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C h r is tin e C. H all
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B ro k er
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Jimmy Hopper says it’s great to be able to help
others the way he has been helped.
Hopper is the executive director of the Dou
glas County AIDS Council, which runs the
Roseburg-based Ruby House, a home serving
people with HIV/AIDS. Hopper’s history with
Ruby House is long and varied: In 1988, when
Ruby House first opened, Hopper was its first
border. He soon became a volunteer, then an
administrative assistant, and last July he took
charge of running the home’s day-to-day opera
tions.
"This is everything I thought it would be and
more,” says the 30-year-old Hopper. "Sure, I got
to make decisions when I was administrative
assistant, but it’s a lot different when you’re
executive director. The buck stops with you.”
According to Hop
per, Ruby House cur
rently serves about 50
clients, the majority of
whom are intravenous
drug users and their
sexual partners.
D uring its early
days, the project pri
marily served gay men
living with HIV/AIDS,
but the clientele demo
graphic has begun to
shift. There have been
other changes over the
years as well. When
Ruby H ouse first
opened, it was located
in W inston, but the
project later moved to a
large modem house in
the Newton Creek area
with the assistance of
Mercy Health Care.
R uby
H o u se’s
founder, Billy Russo,
who rem ains the
p ro je c t’s m anager,
started the home with
$6,000 of his own money— today the home’s
annual budget is more than $100,000.
“Some things have changed, but our goal
hasn’t,” says Hopper. “That goal of course, is to
meet the needs of our clients as best we can.”
Hopper is currently working on a proposal to
obtain Ryan White Comprehensive AIDS Re
sources Emergency Act Title II funds. Those
federal dollars support, among other things, home-
and community-based care services. He is also
orchestrating the organization’s primary fund
raiser, AIDS Walk Roseburg Oregon, which last
year raised about $3,000. Hopper hopes this year’s
event, slated for May 6, will pull in as much as
$5,000. He says about 150 people are participat
ing— double the amount that joined in last year,
which was the first time the walk was held.
“We encourage everybody to come out for
this. They can even come and sign up the day of
the event. It’s a great cause,” he says.
The 6-mile walk begins at Roseburg High
School. Registration will be held from noon until
1 pm at the school’s vocational building; the walk
begins at 1 pm. For more information, call Hopper
at 440-2761.
Scholarship fund for
aspiring attorneys
“A Class Act,” a spring concert to benefit the
Bill and Ann Shepherd Legal Scholarship Fund,
will take place April 21 at The Old Church, 1422
SW 11th Ave. in Portland. The event will feature
pianist Thomas Lauderdale and soprano/organist
Jennifer Shepherd.
The scholarship, which will be administered
by Equity Foundation, will aid third-year law
students who are dedicated to practicing human-
rights law in Oregon.
It is named after Bill and Ann Shepherd, who
have been active in Oregon’s gay and lesbian
community since the mid-1970s when their daugh
ter, Susie, came out as a lesbian. The couple co
founded the state chapter of Parents, Families and
Friends of Lesbians and Gays; testified on behalf
of gay rights legislation; and marched in many
gay and lesbian pride parades. They received
Right To Privacy’s Lucille Hart Award in 1985.
Bill Shepherd, who died last month at age 81,
practiced law in Portland for many years. He was
willing to write wills and perform other legal
services for sexual minority couples during a time
when few attorneys would make themselves avail
able.
Doors open at 6:40 pm; the concert begins at
7 pm. Tickets, which are $20 in advance and $25
at the door, are available at Balloons on Broad
way, It’s My Pleasure and Jelly Bean. For more
information, call 244-3225.
Oregon rolls out the red
carpet for HRCF
“Roll Out the Red Carpet,” an Oregon fund
raiser for the Human Rights Campaign Fund, a
national gay and lesbian rights organization, will
be held April 29 at Portland’s World Trade Center
outdoor atrium. Tickets for the event are $125.
The keynote speaker will be HRCF Executive
Director Elizabeth Birch, the former chief litigator
for Apple Computer Inc.; comedian Georgia
Ragsdale will be the master of ceremonies. Or
egon U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Furse and Basic Rights
Oregon Executive Director Julie Davis will re
ceive awards for their work on behalf of gay and
lesbian rights. Gov. John Kitzhaber is also sched
uled to speak. Organizers say Greg Louganis, the
U.S. Olympic diving champ who recently dis
closed that he has AIDS, may make an appearance
as well.
HRCF is an 80,000-member organization head
quartered in Washington, D.C. It fights discrimi
nation against gay men and lesbians through
organizing, lobbying and financial support for
political candidates. Cocktails begin at 6 pm;
dinner is at 8 pm. For ticket information, call
241-7921.
Inga Sorensen