation.  Questions?  Call Bernadette 410-956-5969 or Judy 410-721-0661.

 

Bob Davis

Board 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

Diane Goforth

Executive Director
(410) 544-2244
Tony Teano

Director of Volunteers & Client Services
(410) 224-2437

Vance Larson

Housing Director & Buddy Services Coordinator
(410) 672-7571

Sharon Dawson

Our House Resident Manager
(Reach through Vance or Diane)