Gilsum ndash; JOE UNIS' life-changing illness became an inspiration of sorts in the Granite State.
HIV positive and having suffered three strokes, Unis was comfined to a nursing home because his lack of mobility making it difficult for him to live independently.
It was his plight that inspired the founding of The Cleve Jones Wellness House.
Situated eight miles outside of Keene, the home opened in August to house men 21 and over who have been diagnosed with HIV, AIDS or Hepatitis C. Unis is one of three residents at the facility.
(Joe) really never had an opportunity to live independently, said Susan MacNeil, director of AIDS Services of the Monadnock Region, which is housed on the second floor.
For the first time in five years he has a room, he has his own ramp, he can go outside - no one can believe how well he's doing.
Named after the founder of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, The Cleve Jones Wellness House will eventually offer services to up to seven men. Its founders saw a need not only for a safe place for those who are HIV-positive, but also for those who have only Hepatitis C.
Hepatitis C is a pandemic four times worse than HIV, for which there is no federal assistance programs, MacNeil points out on the organization's Web site. That means if there are 1.4 million people in the U.
S. living with HIV, over 4 million are living with HCV. In 2004 our agency broadened its mission specifically to assist persons living with HCV, since over half of our HIV positive clients are co-infected.
It just made sense.
The facility held its first Harbor Homes Luncheon on Oct. 11 to celebrate the opening of state's first such facility.
The feeling of isolation is gone, said Mark Parsons, who lives at the house along with his dog. Before moving in, he lived alone in a Keene apartment.
According to ASMR, Wellness House is not a hospice or a homeless shelter.
Its goal is simply to provide a safe, peaceful environment for residents.
Despite MacNeil's motivation to get the project off the ground in December 2004, the road to Wellness House was not smooth.
Keith Thibodeaux of Southwest Community Services, notified MacNeil when the house became vacant.
It previously held a juvenile girls' program that was forced to switch to an outpatient system when its budget was cut.
On Christmas Eve, 2004, MacNeil signed an agreement on the house, and days before the New Year, a neighbor found out that it was ASMR who was looking to house terminally ill patients.
That's when the firestorm began, said MacNeil.
It became apparent right at the start that residents in Gilsum, with a population of 811 people, had a problem with the project.
Residents passed a zoning change banning boarding houses from the Gilsum village district.
People didn't want us here, said MacNeil.
MacNeil said residents were concerned about problems with the septic system, and particularly that those people taking those medications would ruin the septic.
Research showed the breakdown of medication would have no ill-effect on the system, and the system was dug up to make sure the soil wasn't compromised. When that happened, ASMR found the previous owners didn't have a commercial septic system.
Every time you thought you had a path, something came up, said Thibodeaux.
The previous tenants escrowed $20,000 to get it fixed and the next challenge MacNeil had was financing the house. The New Hampshire Community Loan Fund helped out by securing a loan for the organization.
The final zoning appeal was successful, and MacNeil finally signed on the house last June 16.
That was a glorious day, said MacNeil. The vision that began with Joe has come true.
All the residents receive some form of disability or benefit checks to help pay for their rooms, which are all-inclusive. Applicants also face a tough background check and are required to meet certain standards.
Each resident has a large, private room that is wired for cable, internet and telephone.
The property is drug and alcohol-free.
Wendy Furnari, assistant director of Southern NH HIV/AIDS Task Force, spoke to residents at the luncheon and said she is in the early stages of considering a similar house for the Nashua region.
We do have more folks living at home and feeling isolated, said Furnari, whose organization helps 120 clients in Hillsborough County, quadruple the number of the Monadnock Region agency.
Seventy percent of New Hampshire residents living with HIV or AIDS reside in Hillsborough, Rockingham and Strafford counties.
Applications for residency at Wellness House are being accepted. Residents do not need to be from New Hampshire.
For more information or to receive a brochure, contact MacNeil at 357-6855.macneil@asmronline.org.
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