Case Management 

"I came to Maine October the 1st, 2010.  When we came here, we were homeless, going to Preble Street for heat, sleeping in fish trucks.  October, the 27th, I got an apartment and November 22nd, he went to prison.  So, I decided to stay here.  I didn’t know anyone.  I found out where Frannie Peabody Center was and I went down there and got a case manager.  They’ve been helping me ever since.  I came here on drugs and alcohol and I wanted to get my life back.  I started going to AA meetings March 27th 2011, and I’ve been sober ever since.  I had stopped meds in my old town. When I went to my first appointment with my doctor in Maine, she looked me in the eyes and said, ‘I’m going to give you two weeks to make your arrangements, because you’re gonna die if you don’t stop doing what you’re doing.’  When she told me that, I started taking my meds, and I’ve never missed a day since.  I’m married to my medication.  I’m engaged now, I have a nice place to live, I have freedom from drugs and alcohol, I have my cats - life is really good.  My fiancé is also in recovery, so it’s worked out great. I have a job that I love - I’m a PCA.  Life is just really good. I was diagnosed in 2000 in Los Angeles.  I was in and out of treatment but wasn’t committed to treatment.  The bottom line is just because I have HIV doesn’t mean my life has stopped.  It’s really a blessing for me right now in my life.  Even though I’m a positive woman living with HIV, I have a great life.  I don’t regret anything I’ve done, I don’t regret who I am, and I don’t regret who I’m becoming.  I’m really happy."

Prevention

Two teenage girls came into the Prevention office, and asked wide eyed, “Is this the place where people can get condoms? The Frannie place?”  I smiled and nodded. After welcoming them in, I showed them the back room – where they spent minutes stocking up on safer sex supplies. They then came into the front of the office and picked up some more swag items, examining each one with a big smile. Before leaving, they told me what brought them in.

They had a friend last year who was sexually assaulted by a man. She had no idea where to go but found herself shortly afterwards at the Prevention office, to get tested. Throughout their friendship with the young girl and helping her through it all, her friends said she would always tell them how much she loved Frannie, how welcoming the office was and how safe she felt that day. When they would walk by, she would always point and say, “I love that place”. They said during her darkest times the friend would only speak the world of this agency. The girls gave me a big hug and specifically asked for me to tell all the staff at Frannie that “two random girls say thank you and appreciate all that you do.”