■PUBLIC INTEREST
Carper House: AIDS hospice proposed
by Sonja Ungemach
Several months ago, the local com
munity was moved by the candor and
courage of a young couple, Richard
and Debbie Carper. The Carpers had
both been diagnosed with ARC,
AIDS-Related Complex. Both bad
been IV drug users and probably con
tracted the disease that way. In spite
of the social stigma attached to AIDS
and ARC, not to mention TV drug use,
the Carpers chose to share their story
with thousands of people through a
local television news interview, and
then in a story in the Register-Guard.
The consequences were immediate;
Debbie lost her job following the TV
interview. But Debbie and Richard
continued to speak out—in hope that
their story would help others avoid a
fate similar to theirs. Weeks after the
local coverage, they faced a national
audience on the Phil Donahue Show,
and again on a San Francisco tele
vision program on the risk of AIDS
to heterosexuals.
Now they are spearheading a local
effort to provide support and shelter
for AIDS or ARC patients who have
no place to live. Carper House is a
newly formed non-profit corporation
which is seeking to raise funds to pur
chase a house where homeless per
sons with AIDS or ARC can find the
emotional and social support they
need while they cope with their
disease.
Richard and Debbie are two of the
eight directors of the new corporation.
The others are: Dr. John Wilson, a
leading authority on AIDS; Dr. Mark
Heerema, infectious disease special
ist; UO professor Robert Kime,
Ph.D.; Shanti representative Marsh
Brownfield; Methadone Clinic Direc
tor Mike Connelly; and Lynda Eaton
of Health and Human Services.
Besides emotional support, Carper
House hopes to provide nutritional
meals, health monitoring, personal
care assistance, counseling, therapeu
tic activities programs and spiritual
care.
According to Richard Carper,
homelessness is a big problem for
AIDS and ARC patients who can no
longer earn a living or take care of a
house for themselves. He says he and
Debbie are virtually unemployable
since going public, yet as ARC rather
than AIDS patients they do not
qualify for public disability payments.
There are many in the Eugene area
in a similar situation. "We could fill
it immediately if we had the house,"
says Richard.
The cost of care is also a problem
which Carper House hopes to ad
dress. The average cost of AIDS care
in hospitals is $145,000 per person.
The Carper House hopes to reduce
that to $35,000 per person by pro
viding a hospice facility. “Most peo
ple at Carper House will sign living
wills, as I have. I don't want to be hos
pitalized. I want to die in my own
home. Debbie and I are now seeking
a place where we feel comfortable to
die. We will probably die at Carper
House.”
Richard and Debbie's own health
continues to be a problem. Richard’s
condition has recently been rediag
nosed as more serious, entitling him
to some disability payments. For Deb
bie, the hardest part is the emotional
trauma, the loss of privacy. Yet, in
spite of these considerations, the
Carpers are still reaching out to
others. They’re working to establish
a drug addict outreach project, and
they’re talking to drug treatment
centers about the risk to drug users.
Their upcoming presentation at
Stump Ranch (a local drug treatment
facility) will be filmed by the TV pro
gram 20/20.
Richard says there are now 14 full
blown cases of AIDS in Eugene,
about 140 cases of ARC, and perhaps
as many as 1400 people infected with
the AIDS virus. It is a local problem
needing local support.
The first benefit for Carper House
is this weekend, Saturday and Sunday,
October 10 and 11, from K) am to 5
pm. It’s a car wash at Valley River
Chevron, across from Valley River
Center, next to Good Guys Stereo.
Carper House is also accepting
donations of money, goods and volun
teer time. Call 342-4990 or send
donations to 1085 West 6th, Eugene,
OR 97402.
Of course the best donation would
be a house. If you know of a suitable
one, or have one to donate, call the
above number.
■LETTERS
AIDS: Deadly,
Not Incurable
[Columnist Carolyn Reuben responds to
Michael MacRae’s letter published in last
week’s What's Happening (Oct. 1,1987).J
Dear Michael.
Watching someone we love die and not
knowing how to save him is one of the
deepest torments of our mortal life.
Some people die no matter what is done
for them or what they do for themselves.
However, AIDS is not an incurable
disease, no matter how many news broad
casters and irresponsible journalists say it
is. The human body's immune system has
within it everything it needs to fight and
protect us from harm, even from the AIDS
virus, a fact discovered by reputable scien
tists this past year.
However, impediments must be re
moved so the immune system can do
its job. Toxic drugs do not a strong body
make. Food makes the body strong.
Thoughts make the body strong. Exercise
makes the body strong. This is not fiction,
but measurable fact. For proof, read
Stephanie Matthews-Simonton and co
authors’ Getting Well Again (Bantam, 1978,
$3.95), which documents one of the first
programs to involve cancer patients in ac
tively creating a well body with their mind,
along with medical treatment, or Bernie
Siegel, M.D.'s Love, Medicine and Mira
cles (Harper & Row, 1986, $15.95) which
is a more recent documentation of a sur
geon's success using his patients' minds,
via imagery, to destroy their cancer rather
than his scalpel. There’s Louise Hay. who
cured herself of vaginal cancer and whose
tapes and books (especially ibu Can Heal
Your Life, Hay House, $10), and weekly
programs in Los Angeles inspire people
with AIDS and other life-threatening
diseases. The men described in Laurence
Badgley, M.D.'s book Healing AIDS
Naturally (Human Energy Press, 1986,
$14.95) and in Scott Gregory and Bianca
Leonardo's book Conquering AIDS NOW!
(Tree of Life, 1986, $15.95) are not fiction.
They are alive.
I absolutely support you in demanding
accurate information about methods that
help bodies heal. In Los Angeles, there is
an entire bookstore devoted to books on
Alternative Therapies and Nutrition, with
an emphasis on cancer, but applicable to
other nutrtionally-related diseases. They
maintain a 24 hour hot-line for informa
tion on such therapies. For $2, the store
will send a doctor directory, patient direc
tory (those willing to describe their treat
ment), cancer bookhouse list and other in
formation: Cancer Control Society, 2043
N. Berendo, Los Angeles, CA 90027,213/
663-7801.
Laurence Badgley told me only a small
minority of the people with AIDS he has
seen are willing to make the major changes
in their life needed to nurture their immune
system back to health. Certainly not every
one who adopts a healthy lifestyle will
eliminate the disease. But, there IS hope
for people with AIDS, because there is
much they can do for themselves, instead
of waiting for a pill or an injection to save
them. I am sorry you lost your friend. I
am sorry so many beloved people have
died, and are dying, and will die due to
this disease . . . (but] to continue to call
AIDS incurable is, in my opinion, mal
practice on the part of the medical com
munity and gross public injustice, with
devastating medical consequences, on the
part of journalists.
While researching an article on alterna
tive therapies for AIDS published in the
September, 1986 issue of East IWst Jour
nal, I discovered an underground popu
lation of AIDS survivors, unwilling to go
public for fear of being crushed by the
power of negativity toward the very idea
of surviving the disease. Words kill, and
words cure. There is an entire field of
medicine called psychoneuroimmunology,
which studies the inextricable connection
between mind and body. Joan Borysenko,
Ph.D. of the Harvard Medical School,
describes her work in this field in Minding
the Body, Mending the Mind (Addison
Wesley, 1987, $14.95).
Let’s all choose our words carefully; a
disease can be deadly, without being incur
able. If you want to see survivors with your
own eyes, send me 54 cents postage and
I’ll send you a copy of the East West arti
cle. . .
The answer to healing is to give the body
what it needs to do the healing. And,
although the peach pie wasn’t meant to be
a magic bullet, it can represent the fact that
natural food, essential for healing, is tas
ty food, and can be enjoyed by the ill and
the worried well alike.
—Carolyn Reuben
No Celebration
Schedule
At your suggestion, I am writing this let
ter to voice my opinion about the omis
sion of the Celebration schedule. It was
very disappointing! Not only did I resent
having to pay for it, I also resented hav
ing to do it via R-G, which I do not care
to support. To top it off, the schedule it
self was nowhere near the quality and con
tent I always appreciated from What’s
Happening—in feet, it was, simply, bor
ing. You certainly have my vote arid plea
to get it back where it belongs.
—K.S.
LEGAL AND MEDIATION
SERVICES
Larry Deckman
—Attorney At Law—
484-3782
Reasonable Rates
Salvadoran Mireya Lucero: ,
Life in a War Zone
by Scott Harding
The war in El Salvador is coming
to Eugene.
Mireya Lucero, a women’s peasant
organizer from the conflictive areas
in Chalatenango, will offer local
residents a first-hand account of life
under war in El Salvador. As part of
a 40-city, four month national tour,
Mireya will appear at several events
in Eugene.
A benefit brunch with community
leaders Sunday, October 11 will
feature Mireya as guest speaker. The
public is invited; the event will be
held from 12 to 3 pm at First Chris
tian Church (1166 Oak). An informal
housemeeting with Mireya for
members of the women’s community
is scheduled for 7:30 pm that even
ing at the First Congregational
Church (1050 E. 23rd Ave.). She will
also be a guest on the radio news pro
gram “Blue Plate Special,” Friday,
October 9, at 12 pm.
Mireya's visit will highlight the role
of women in organizing for peace and
justice in rural El Salvador. Largely
ignored by the mainstream media. El
Salvador has suffered nearly eight
years of war at great cost: 70,000
dead, more than 10,000 disappeared
and one million displaced persons.
Rural areas and civilians have borne
much of the burden of the war dur
ing numerous indiscriminate bomb
ings and ground invasions by the
Salvadoran military. Many communi
ties have been destroyed or forcibly
relocated, displacing thousands of
peasants as a result.
Yet thousands of refugees have
sought to reclaim their homes and
communities through “re-population”
efforts. Mireya represents such a com
munity, the re-populated village of
Mireya Lucero
Arcatao, and will testify to the suc
cess of such popular movements.
Although only 25, Mireya has a
long history of organizing for social
justice. While her native province of
Chalatenango has been especially
devastated by the effects of war and
economic deprivation, Mireya has
worked to improve the quality of
education and working conditions of
families in her community. She has
also founded projects to provide
health care, literacy programs and
make child care available to rural
areas.
For more information contact
CISCAP at 485-1755.
MICHAEL
WILLIAMS
Now listing 8 sell
ing real property
• Residential
• Lots & Acres
Bus. 484-9815
A mb— or THE MAM PINANCL WETWOR
COLDWCLL
BANKORO
CURDS IRVING REALTY, ING
1142 WILLAGILLESPIE RD. 47
Res. 484-0024
KEYSTONE CAFE
—Good Home Cookin’—
—WEEKEND—
DINNER SPECIAL
1
V-FRI., SAT., SUN.
5:30-9:00
Fish Chowder Tossed Green
Salad, Homemade Cornbread
W. 5th at Lawrence
7 am-9 pm
WHAT'S HAPPENING
Weekly News, Arts, Entertainment
Published Every Thursday
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