Stories from Our Clients

Becky

A lot of people have no one but STAP where they can go and talk about it and get information. You just get the feeling that it's okay. It's just accepting who you are and offering whatever help you might need at the time as best they can. If I didn't have my husband, my family, STAP would have been like a life saver to me.

Erik

I remember thinking if I can get peace to my life, to my body, then I could help others and help them get peace. The problem with inner peace is that doesn't really help you with your insurance needs, finding the right doctor and learning how to live with this thing that is HIV. That's where the Southern Tier AIDS program came in. I found a group of people who were willing to help me kind of meander through in and outs of insurance and finding the right doctor who could really help me.

Athena

I was 15 years old and I got a phone call from the Health Department to show up. Hope is just basically waking up in the morning and knowing that you can live on and try to make it better for people and for yourself.

Wayne

I started growing a lot more spiritual. It wasn't about structured religion or a building that we call a church. It was about my connectedness with people. Friendship with people, whether it's you or him or her means more to me today than any material thing in my life.

Robbie

Robbie was very good, very helpful, reached out to a lot of people and often times reached out to individuals who didn't have a big family support system. Often times he'll bring someone home that was alone who when they told their parents about their lifestyle, their condition, disowned them.

Mitch

Because they wouldn't have a program like mine to come to, they would be sharing syringes, and exposing themselves to the things that I had exposed myself to. By being able to provide them with an outlet to be able to come in and exchange and get clean syringes on a daily basis cuts down on the chances that they put themselves at risk. I was IVU for 20 years… they have someone they can sit down with, talk to one-on-one, can identify with, has been there, has done that, and has grown.

If just by me reaching one individual, and they see the progress I've made… and it cause them down the line to make a decision to change the things they're doing with their lives, then it's been a success.