From outside, Grace House looks like a family home. Swing sets, lawn furniture and a deck dot the back yard. Bicycles rest on the back porch. Inside, the vibe is much the same. On Friday, Sept. 16, residents are watching "Gunsmoke" in one room. Another resident prepares a meal of homemade fried chicken, rice and beans, and cornbread in the kitchen.
Director Trey Mangum walks into the living room, and the handful of residents and workers smile in recognition. Grace House may be a transition home, but the residents have created their own form of family.
Founded in 1994, Grace House is Mississippi's first non-profit HIV/AIDS transitional living facility. The home offers its residents a safe place to live after many of them have become homeless or been shunned by their families. Though much has been learned about HIV and AIDS in recent years, many people still hold stigmas against those infected with these viruses. Grace House gives these people a place to live and grow.
The home does more than just provide a place to watch television and cook fried chicken. Currently, the group is working on setting up a resource center for the HIV community at large, as well as a place for rapid testing so that people can find out if they are indeed infected. The proposed resource center would house Internet-connected computers, printers, up-to-date info on HIV and medications, materials on job skills, and information connecting residents to FEMA, Medicaid and the Social Security offices.
"Just being with the folks is enriching," said Sister Dorothy Ann Kundinger, who works at Grace House. "It really is inspiring how people deal with their disease. They just keep walking with it. It's a part of the Grace House spirit here: Just keep on walking."
Mangum, who occasionally writes a column for the Jackson Free Press, and his staff also work with residents to help them find jobs and resources by providing them with weekly progress meetings and counseling sessions and also transportation to interviews and jobs.
"Ultimately, we promote self-efficacy," Mangum says, explaining that the home is a transition for people to find more permanent, stable homes with jobs (when the patients are able to work), medical care and support.
Though the group is doing important work, it runs into obstacles. Because of funding, Mangum can't hire more social workers or resident care liaisons—workers he really needs in order to adequately run the program.
On Sept. 1, 2005, the U.S. Department of Agriculture ceased giving food to transitional group homes. Though Grace House tries to operate as a food pantry, the mandate requires that the state first distribute food to emergency feeding organizations before group homes. Grace House still receives discounts on food through the Mississippi Food Network, but with the large influx of Hurricane Katrina victims, food is less abundant. Currently, the home houses 11 residents—nine men and two women living with HIV or AIDS.
"We have enough food right now to feed the people living here, but I want to be able to offer food to other HIV-positive people through a food pantry," Mangum explains.
Still, the public looks out for Grace House. Though much more is needed, the home is receiving some assistance lately. During our interview, a vegetarian called Grace House to offer full, cooked vegetarian meals once a week to the residents. And Mangum himself is working on grants to try to bring more workers into Grace House.
In perhaps the best news for Grace House recently, WellsFest has named Grace House its recipient for this year's festival on Saturday, Sept. 24, at the Jamie Fowler Boyll Park on Lakeland Drive. The money will go to making some much-needed repairs to the interior and roof of Grace House.
"We are so lucky and so thankful to have been chosen by WellsFest," Mangum says.
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