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The BABES office has a clothing/toiletry closet for
low-income women who may need things for themselves or their kids; a computer
the women can use for e-mail, health research or job hunting; a kitchen, a
small reading library and collection of toys; and a mannequin in the corner
named "Stella," as a reminder of all the BABES who have gone before them.
The newsletter generates phone calls and emails from
all across the United States and countries as far away as Africa because
there's a scarcity of resources for HIV-positive women, said Benton.
A group of women from BABES recently produced and
presented an HIV/AIDS awareness show called "The New Threat to Humanity ....
The Lack Thereof!" with Live Girls! Theater in Ballard.
"We had a good turnout and great feedback. People
have asked us to do the show or something similar in schools and before city
councils," said Benton.
BABES has hired a new staff member to concentrate on
such efforts, and so far, representatives from BABES have visited two high
schools to talk about HIV/AIDS prevention.
Breaking down the wall
After Stillwell, her daughter and other BABES
members spoke at the Bothell City Council meeting, the council agreed to send a
letter asking "Sen. Patty Murray and others to reauthorize the Ryan White CARE
Act."
"(It should be reauthorized) with a broad definition
of core services to address the social isolation, as well as the medical
devastation that HIV/AIDS patients experience," said Bothell Mayor Mark Lamb.
"It's been a good thing for the city and the council to get to know about how
this affects people everywhere ... (Sandy's) breaking down a wall of silence by
sharing her personal story and putting a human face on someone in our community
who has been touched by HIV."
"I have the utmost respect for Sandy and Nicole and
the other women from the BABES Network," said Bothell Deputy Mayor Sandy Guinn.
"HIV/AIDS is something that many people won't talk about. They have so much
courage."
Guinn continued, "I don't want funding to be taken
away from men with HIV/AIDS, but the women are often treated as secondary, and
they are left alone to raise their children. It's hard enough to be a single
mom. The toll this disease takes on them trickles down to affect their
children. It is hurting the youngest and most vulnerable members of our
community."
It can happen to anyone
Kenmore -based Bastyr University is one of the
medical providers to which BABES refers HIV/AIDS patients. In turn, Bastyr
refers many HIV-positive women to BABES.
Matt Brooks oversees the Ryan White Program at the
Bastry Center for Natural Health in Seattle's Wallingford neighborhood.
To receive nutritional counseling, prescriptions or
alternative treatments such as massage, hydrotherapy or acupuncture, patients
seen under the Ryan White Program must fill out an application and show proof
that they are low-income and have also been under a traditional medical
practitioner's care.
"The whole style of natural health care and
complementary medicine is to lessen people's anxieties, make sure that they're
not talked down to or made to feel dumb," said Brooks. "Sometimes we have to
educate traditional doctors about the emotional aspects of HIV/AIDS."
His personal impression, Brooks added, is that
"women who are newly diagnosed with HIV report more stress in their primary
relationships, worrying about who they will tell and how it will affect what
people think of them, as well as how it will affect their job and their health
benefits.
There is a lot of fear about disclosing their
status, a lot of shame," he said.
Kevin Conroy, a naturopathic doctor and faculty
member at Bastyr University, is one of the physicians who sees HIV/AIDS
patients at the natural-health clinic.
"The women we work with are very willing and very
motivated to work and stay active, often because they're supporting children,"
Conroy said. "I know one who is working three jobs. The amount of fatigue
associated with this disease, and what they go through, is Herculean."
Price, like many HIV-positive individuals, said her
health right now has stabilized. There are good days and bad days. The disease,
Conroy said, presents a number of side effects, "like loss of hair, skin
deterioration, loss of appetite, inability to keep food down ... many of the
same side effects that cancer patients face."
Patients served through the Ryan White Program
receive substantial discounts on health foods and supplements from Bastyr's
dispensaries, which can alleviate some of these problems.
"But another goal of ours and theirs (BABES Network)
is to take their "victim" status away." said Conroy. "Most go through a whole
cycle of emotions like those grieving a death. There are the same stages of
anger, denial, sadness ... The ones who are thriving are those who've forgiven
the person who exposed them to HIV and forgiven themselves for any feelings of
guilt or humiliation they might feel.
"Even women who've been raped or betrayed ... have
been able to let go of the negative emotions, because it's in their best
interest to focus on their recovery instead."
Stillwell feels that her battle for funding and
support for women with HIV/AIDS and their children has just begun.
She wants people to know: "This does happen to
people in the suburbs. It can happen to anyone. Your daughter, you sister, your
mother or your aunt."
HIV/AIDS Resources
Ryan White Care Act -
http://hab.hrsa.gov/history.htm
BABES Network of Seattle - YWCA
Call
1-888-292-1912 or 206-720-5566
http://www.babesnetwork.org
Email:
the_staff@babesnetwork.org
Bastyr Center for Natural Health
Presently
located at North 45th Street and Stone Way North in Seattle. The clinic is
moving to a larger facility at 3670 Stone Way N. It is scheduled to open to
patients February 22nd. The phone number remains the same: 206-834-4100
Contact Sandy
Stillwell
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