hoffman@mantaray (Jeffrey M. Hoffman) (11/12/89)
Recently, a friend who used to work here in the UCLA Computer Science Department brought his situation to my attention. He has AIDS and lives in a home. Unfortunately, unlike California where there are well supported AIDS hospices (like the recently renamed Wayland Flowers House in the Hollywood Hills area of LA), the state of Arizona will not help. The following letter was written by my friend. You don't know about this because the media thinks the story is too depressing to cover. You are reading this because it is our only hope. We have never had to ask for help, we have never had to beg. We have always worked for a living. We can't work now. We live in a home for people with AIDS, in Tucson, Arizona. We were without electricity for two days. We had no water for one day. The clogged septic tank is spilling sewage into the yard--the county did not help us, but fined us! We have a cold room. The broken window has not been fixed. Our roof leaks, our dishwasher is broken and we have no money. We do have nice furniture! We do have nice dishes! We purchased them when we were able to work. We now have AIDS, can't work, and don't have the energy to raise funds, or convince the county that we need help, not fines. We beg you and thank you for any help you can give. It does not need to be money. If you know someone that could help us, send them a copy of this letter. Thank You! Macarthur Foundation 8101 E. Golflinks Tucson, AZ 85730 (602) 885-0115 They are a foundation, so contributions are tax-deductable. As the note states, there are many things you could do. Send money if you are able. If you live in the Tucson area, volunteer to help in any way you can (and tell Bill that his friends at UCLA sent you). Or else, simply forward this note electronically or print it out and send it to someone who might be able to help (especially if you know someone like Ted Koppel!) Publicity about the plight of PWAs in non-metropolitan areas would be a good thing. If you can help my friend with that, please call him. He is weak, and can't do demanding tasks, like publicity, on his own. Thanks. jeff ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Jeff Hoffman ~ "People aren't so dreadful when you get to UCLA CSD ~ know them, that's what you've got to hoffman@cs.ucla.edu ~ remember..." (213) 206-6652 ~ -Tennessee Williams, _The Glass Menagerie_ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~