Maryland: A Refuge, but No Retreat

Since its founding 13 years ago, HAVEN in Anne Arundel County, Md., has counseled and given emotional support to hundreds of HIV/AIDS patients. The county residents it helps often have nowhere else to turn: Some clients have been cut off by their families or lost touch with relatives and friends.

After attending an AIDS seminar in 1987, HAVEN co-founder Suzanne Ochs, a public health nurse, spent two years volunteering with AIDS patients at Johns Hopkins Hospital. In 1989, while doing AIDS work at the county Health Department, she met Joyce Wearstler, who was looking to start an AIDS support group. Together the women formed Common Threads, which offered support, food and transportation to AIDS patients. This group became the basis for HAVEN.

Both founders have since left the group. Today HAVEN is run by Executive Director Diane Goforth; it has five paid employees and about 30 active volunteers. In spite of financial problems, HAVEN's mission -- to help people with HIV/AIDS live independent lives -- remains the same. The group now has about 150 clients, most of whom were referred by the county Health Department.

HAVEN now has five support groups for AIDS patients: Common Threads, Addictions, a Brooklyn Park support group, the Women's Circle and HAVEN Friends. It operates Our House, an Arnold home for AIDS patients with nowhere else to live, and Our Place, a Glen Burnie apartment for patients in the process of getting their own places. HAVEN also helps patients pay medical bills and buy medication. The support groups are open to anyone, but housing applicants must meet financial criteria. The program's Ryan White grant requires that clients have income totaling no more than three times the federal standard for poverty. Residents are required to abstain from drugs and are subject to random testing: Those who test positive are immediately evicted. The final criterion is an interview process that helps the staff determine whether the organization can help the prospective client.

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