Chicago Tribune Profiles Home for Black HIV-Positive Men
If you have a few minutes, please read the Chicago Tribune's profile of Jo-Ray House, a home for HIV-positive men in Chicago. Jo-Ray was founded in 2003 by Ida Byther-Smith, diagnosed as HIV-positive in 1991 "and learned soon after that her husband had had affairs with men and women." Instead of venting her anger at him, she took care of her husband until he died eight years and then ...
Byther-Smith cashed in her life savings and started Jo-Ray House in 2003 after meeting a man who contracted HIV through prison rape. His family threw him and everything he touched out when he told them he was HIV positive.
But it is her own experience that allows Byther-Smith to identify with the men on a personal level.
"[HIV] is a pot. It doesn't matter how you got in, whether you jumped in or got pushed," she said. "All that matters is we are all in the same pot."
Six men currently live at Jo-Ray House, they are all black, and these include gay and bisexual men. One resident, 52-year-old Ed Phelps, says he tested HIV positive three years ago on Valentine's Day and talks "about survivor's guilt and his 14-year battle with addiction. His partner died of AIDS soon after finding out he was infected, Phelps said. The hardest obstacle he had to overcome was social isolation, said Phelps, who was once married. 'I was angry with the universe,' he said. 'The real killer is not the possibility of a physical death, it's the social death.' "
There is a beautiful closing quote from Byther-Smith, who says her faith has kept her going. "God knew that there was going to be a little black lady in Chicago that would contract HIV from her husband. That was my destiny."
HIV-positive men find a true home and friends [Trib]
More HEALTH
More HIV
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Some Background ...
GMHC's "I Love My Boo" Campaign [R20]
HIV Rates Rising Among Black NYC Gay Men [R20]
CDC Tracking "Serious" Strain of Syphilis [R20]
The HIV Morning After Pill? [R20]
Black Gay Men and "The Pill" [R20]
Jonathan Perry in "The Advocate" [R20]
Ending Black Homophobia Will Reduce HIV [R20]
Do You Disclose Your HIV Status? [R20]
Primetime Reports Black HIV Epidemic [After Elton]
"Out of Control: AIDS in Black America" [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the Down Low [R20]
HIV Rates Rise Among NYC Black Gay Men [R20]
Phill Wilson: Candidates Must Address HIV/AIDS [R20]
POZ Examines Race and the “Down Low” [R20]
"Urban Rally Against AIDS" [R20]
The ABCs of Black HIV [R20]
Well, Miss Ida Byther-Smith didn't feel sorry for herself, she didn't allow anger and bitterness to guide her. She simply did what was brave, and beyond what was right. I guess you can build that type of courage through experiencing and overcoming life's challenges, but usually it's already there inside people like Miss Ida...well, her kind of courage.
Posted by: Derrick from Philly | 22 April 2008 at 15:09
What an inspiring story! After being in a mild depression over some soul-stealing homophobic experiences I've had with straight black people recently, this story has lifted my spirits somewhat. Ms. Byther-Smith could have done the Terry McMillan thing and flipped out but she went in the opposite direction. Thank you, rod.
Posted by: elg | 22 April 2008 at 16:06
certainly inspiring! talk about taking lemons and turning them into lemonade!
Posted by: seanndc | 22 April 2008 at 19:49
What a wonderful and inspiring story.
Posted by: Honti Sonud | 24 April 2008 at 22:42
What a wonderful and inspiring story.
Posted by: Honti Sonud | 24 April 2008 at 22:43