House of Compassion
House of Compassion
For the 14th consecutive year, Bakersfield’s AIDS Project (BAP) will be leading the way in raising awareness during the month of December.
December 1st marks World AIDS Day. For many unfamiliar with the significance of World AIDS Day, it is simply to bring attention to the disease. The AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 3.1 million lives in 2005, of which more than half a million (570,000) were children. Since the late ‘80s AIDS is estimated to have killed more than 25 million people. While those numbers are astronomical, they are unfelt by most. For Audrey Chavez they mean a world of pain and sadness she hopes to mend even if it means helping one person at a time.
She’s probably told the story a couple of hundred times by now, but every time Audrey talks about the death of her brother, Ricky Montoya, she can’t help but shed a tear. Since Ricky’s death in the mid-‘90s, Audrey has declared war on AIDS in Kern County.
What started as a small group of five to ten people gathered in front of the Liberty Bell on December 1st, has turned into a 50-60 person candle light vigil and march from Rabobank Plaza to the Liberty Bell in downtown Bakersfield, in memory of those in Kern County who have died from AIDS.
Good intentions and unconditional compassion has found Chavez trying to break down a stigma in her community.
“It’s not always easy to get people to be comfortable in doing something about the disease,” Chavez says. “Whether it’s participating in the march or serving a meal to our clients, finding people can be tough.”
Chavez says she knows in her heart people care and they want to see an end to the disease.
“I believe we have to continue to educate our youth about the disease, how it can be contracted and to be tested,” she says. “We can’t just sit back in a complacent frame of mind and think, ‘it can’t happen to me,’ because it can.”
John Willey, program administrator for BAP, has been volunteering with the nonprofit group for many years and says he can’t believe the lack of education about the disease with the general community.
“People worry too much about what other people think,” he says. “Because you support AIDS education and attend any of the project’s events doesn’t declare any particular life style or orientation. It just makes you a kind and caring individual.”
It’s hard to imagine numbers. When BAP says 564 men, women and children have been diagnosed since 2002 in Kern County, you may think ,‘that’s too bad.’ However, seeing the people is another story. Each year, Bakersfield’s AIDS Project brings select panels of the national touring AIDS Memorial Quilt to town. The selected panels should hold a special place in the heart of the community, as they are the loving memories of friends and family who have died from AIDS in Kern County.
Sandy Moffett remembers every cut, stitch, tear and smile used to create the panel in memory of her brother Marshall “Red” Helm.
“The quilt panel took months to complete,” she says. “There was a group that originally met to cut out the pieces and lay them in place, but the job of actually stitching it had to be a one-person job.”
Red’s quilt has a twofold significance for the family. Red loved the ocean and Moffett knew that somehow she had to make that the focal point. However, the second part of the design came from the words to a song that their sister, Kristi, wrote in his memory.
“It (the quilt square) is my (our) attempt to show just some of the many facets of Red’s life,” Moffett says. “He gave so much of himself to those he loved and this, as well as our participation in other areas of support for those fighting this battle, was just a tangible way for us to give a little bit back.”
Simply, the quilt is a rotation of life and love.
“The quilt is a very powerful display,” Chavez says. “I just wish more people would take the opportunity to view it.”
Each year BAP takes the quilt to Kern County high schools for viewing and an assembly on awareness. However, Chavez and Willey both say they would like to make the quilt more visible to the community at large.
“We’d like to have the panels displayed in a place where a lot of people will be or go to see the quilt. It really touches upon who we are as humans and our compassion for other people.”
In the past, the quilt has been displayed at The Bayou and the Beale Library. Currently BAP is looking for a place to house the quilt for a community display.
Although Bakersfield’s AIDS Project would love it if the nonprofit organization could run on in-kind donations and compassion, they need money and lots of it.
Luckily for BAP, Kaiser Permanente has lent a helping hand.
Last December, Bakersfield’s AIDS Project was awarded a $10,000 grant, which helped BAP create Ricky’s Retreat, a transitional housing facility for HIV positive or AIDS patients. In 2006, Kaiser granted BAP another $10,000. This new grant helped them set up a GET bus program, which allows the project to buy transportation passes for their clients who have no other means of transportation. They were also able to create Marshall Manor, Kern County’s first permanent housing facility for people living with AIDS.
“We can’t say enough how grateful we are to Kaiser for their help,” Chavez says. “Ricky’s Retreat has seen over 30 people living there and now, with Marshall Manor, we are able to give a permanent place for families to live who are struggling with the disease.”
Willey says just thinking about these two properties makes him smile.
“I think about some of the places our clients have told us they had lived before,” he says. “I’m glad we can give them some place clean and safe to stay.”
It is clear the Bakersfield’s AIDS Project has come a long way. Still, they have high hopes for the coming year; such as owning Ricky’s Retreat.
“We can’t give up on hope for the future,” Willey says. “I hope through all of our efforts we can help change how people think and get the community to take on a stronger role in helping The Project. We want everyone to be living to live, not living to die.”