Catholic Charities AIDS Services staff has been helping Emma since late 2007. She had struggled with substance use, attempting recovery but suffering several relapses. When staff met her she was in a homeless shelter due to the loss of her significant other and their joint housing. She was consistently attending outpatient substance abuse treatment and graduated several months later. She has been living in a residential program since last summer and her housing needs have stabilized.

When her Catholic Charities AIDS Services Case Manager met Jane, she weighed eighty-nine pounds. She couldn’t answer questions intelligibly and could barely talk. Any information regarding her situation and needs, her case manager had to obtain from Jane’s family or doctor. Jane had spent time in the community, homeless and non-communicative with her family. Sometimes, her family said, they had seen Jane from their cars, walking alongside the road. They pulled over immediately, happy just to know where she was, that she was safe.

We are increasingly worried about the people, your and our neighbors, that we serve. The safety net of services that they need and rely on because of their HIV/AIDS and other challenges is being jeopardized by stretched private resources.

When one of our neighbors, Michael, came to us three years ago, he had become homeless and addicted to drugs and alcohol. We worked side by side with him to get him into treatment, find a suitable apartment and help him gain the skills he needed to get a job. Over the time we have worked with Michael, he has become homeless several more times and even relapsed. However as good neighbors, we kept taking him back, confident that he would be successful. Our faith in him has paid off as he has been in his own apartment for a year, obtained his first in job nearly 15 years and has been drug-free for 8 months.

by Elizabeth Huber (Catholic Charities AIDS Services Intensive Case Manager)

It is 8:30 in the morning when I arrive at my office. I check my voice mail messages and discover I have 8 new messages since I left the office yesterday.

The first message is from Sarah, who recently relapsed and lost her housing. She states she is in a local detoxification unit and has nowhere to go when she is discharged, which may be today. I am concerned that she has been off of her HIV medications, which happens when she resumes drug use, rendering them less effective in the future.