Addressing AIDS
Helen Bishop grew up in Oak Park and Western Springs, moved to Missouri, and joined the Peace Corps in Ethiopia following college. From Ethiopia she traveled to Britain, returning to the United States many years later. She spent some time in San Diego, where she and her partner, Susan Grider, raised their five children. She was awarded the Stonewall Award by the San Diego Gay/Lesbian Center in 1990 for her work in developing adult education materials which link heterosexism with other oppressions. Helen returned to the Chicago area in 1992 when she accepted the position of Congregational Services Director for the Unitarian Universalist Association's Central Midwest District. Helen and Susan's fourth grandchild was born this morning in California and so their family is celebrating even as it expands.
Lora Branch is the director of grantmaking and community education at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. Previously she served as coordinator for youth and prevention programs at the Chicago Department of Public Health. She is a member of the steering committee and co-chair of Chicago Black Lesbians & Gays. She is also an independent cable access producer, having worked in a variety of settings in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York.
Margo Bristow has over 20 years’ experience in treating adolescent substance abusers and their families. She believes strongly that empowerment to make decisions and having options are the keys to learning to live substance free. She is a systems based, cognitive-behavioral therapist in private practice in Oak Park. She is past president of the Illinois Council on Problem and Compulsive Gambling, past chair of the Substance Abuse Advisory Committee of Oak Park & River Forest, and presently the vice-chair of the Youth Network Council.
Tony Dobrowolski is a resident of Oak Park since 1992 along with his partner, Bob Vogler. He is an actor, having appeared throughout Chicagoland at Oak Park Festival Theatre, Court Theatre, Shakespeare Repertory Theatre, Northlight Theatre, Writers' Theatre Chicago, and ShawChicago. He is a playwright whose adaptation of the Robert Hichen's novel, The Green Carnation, was published in 1998. His one-man show, Life Is What Happens When You’re Making Other Plans, has been performed in Chicago and Detroit. Tony also works at the accounting firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Stacy Fuller, a recent graduate of Southern Illinois University with a Bachelor of Science in food and nutrition specializing in dietetics, is returning to school to complete the requirements for a Master’s in her field. Following her internship at the Hines V.A. Medical Center, she plans to work with children with learning disorders, applying knowledge gained in nutrition to their dietetic needs. She lives in Oak Park with husband Casey.
James Gates, a long-time Oak Park resident happily married to Louise, is father to three. A 27-year employee of School District 97, he is currently teaching a course in the humanities after several years as chair of the language arts department. He is education council representative at Percy Julian School, and the chair of the district council which comprises parents, teachers, and administrators working to address educational issues. He has degrees in English literature and has been a coach in youth baseball and basketball programs. His comments at the dinner conversation explore possible reasons for the disparity of educational experiences across America. In recent years, his students have written and submitted scores of essays in answer to the question, “How can the community work together to stop AIDS?”
Emily Hume, a senior at Oak Park River Forest High School, is the editor-in-chief of Trapeze, an award-winning publication produced by students. A River Forest resident, Emily plans to pursue a journalism internship opportunity after graduation in June. She has applied to a number of colleges, including Macalester in Minnesota, Sarah Lawrence and Vassar in New York. She plans to pursue education and training in journalism and American studies.
Eva Korzeniowski was born in Rabka, Poland, near Krakow, and came to the United States in 1977. After graduating with her doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Dentistry, she was asked by Dr. Mario Alves, director, to join the dentists practicing at the Ryan White Dental Clinic at the UIC medical center. The clinic provides comprehensive dental services to persons with HIV/AIDS.
Nathan L. Linsk, professor in the Jane Addams College of Social Work at the University of Illinois at Chicago, established the Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center in 1988. A research specialist in family care giving issues and staff development & training, he has served as principal investigator for a six-state health professional training project funded by the U.S. Public Health Resources and Services Administration. He is also principal investigator on a Great Lakes project for training and providing technical support to criminal justice professionals. Dr. Linsk, an associate of the National Research and Training Center on Social Work and HIV/AIDS, is also co-director of the evaluation team for Ryan White CARE Title I services. A fellow in the Gerontological Society of America, he is a founder and co-chair of the National Association on HIV Over Fifty. He is co-author of three books and more than 30 published articles on health and social policy development issues. His research and training include cross cultural work in Eastern Europe, where he has headed the Romanian American AIDS/HIV prevention project. He is a co-founder of the Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association and served on the founding board of directors for seven years of Community Response, a local AIDS service organization. He has organized and presented many national and international meetings on social work and HIV as well as on issues for older adults and gay and lesbian concerns.
Patricia Lytle is executive director of Chicago H.E.L.P., an STDs educational support network which facilitates educational meetings at five major medical centers throughout Chicagoland. She pioneered in developing STD support groups dating back to 1979, a model used throughout the U.S. A recognized speaker in this field, she has been a guest on dozens of radio and TV shows and she has chaired the TB education committee for the City of Chicago. Chicago H.E.L.P. is formally affiliated with the American Social Health Association, for which association she is the coordinator of two special health programs dealing with the Herpes Simplex Virus and the Human Papiloma Virus.
Brett McNeil is the editor of Wednesday Journal, an independent weekly of the Oak Park publishing corporation, Wednesday Journal, Inc. One of his interests is exploring ways that journalism can function legitimately as a public service vehicle for the community’s education and for the prevention of disease.
Paul Preston, a resident of Kentucky, has lived openly with HIV for 13 years. He is the president of Project AIDS Louisville, a public information network that serves people with HIV disease seeking information on a range of health and nutritional subjects. He writes a newspaper column which is syndicated to gay, lesbian, and transgender publications in seven states. In his column he writes about issues impacting the HIV community, frequently using a question-and-answer format. He also conducts workshops and seminars on the power of positive living for persons and families impacted by HIV disease.
Rickey Sain Sr., a member of the Oak Park Board of Health, is the chair of its committee on AIDS. A social service administrator for 15 years in serving populations at risk, he works in prevention, advocacy, and organizational development at Horizons Community Services in Chicago, a social services agency and the Midwest’s largest community center serving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender population. He serves as the co-chair of the quality assurance/evaluation committee of the Chicago Department of Health’s Chicago-Area HIV Services Planning Council, is a member of the prevention evaluation committee of the Chicago HIV Prevention Planning Group, and is a member of the executive committee of the service providers council of the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. He and his partner, Jim Boushay, a leadership development specialist with Resources Unlimited in Chicago, are leading formal efforts to build a consortium of public/private health professionals and advocates directed at addressing barriers to good public health. Rickey and Jim are the parents to a combined six teenagers.
W. Robert Schultz, III, a graduate of Alma College in Alma, Michigan, holds a J.D. degree from North Carolina Central University School of Law. A human rights activist, he remains engaged in a range of civil rights issues, including those impacting cultural movements in peace and in economic justice and disability rights in the lesbigay/trans rights movement. Robert is currently senior reporter for Lambda Publications, including BLACKlines, a monthly Chicago magazine for the black gay, lesbian, and transgender community. An award-winning journalist, Robert has had his work appear in many specialty publications across the nation. Robert served on the project board of the CORE Center, a research, care, and prevention center for HIV and infectious diseases. He also serves on the steering committee of Chicago Black Lesbians and Gays and has served on the boards of the Illinois Assistive Technology Project and the Chicago chapter of the National Lawyers' Guild. Robert has worked as a lawyer, lobbyist, and human service program administrator.
Preston L. Shumaker has a double Bachelor’s degrees in psychology and sociology. His graduate studies have taken him to Germany and elsewhere through Boston University’s educational counseling overseas program. He joined the Cook County Department of Public Health staff in Oak Park as a HIV Case manager in 1991. He now works as a HIV prevention specialist in the department’s health education division. He is a featured columnist for BLACKlines, workshop coordinator for the Harambe Jahard and Imani Umoja gay and bisexual men’s groups, past president of Chicago’s Men of All Colors Together, and serves on the board of the National Association of Black and White Men Together. He is a candidate for the Master’s in Social Work at the Chicago State University.
Steven Wakefield is a health care advocate and organizational development consultant with over 25 years of management experience and public policy advocacy. Until recently he was executive director of The Night Ministry, an organization providing health care, counseling and shelter for the night street's population of Chicago. Steve is a volunteer board member of the City of Chicago department of public health and the National AIDS Vaccine Advocacy Coalition. For nearly five years before assuming his duties at The Night Ministry, he served as executive director for Test Positive Aware Network, the Midwest's largest information and support provider for HIV disease. He also serves on the steering committees of the National Institutes of Health HIV prevention trials network and the institute’s AIDS research advisory committee.
Elizabeth K. Wilson, a registered nurse, is a native Chicagoan, born and raised on the west side. She is a hospital chaplain and a student at Chicago Theological Seminary, completing her education and training in pastoral studies. The mother of four, she began her career as a Chicago teacher and subsequently served as a nurse at several Chicagoland hospitals and medical centers. Throughout her nursing career and service as chaplain, she has served persons with developmental and physical disabilities, and she has devoted special attention to the sick, the dying, the grieving, the homeless, and those living with AIDS. Since 1989, she has been active with Damien Ministries in providing spiritual retreats for persons with AIDS.
Marcus Winston, an activist and advocate for persons with AIDS, is himself openly HIV-positive. His work has included serving as a health care specialist in a variety of nursing home and hospice settings, including Dell Health Care of Chicago. Born and raised in Chicago, he is a published writer of plays and short stories that speak of the human condition and of the ways to overcome the environmental obstacles to healthy and fully-integrated lives. |