Chicago Women's AIDS Project
CWAP provides prevention education, advocacy and support for women at risk or living with HIV in the Chicago area. Our mission is to empower women to take control of their own health and to live as fully and as productively as possible.
Monday, December 1, 2014
Meet a CWAP Sister: Marilyn
“I always read my CWAP newsletter, to keep up with everything. I wait for it in the mail every other month. I would see all the pictures from SASS graduations, but the timing never worked out because I am in school. But now at Lawndale I was able to make it work!” Marilyn graduated from Project SASS at Lawndale Christian Health Center in November!
Marilyn is a full time student and will be graduating with her Bachelor of Community Health, before going on to study a Master of Public Health. “You should never stop learning. It’s important to stay up to date, things are changing and improving in the future,” explains Marilyn. To keep up to date, Marilyn says, “I go online. You want to go somewhere credible, my main site is USA.gov, the Centers for Disease Control, or the National Institute for Health.”
Marilyn has enjoyed Project SASS and says “I thought it was going to be a simple class, but Project SASS has covered everything.” Marilyn’s message to her CWAP sisters is to “live with perseverance, courage, and take care of yourself before everyone else. In the morning you wake up, you start with you. You can live with HIV, its been 25 years and I feel better everyday, when its hard, just take it one day at a time.”
Celebrating our leaders for World AIDS Day
As Community Advocacy Coordinator at Cook County Hospital, Gigi established and went on to facilitate the Women and Children HIV/AIDS Program. She embodied courage, something not seen in many people in the early days of the epidemic, and she helped others around her to find courage in the face of adversity.
At the CORE Center, Gigi fought to be the voice of people living with HIV/AIDS, and became the first
Ombudsperson for HIV/AIDS at CORE. She was instrumental in the establishment of the peer program, supporting and empowering clients in advocating for themselves and educating their peers.
Gigi took her life as a blessing, and didn't allow her status to take away from her right to an enjoyable, happy life;
"I spell aids in lowercase because I try to keep it from claiming too much power in my life, and I want to show that."Gigi passed away from a heart attack on August 19, 2004, leaving us an incredible legacy of HIV/AIDS advocacy. Today she continues to be an inspiration to people affected by HIV/AIDS everywhere, and the CWAP team would like to acknowledge Gigi for the pioneering work she has contributed to the field, and the difference she has made to many of our lives on a personal level.
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Arlana's Story at Chicago Women's aids project (CWAP)
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Spotlight On: Helena Bushong!
Helena Bushong’s Testimony
Helena is one of CWAP’s amazing clients who recently gave a personal testimony on her experiences living with AIDS and the importance of being in and staying in care. The testimony was given at the Chicago State HIV Service Planning Council South Side Community Input Forum. Helena was the final panelist to speak for the evening and brought many audience members to tears with her testimony that ended with a standing ovation.
This is Helena’s Story:
At the time of Helena’s initial diagnosis in 2002 she was told that her CD4 count was less than 74 and was immediately diagnosed with AIDS. Helena was a “late tester” and had been living with HIV for a long time prior to testing positive. In addition to AIDS she also had Hepatitis C.
After her diagnoses Helena was in shock and denial. She never thought that she was at risk since she had never acted promiscuously and was only intimate in serious committed relationships. Helena now sees part of her denial as a fear of the disease itself. Eventually, she came to the realization that she had to accept her diagnoses if she wanted to live.
Helena decided to face her fear by learning all she could about AIDS. Through the process of taking care of herself and educating herself she realized that in order to address her lack of self esteem and depression she needed to meet with a transgender counselor. With the support of her counselor Helena made the transition to a woman. After the transition is when Helena contacted CWAP and began working as a peer outreach worker and found sanctity in the support of other women.
As Helena reflected on her experiences, she named some obstacles to adherence.
“Something that health care providers typically don’t realize is that patients just get tired of this disease consuming part of their lives.” This is why Helena believes that she and many others tend to fall out of treatment for some time. “The routine of taking medication at the same time everyday starts to control aspects of your social life, making sure that I’m home by 11pm would prevent me from simple activities like seeing a movie with friends.” Helena also talked about some of the issues that the African American community still needs to address, “when the outbreak of AIDS started, the gay community came together and started support groups, formed coalitions, and opened clinics to help one another. The African American community has yet to react in this same supportive manner, people are dying but the issue is still not being addressed.” Helena ended her testimony with, “in the end this is a request for the community to be empowered. There is a healthcare crime in effect and we have the responsibility to address that.”