At Angela’s House, kids connect

Portraits of HIV in Youngstown

Gallery

Sure, this small cross-section of people living with HIV in the Mahoning Valley defies the gay, white male template for the disease. But don't miss their gumption. It's something when people who have been judged invite scrutiny. It's a screaming dare. Words and Pictures by Daniel C. Britt.

By Daniel C. Britt

Children who visit the place find a homelike atmosphere.

YOUNGSTOWN — On the street outside the concealed door to Angela’s House in Youngstown, a girl near a bus shelter stomped the icy sidewalk and turned her collar to the wind.

Inside, it was warm, and stockinged feet sank into the carpet.

Like most nights, there was a meal cooking in the sign-less, white duplex set back from the street. Angela’s House is a hidden getaway for Mahoning Valley kids infected or affected by HIV, who are left out in the cold and in need of community.

Angela’s House is a product of the Ursuline Sisters HIV/AIDS Ministry, which was established in 1993.

“It started one program at a time and began as a spiritual support group,” said Brigid Kennedy, associate director of the HIV/AIDS Ministry.

Four years after implementing the ministry, it became evident that more children were attending the Guardian Angel Cafe, which was created as a networking program for adults with HIV or connected to the disease.

“Through the cafe, we started seeing the needs of kids and started tutoring at the motherhouse,” Kennedy said.

Shortly thereafter, the ministry recognized an expansion was necessary and wished to provide the children with a homelike environment.

Angela’s House opened 10 years ago and takes on the individual needs of the children who walk through its doors, said Kennedy.

“It really has a family feel to it,” she said of the house that has bedrooms, living rooms and a dining table for the kids to share meals together.

Georgia, a 14-year-old who requested her identity be withheld, said Angela’s House is one of the few places “people won’t judge.”

Georgia’s mother was diagnosed with HIV when Georgia was 6, after a car accident resulted in a trip to the hospital. Like many, Georgia’s mother didn’t fit the gay-male stereotype and didn’t consider herself a candidate for the disease, Georgia said.

“She didn’t know she could get it, so she didn’t get tested,” said Georgia.

Though the feeling of isolation attached to caring for a family member with HIV solidified for Georgia and her older brother almost a decade ago, she has only one friend outside Angela’s House who knows her mom is infected.

Daily worry about her mother’s dying coupled with the fear of being mocked by other kids has closed her off, she said.

Other students “don’t know what it’s like. The girls make fun of you for the stupidest things,” Georgia said. “I’m used to being quiet at school. When I’m here [Angela’s House], I can express myself.”

The Tuesday spaghetti-and-meatballs crowd is a “lively group,” said Jessica Sheppard, child and family program director, as she ladled sauce onto a row of raised plates.

Seven kids, ranging from middle school-age to high-schoolers, white, black and in-between, heaped red pasta onto yellow garlic bread and clowned with each other across the table.

Few facts could be discerned from the Cleveland Browns-Pittsburgh Steelers debate that filled the dining room.

“Steelers Whoop!” repeated the eldest boy, age 15.

One of the younger boys started his own debate by showing off a long list of phone numbers, claiming they were collected from several girls in the same day.

“We’re trying to create a place where these kids can act like kids,” Sheppard said. “Here, they can feel accepted.”

There are now 26 kids who visit the house on a regular basis. Those such as Georgia, who have been coming since early childhood, often arrive in their pajamas.

Georgia is garrulous among the others, not the wallflower she claims to be at her high school.

Around the dining room table, HIV is the common thread. It’s unspoken because it’s understood, not hidden. Georgia’s closest friend, Therese, an older girl living in similar circumstances, is also her tutor and role model.

“I would be lucky to turn out like her [Therese]. She’s not afraid,” Georgia said.

The older kids mentor the younger children, but the ministry also matches children with an adult volunteer to create consistent and strong relationships, said Kennedy.

“We give [the children] the resources that aren’t accessible to them,” she said.

Job-interviewing skills, helping complete college applications or simply assisting with a science project are a few ways volunteers support the children of Angela’s House.

“It’s almost like we’re part of their family,” Kennedy said.

After their spaghetti dinner, children and volunteers broke into groups for homework help.

Georgia seemed confident that, with the extra help, she would soon master algebra. Veterinary colleges are already on her radar, but she hesitated talking about a future away from home and away from Angela’s House.

“I have energy here. We’re all going through the same thing,” Georgia said. “I know I’ll miss having somewhere to go.”