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GAY SAN DIEGO Jan. 28-Feb. 10, 2011
NEWS
gay-sd.com
Being Alive’s HARP program key to achieving wellness
Free holistic therapies help HIV/AIDS patients thrive
By Christy Scannell | GSD Reporter Twelve years ago when David
Villaine visited Being Alive San Diego, a Hillcrest-based HIV/ AIDS service provider, he was a self-described “train wreck.” Di- agnosed as HIV positive several years earlier, he had become a heavy drinker and was searching for meaning in his life.
“I was in my late 20s and cop- ing with a sexual outlet that was fairly meaningless and empty,” he said.
So he signed up for Being Alive’s Holistic AIDS Response Program (HARP), a free set of body and wellness services. First he tried massage. Soon Reiki, healing touch, acupuncture and chiropractic visits became part of his monthly regimen. “I was using western medi- cine, of course, but I had never known about holistic therapies, which really complement the tra- ditional,” Villaine said. “It helped me move out of frequent sexual encounters to a healthier touch that is so important to human beings—and to me.” Villaine was so impressed with his improved health that he trained as a Reiki instructor. Today he is one of 12 volunteer therapists who offer HARP services at the San Diego LGBT Community Center and at Prior- ity Pharmacy in Hillcrest. “The HARP program is one of the gifts that has come out of the terrible scourge of HIV and AIDS,” Villaine said. “Healers are helping heal the community.” HARP began in the early ’90s with funding from the Ryan White Care Act. When that support end- ed in 2004, the Center’s Homeless Outreach Team (HOT) handed over the program to three local social service agencies, including Being Alive. Of the three, only Be- ing Alive is still a HARP provider. Being Alive processed 300
clients in its first year as a HARP administrator. In 2010, the agency booked nearly 1300 appoint- ments.
“The clients really need it
and we’re the only ones offer- ing it,” said Jim Cassidy, Being Alive’s director of programs and community services. “It helps the clients relax and feel better, and that’s important with all the stress around them.” To qualify for services, clients
must earn less than $1000 per month and be HIV positive. Each person is allowed one of each type of treatment per month, in- cluding massage, reflexology, Jin Shin, Quantum Touch, Reiki, acu- puncture, healing touch, Seimei, cranial sacral therapy and angel card readings. Appointments are on a first-come, first-served basis, which often results in a line at daybreak on the monthly registration day. Robert Jackson is usually first in that line. HIV positive for 18 years, he has been using HARP services for seven of those. Like Villaine, he said the alternative approach enhances his health. “It’s a route that traditional medicine doesn’t address,” he said. “Having things like massage or healing touch actually seems to connect the medical aspect.” While massage and acupunc-
see HARP, page 4
David Villaine works on a client enrolled in Being Alive San Diego’s Holistic AIDS Response Program. (Christy Scannell/GSD)
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