D.C. Parishes Fund Home For AIDS Victims
Episcopal News Service. October 30, 1986 [86238]
WASHINGTON (DPS, Oct. 30) -- Seventeen local Episcopal parishes have funded a residence for five people with AIDS. It is the first such undertaking by churches in the Washington area. The parishes, working together as the Episcopal Caring Response Committee, have raised over $26,000 to date, with another $9,000 pledged. The house they funded was opened Sept. 9 in a neighborhood here north of Georgetown.
The Episcopal Caring Response Committee is an outgrowth of a discussion between Christ Church, Georgetown, and the Whitman-Walker Clinic. Members of the parish were looking for ways to assist those suffering from AIDS. When the Clinic described the backlog of people needing housing, the parish knew it had found a way to help. A committee of parishes in the Washington Diocese was formed, and within a week it had raised $10,000.
The home has been named the Michael Haass House, in honor of an Episcopal organist at St. Paul's Church here who died of AIDS in 1983. The home is administered by the Whitman-Walker Clinic, the area's largest provider of services to persons with AIDS. The clinic also runs five similar facilities, and, as the epidemic continues to grow, is planning to open more. The others are funded through a combination of public appropriations and private, largely secular, contributions.
These facilities are required by persons with AIDS who are well enough to care for themselves physically, but are too ill to support themselves financially. They cook their own meals and perform the usual household chores. Those who can work contribute a portion of their income toward the cost of operating the facility.
"This new facility is home for people who have nowhere else to turn," said April Hockett, the committee's chairperson." Unfortunately, the stigma many people associate with AIDS often leads to condemnation rather than help. But, as Christians, we are called to help ALL who suffer. We believe a caring response is imperative." AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) has primarily infected male homosexuals and drug abusers, although it is increasingly less restricted to those groups. It is invariably fatal.
The committee is continuing to raise funds to keep the house open. In addition, it has obtained most of the necessary furniture and household furnishings. It is now working with the Clinic to enrich the lives of the residents and increase volunteer assistance directly to persons with AIDS.
"While support of the Michael Haass House is our first and continuing project, we also want to increase AIDS awareness and support among local parishes," said Hockett. "We especially invite everyone's prayers for persons with AIDS and those who help them."
In coordination with the Washington Diocese, the Episcopal Caring Response Committee is organizing services of prayer, healing and remembrance for those with AIDS or who have died of AIDS. These services are being held in conjunction with a national day of prayer and intercession on Sunday, November 9, announced by the Presiding Bishop Edmond L. Browning as a way to support persons with AIDS and those who care for them.