July 27, 2007

A WOMAN'S PLACE IS IN THE CENTER

Canosa does the honors while Rev. Errol Harvey (left), who led the invocation, Aulestia, King and Stancliff look on

Housing Works client Dawn Roman can't wait to start coming to Housing Works' Women's Health Center (WHC). She can hang out with pals in the garden, relieve stress with Pilates in the exercise room and unleash her inner Frida Kahlo or Georgia O'Keefe in the art therapy room. While those amenities were all on display at last Friday's festive ribbon-cutting for the new $3 million facility at 57 Willoughby Street, they aren't really the reason Roman, 42, is anxious for the WHC to open. "As a woman with HIV, there are a lot of things that come up that I'm not comfortable talking about in front of men," she said. "Now I have a place where I can be myself. I can talking about anything that's on my mind."

The deep need for such a venue explains why the ribbon-cutting ceremony and the hour-and-a-half of tours, networking, and old friends catching up that preceded it made for such a joyous, emotional day. "I don't know if my face is cracking from smiling so much," Housing Works Senior Vice President of Prevention Linney Smith said. In 2005, women accounted for 31 percent of new HIV/AIDS diagnoses in New York City; 66 percent of the women were African American and 26 percent were Latina. Brooklyn has more women with HIV/AIDS than any other borough in New York City.

Although the WHC won't officially welcome clients until early September, Friday was the first chance for most folks to see the nearly completed facility. The day began with youth from the Housing Works Summer Youth Enrichment Program giving tours to clients, staff, community members and well wishers. As one guide showed off the reception area—featuring a tranquil fountain with the WHC logo—medical examination rooms, dining area, art therapy room, and other rooms, he bragged that there were big-screen televisions in every major room "except the bathrooms."

"I'm almost ready to come all the way to Brooklyn!" said Dorothy Walker, an HIV positive recruitment and retention counselor at Columbia University, who marveled at the WHC dental facilities. "For a positive person who works, it's almost impossible to receive good access to dental care." The WHC's childcare area also garnered gasps of delight. "Child care is really one of the clients' biggest concerns," said Barbara Mosinski, WHC Director of Creative Arts Therapy and one of the major forces behind getting the facility open. "Here, women can be in art therapy or other groups and not have to be worrying whether their children are well-watched."

At noon a crowd of about 150 people gathered in the spacious dining hall for the official ribbon cutting. The momentousness of the occasion was clear. "We've taken what was a drab basement and turned it into a wonderful, healing place," said Housing Works President and CEO Charles King as he choked back tears.

"This will be an oasis where womens' needs are met and they are treated with the care they deserve," said Rosalie Canosa, Women's Health Center executive director, in her introduction of the event's keynote speaker, New York State Senator Velmanette Montgomery. Montgomery is a longtime champion of people with HIV/AIDS whose district includes the Women's Health Center. "To all the women here, I say, we've come a long way, baby. And we will not allow you to be cast aside," she said. Housing Works received official proclamations from Montgomery, U.S. Congressman Edolphus Towns, New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz.

HBO Senior Vice President and Housing Works board member Bernadette Aulestia spoke movingly of how HIV/AIDS has touched her family and how she intends to use her position as a "corporate citizen" to help Housing Works save lives. Other speakers included Dr. Anu Menon, WHC Medical Director, Medical Director of the Harm Reduction Coalition Dr. Susan Stancliff, artist Annie Wharton, who created an art installation that graces the walls of the WHC, and Housing Works cofounder Virginia Shubert. "I fully expect the Women's Health Center will be a hotbed for women's advocacy," Shubert said.

Resplendent in a gold and white ensemble, newly hired case manager Rita "Sunshine" Brooks encapsulated the broader significance of the Women's Health Center when she asked, "Women, how often do we have something that belongs only to us?" But it was HIV-positive poet Chardelle Imani Lassiter who summed up the day best, after she read her powerful poem "Invisible Women." "This center makes invisible women visible," she said, with tears in her eyes. "I'm grateful I have a place to come."

For more information on the Women's Health Center, contact Michelle Kalski at 347-473-7408 or M.Kalski@housingworks.org.

The Housing Works AIDS Issues Update is reported, written and edited by Diana Scholl, David Thorpe, Christine Campbell, terri smith-caronia and Housing Works staff. Send your feedback, leads and story ideas to d.scholl@housingworks.org.

You can reach us by phone at 212-967-1500 x168, by fax at 212-868-4222, and by email at d.scholl@housingworks.org. Housing Works provides housing, advocacy and services to homeless people living with AIDS and HIV. Housing Works is the nation's largest community-based AIDS organization and the nation's largest minority-controlled AIDS organization.

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