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HIV/AIDS: 'It's out there and it's a killer'
Number of cases rises in Eastern Connecticut
Norwich resident Wendy Brown has lived with full-blown AIDS since 1991.
Now 53, she contracted the disease by sharing needles during cocaine binges with her boyfriend, who never told her he had AIDS.
She later watched him die.
Brown said she knows three prostitutes in the city who have died from the disease. A former prostitute herself, Brown wept when she thought she gave her current partner AIDS.
But Lloyd Winisborrow, 45, contracted AIDS from his own use of dirty needles, when he fed a heroin habit he picked up soon after moving from Gales Ferry to Norwich as a teenager.
“It’s out there and it can happen to anybody,” Brown said. “Sad to say. It’s out there and it’s a killer.”
That’s the short version of the story of just two people in Norwich who suffer from the deadly immune deficiency that was first identified in the United States in 1981. The bigger picture is the number of cases of HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, and AIDS in Eastern Connecticut is growing.
Carol Jones, coordinator of case management at Alliance for Living, suspects that trend will surprise many people who don’t think much anymore about AIDS. Not Jones. She is frustrated that AIDS has become a “back-burner issue.”
‘Still dying’
“People are still dying, and people are getting infected at an alarming rate,” said Jones, who has worked at the agency for 15 years.
Staff at Alliance For Living likely know that better than most people in the region. The New London-based nonprofit agency provides free medical services for people in the region affected by HIV/AIDS.
In 2008-09, the organization had 271 clients, a 24 percent jump from 222 clients in 2007-08 and a marked increase from previous years, Alliance Executive Director Sandra Brindamour said.
Brindamour said there were 835 cases of HIV/AIDS in 2007. That number is projected to increase to 1,200 people.
Brindamour partly attributes the increase in clients to the economic meltdown and subsequent rise in unemployment.
“People are losing their jobs and losing their insurance and we are the only ones they can turn to in southeastern Connecticut,” Brindamour said.
The organization provides housing, offers a food pantry and serves meals.
Spreading the word
Brindamour said the new position of outreach coordinator has also attracted clients, because the coordinator, Frank Silva, a 22-year-old native of Puerto Rico, is fluent in Spanish.
In the last year, Silva has been making the rounds in downtown Norwich in his mission to educate substance abusers, people with mental health problems, the homeless and others about the dangers of AIDS.
His supervisors say Silva is making progress, gaining the trust and confidence of the people he is visiting.
Some even know him as the “condom kid,” referring to his warnings to have safe sex. The nickname makes him cringe.
On his weekly visits to Norwich, Silva stops by at Reliance House, United Community and Family Services, homeless shelters and the soup kitchen at the St. Vincent de Paul Place.
Silva, who is studying human development and family services at the University of Connecticut, said he used to think AIDS was a disease affecting people in faraway places, such as Africa. But now he sees Eastern Connecticut as a community at risk like anywhere else.
“When I came here, it opened my eyes to the reality,” he said.
Next year, the goal is to expand the outreach to churches and ethnic groups.
Jones said despite years of education, misconceptions and fear still affect people’s attitudes toward AIDS. She said people still think — wrongly — that AIDS can be spread by saliva when kissing or drinking from someone else’s cup.
She said, in addition to unsafe sex, people need to realize AIDS is spread through sharing the same needle, whether in drug use or in body piercing and tattoos. Jones said people who get body piercing and tattoos should make sure the person is licensed and uses clean needles. She hears of private tattoo parties and times when people share needles to pierce ears.
Jones was alarmed by a recent story about teens testifying to Norwich leaders about the rise in heroin use. She said such a rise is accompanied by an increased risk of the spread of HIV/AIDS.
Brown, who takes a pill a night to combat AIDS, knows that risk firsthand.
“There’s people out there not telling,” she said. “That’s my reason for sharing. Because that’s what happened to me.”
At a glance
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Alliance for Living HIV/AIDS clients in southeastern Connecticut, along with its annual budget, including how much comes from the state Department of Public Health and from fundraisers:
Year Clients Budget Source
2004-0 222 $952,000 46 percent from DPH, $109,000 fundraisers
2005-06 197 $886,000 43 percent from DPH, $137,000 fundraisers
2006-07 206 $989,000 38 percent from DPH, $145,000 fundraisers
2007-08 222 $1.3 million 34 percent from DPH, $162,000 fundraisers
2008-09* 271 $1.2 million 28 percent from DPH, $144,000 fundraisers
*Fiscal year does not end until July.
Demographics of HIV/AIDS clients at Alliance for Living:
Black: 31 percent
Latino: 27 percent
White: 42 percent
Males: 60 percent
Females: 40 percent
About 10 of the clients at Alliance for Living die each year. |
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HIV/AIDS: 'It's out there and it's a killer'