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HIV drop in center opens on East Side

by Charlton Harper

While AIDS has certainly not been limited to any one Cleveland neighborhood or community, help and support for those in the HIV spectrum have largely been limited to the West Side and downtown.

But now, the Cedar-Fairmount areapart of Cleveland Height's diverse blend of shopping, hair salons, billiard halls and jazz-will begin to see that problem corrected with the addition of the Open House, a new drop-in center for anyone touched by AIDS. Staffed by Sister Marian Durkin of the Sisters of Charity of St. Augustine, and Gail Frires, a licensed medical social worker, the center is located in the Fairmount Medical Building, 2460 Fairmount Blvd.

For Durkin and Frires, the July opening reflected the long road both have traveled in their own personal struggles with AIDS. Frires saw first hand the ordeal faced by AIDS patients and their families as she gripped with her own brother's illness. She was especially struck by the lies and deception the situation seemed to demand. "He wouldn't let me talk about it. He wanted people to think that he was wealthy enough to retire. I remember telling my in-laws that he was sick of the rat-race, that he had enough money to retire, and they envied him. And I knew that they shouldn't envy him," she reflects.

Knowing that "there's no healing unless there's discussion," she traveled to the West Side to seek support at the Living Room, where she met Durkin, a volunteer counselor. "Attending group and meeting people has been a fortunate thing. I'm not done, but I can go on and give back to other people." Durkin herself has been very active in the area of support, participating in the Buddy program since 1987, volunteering at the Living Room and leading a weekly group at

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St. Vincent's Hospital. It was the need of group members, many of whom were traveling from the East Side, that led her to establish the Open House. "There was a certain amount of letting go in moving over here," she says. "We've lost some West Siders but there are services available to them. Over here, there's so little."

The women maintain an evident rapport with one another. A comment by Frires sparks a continued response from Durkin, while agreement on their roles and needs is solid. This partnership atmosphere is crucial, with Durkin as the main administrator and fund raiser, while Frires will draw upon her personal and professional experiences in handling the bulk of counseling, volunteer training and other therapy services. It's a casual, friendly approach that Durkin hopes will allow them to "be an impetus for collaboration" with other AIDS related services. They look forward to any suggestions and support they can receive, and see no reason for their work to be viewed as competition to already established services. "Again, I think the geographics help us," Durkin says. "It would have been different if we had opened downtown."

"And there's such a need," continued Frires, the transition of thoughts seamlessly made. "Unfortunately, there are enough people to go around," a fact striking in its irony and reality.

With only a month of operation, programs are limited to a weekly Tuesday evening group session and casual drop-in counseling. However, they resist any desire to implement a rigid array of services, preferring instead to remain flexible to the needs of their clients. They will offer massage therapy and, hopefully at some point in the future, necessary, personal services such as haircuts and emergency food assistance.

They also hope to tap into the AfricanAmerican community, both through services and in soliciting volunteers, and point to possible work ahead in the area of women's health issues.

While the Open House is totally nondenominational, they see their own links to the Jewish and Catholic communities as a positive working tool. Says Durkin, “I think my arms reach in a different direction than some other AIDS organizations. That will be helpful. There will be collaboration, but we're not a program of any religious organization." It's that kind of cross-cultural bridging that she will draw upon as a fund raiser.

Already they have been pleased with the many in-kind gifts they've received and the numerous phone calls from people willing to help. Durkin's own nephew has donated a month's worth of rent money, and everything from computers to upholstery services has been gifted. They still have need for printing services, a portable massage table, video equipment and any advice from professional development people. With the phone always ringing, sometimes just returning calls keeps them busiest.

Yet they remain realistic about their expectations and their limitations. "If you think of us as a book, we're still in the preface, in the gathering stage right now," Durkin says. She refuses to worry, confidant that support and funds will come through. If you like the preface, you just might want to stop by and check out the rest of the book.

Jeffrey J. Gerhardstein, L.I.S.W., A.C.C.

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