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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 26, 2011)
October 26, 2011 Mississippi Alberta North Portland (The Portland (Dbserorr Page II r R o Vancouver East County Beaverton Women at Risk for HIV Local healer works to empower those 50-and-older by M indy C< x ) per T he P ortland O bserver hile in m assage school in the late- 1980s in Boulder, Colo., Jacki Gethner, a Portland m assage therapist and practitioner o f the healing arts, rem em bers w hen she re c e iv e d the p h o n e c all th a t h e r g irlfrie n d h a d c o n tra c te d H IV a fte r a re la p se in s u b stan c e ab u se. A t th e tim e , sh e s a id , H IV w a s a fa irly n e w d e a l. “W e only knew it surrounding gay m en,” she said. “A nd there w eren ’t m any w om en at that tim e w ho had been diagnosed.” S he said th e re w as such a stig m a s u r ro u n d in g the d ise a se th a t so cie ty fe a red b e ing a ro u n d th o se w h o had b een d ia g n o se d , an d m ore th an o fte n , th ey w ere g re e te d w ith m ask s an d g lo v e s. “ P eo p le w e re n ’t c o n s id e re d to u c h a b le ,” she said. T he sam e year she began school, how ever, B oulder hosted the A ID S M edicine and M iracle conference, w hich w as the first holistic and w estern m edicine A ID S conference w ithin the U nited States. A t the event, G ethner and a friend, w ithout know ing w hat the response w ould be, decided to set up a m assage area in the building. “W e provided m assage chairs, and m assaged over 300 people in four d ay s,” she said. “It w as very pow erful. Som e o f them h a d n ’t been touched in m onths.” A fter realizing, first-hand, the healing im pact m ere touch can have in the healing process, G ethner returned as an integral com ponent o f photo by M indy C ooper ZT he P ortland O bserver the conference each year, and becam e d eter Portland resident Jacki Gethner, the founder of the Women of a Certain Age m ined to share her skills through com m unity program, which is aimed to help reduce the growing number of older outreach and healing and support w orkshops. women contracting HIV and AIDS, has worked with over 15,000 individuals She began w orking w ith the support co m m u from all walks of life through education, activism and her healing arts nities o f those living w ith the disease. “M any practice Regenerative Therapies. p e o p le w ho h ad c o n tra c te d H IV w ere a b a n d o n e d by th e ir b io lo g ic a l fa m ilie s ,” she said. “ So th ese peo p le, th e ir ‘fam ilies o f c h o ic e ,’ all w a n ted to kn o w w h at th ey c o u ld do to h elp th e ir lo v e d o n e s .” “ S k in is th e la rg e st o rg a n o f y o u r b o d y ,” she said . “ It o n ly m a k es sen se to te ac h them how to to u c h .” T oday, G eth n er has w orked w ith over 15,000 individuals from all walks o f life, both locally and w orld-w ide, through education, h er know ledge o f reflexology, and at h er practice R egenerative T herapies located in northeast Portland. H er current m ission, how ever, has been to educate the com m unity on HIV prevention, especially for w om en 50-years and older, w ho currently represent the fastest grow ing d em o graphic o f people diagnosed with HIV and AIDS throughout the country. In an effort to support w om en w ho are in fected or im pacted by H IV /A ID S , G eth n er c re ated the W om en o f a C ertain A ge Program in 2006, to support older w om en, w ho she said are severely underserved w ithin the com m unity. The non-profit program w as m ade possible after she received the K eiser P erm anente N a tional D iversity A w ard for her w ork in HI V and A ID S. A lthough there w as a n um ber o f w ays she could have used the funds she received, G ethner said she decided to focus on the age group in w hich she lives. “I ’ve never m et anybody w ho does w hat I d o ,” she said. “ I used to w ork w ith youth, but as I got older, I kept hearing o f older people becom ing infected because o f a lack o f inform ation about th eir risks.” W om en, she said, often have a difficult time continued on page 17 Margaret Carter Building Dedicated at PCC Tireless advocate embraced by family, friends and colleagues C ari H achmann T he P ortland O bserver by I t’s not every day that a college gets to name a building after a local hero. As Portland Community College cel ebrated its 50th anniversary, hundreds of supporters arrived at the PCC Cas cade Campus on Friday afternoon to honor the 75-year-old former Sen. Margaret Carter for a dedication cer emony in her name. Stand up applauses echoed through out the auditorium as Dr. A lgie Gatewood, president of north Port- continued on page 22 C ari H achmann / T he P ortland O bserver photo by Portland Community College Presi dent Preston Pulliams joins Margaret Carter during ceremonies to rename the Technical Education Building on the PCC Cascade Campus in north Portland to the Margaret Carter Technology Education Building.
