Ten years ago, while working for the Los Angeles County Health Department, I was given the opportunity to form a support group for African American women living with HIV/AIDS. The very first woman to come to this group was Lynn Chamberlain. When I first met Lynn , I noticed not only how beautiful she was, but also how young she was. Lynn was twenty-five years old and diagnosed HIV positive when she was only twenty-one. As she sat in the brightly lit room for our first support group, Lynn told us her personal story.
(FULL TESTIMONIAL)

I am involved with Women At Risk in many different capacities, for so many reasons. I first became aware of their support services in 1994 while my fiancée and I were struggling with the devastating news of his diagnosis of AIDS a week prior to my college graduation. I was 24 years old, scared beyond words, facing an uncertain future with only one certainty; my life as I once knew it, would be forever changed. I came to WAR because I wanted to find out some basic but vital information; how do you live with this disease in your life? How do you go on feeling hopeful about your future that doesn't seem to have much to hope for? Will I ever feel normal again?
(FULL TESTIMONIAL)

It seems fitting that I be writing this testimonial for Women At Risk (W.A.R.) on the anniversary of my diagnosis. When I was told that I had AIDS eleven years ago, I truly believed that my life was over. The life that for 32 years I had previously taken for granted, in essence, was. My husband and I were stunned. Our dream of having children together would never be realized. We moved through the next few weeks like robots, our grief sometimes overwhelming us. Although I believed my death was imminent, my doctor assured me that with the medications that were available to us (both HIV and prophylaxis), I could live for years.
(FULL TESTIMONIAL)

On an otherwise average Thursday in January, 1992 my life was forever and irrevocably changed by an AIDS diagnosis. It was just two months before my thirty-second birthday and I was convinced that I would never see thirty-three. In March of this year, I celebrated my fortieth birthday. People who are unaware of my diagnosis couldn't understand why I was so elated to be turning forty; this was a time when a lot of people begin to lie about their age.
(FULL TESTIMONIAL)

Being involved with W.A.R. has been the most important strengthening influence in my journey living as an HIV+ woman. Knowing the warmth, understanding, camaraderie, and safety provided in our support groups and the potential lives that may be saved by our community outreach provided me with a sense of hope, strength and well being.
(FULL TESTIMONIAL)
GO TO TOP