Where the Heart Is
By Andrea Conley
FORT WORTH – The caseworker came regularly to Crystal’s southwest Fort Worth apartment. In fact, the person was too regular. Eventually Crystal’s neighbors found out about her HIV positive status. The confrontations started after Crystal felt her life was back to order following the HIV-positive diagnosis. She was in treatment and was responding very well, and her doctors were impressed. Her sons were doing well in school and had lots of friends coming over to play. “Soon,” Crystal says, “the neighbors were gathering mob-like in the breezeway of our apartment building, shouting threats and obscenities at me and my babies on a daily basis.” Her son’s classmates mimicked the vile insults learned from the parents. The 9-year-old defended his mother and came home with a bloody nose. “The [neighbors] came over and tossed condoms in front of my doorway,” she recalls. The petty ugliness gave way to violence. “They threatened to gang rape me,” she continues. “And when I was hospitalized for about a month, they broke into my apartment three or four times.” Now she and her sons, ages 4, 6 and 10, live at The Villages of Samaritan House, and Crystal says she sleeps at night. “I feel safe her,” she repeats softly. The 66-unit complex is outfitted with security cameras everywhere. Children can romp about on the playground and not be terrorized, because their neighbors have HIV-positive loved ones at home, too. Steve Dutton, president and CEO of Samaritan House, says the 1, 2 and 3-bedroom units filled up quickly after they opened on Dec. 1, 2006, World AIDS Day. Within the next four months, all the units had been leased. At least 90 children reside at The Villages with their families. “More than anything, it was about letting people know about the opportunity. You really can’t put an ad in the paper [like for regular rental properties].” Dutton and his team contacted doctors’ offices, hospitals and other service providers, and waited for the word-of-mouth approach to bring in eligible families. “The first month was very slow,” he recalls. “The second month, things picked up a bit. By the last month and a half, we were so busy we could hardly keep up with the applications.” Their strategy had worked perfectly. The word had spread and people finally knew the apartments were clean, bright, attractive, and most of all, affordable with all bills included. Tenants must be HIV-positive, homeless or at the risk of homelessness and meet federal low-income guideliens. Dutton says there is now a waiting list, albeit not an extremely long one. Residents are afforded a myriad of services, including job search and other life skills assistance, medical, nutritional and transportation services, and more. Soon they – and eventually the general public -- will have access to cutting-edge technology with the Mobi-med kiosk. Dutton describes this equipment, developed and provided to Samaritan House/The Villages by Fred Kimble at Mobi-Med Technologies, as a sort of cyber-triage center. Similar to a coin-operated photo booth, it allows a patient to have a seat, speak face-to-face with a health care professional via satellite; test their blood pressure, weight and other vitals. Then, the provider can determine whether or not the patient needs to report in person to a facility for further treatment. This technology, says Dutton, has been used in rural areas, as well as in the Iraq War.
The Villages were funded in part by $7.3 million in tax credits. But they were also brought to fruition through the support of the surrounding community.
Dutton says he went into the neighborhood in 2004, and discovered a small, dilapidated bookstore and neighboring homes that were also in disrepair. He asked neighbors what they thought of the plans for the special housing, and they were for it. Dutton’s group negotiated purchase prices for the property, and later received the tax credits to build the apartments. They raised a total of $12.5 million to cover the associated costs, including legal fees. Local elected officials also rolled up their sleeves. Dutton recalls the contributions of, among others, Fort Worth City Council member/Mayor Pro Tem Kathleen Hicks, State Rep. Marc Veasey and retired Judge Maryellen Hicks, to name a few. Although there has been much talk of the reticence of the black church to address HIV and AIDS, Dutton says the opposite has been true in this case. He says Samaritan House has received great support from area churches, many of whom have played a significant role in planning Samaritan House’s upcoming Hoops ‘N’ Harmony basketball tournament and health fair, scheduled for Sept. 8. Crystal, 27, who was diagnosed HIV-positive seven years ago, said she was taken aback at the level of ignorance regarding her condition. “People really need to know they cannot catch it just because they live next door [to an HIV infected person] or just because their kids play in my yard.” However, she says she is not bitter from her experience. On the contrary, she sounds hopeful, excited about the future. “I have completed two already,” she says of the many computer courses and other educational programs available at The Villages. In addition, she still has the firm support and love of her mother, and the father of her youngest child. “He does a lot of online research, educating himself so he can try to help me,” she says. Of her new home she says, “People here are like family. Some of them have been disowned by their relatives, so we are family for each other.” She has lived at The Villages for more than six months now and still marvels at the outpouring of support she has received from the staff. “I never knew people cared so much.” For more information about Samaritan House, The Villages, or volunteer opportunities, please contact Samaritan House at 817.332.6410.