A very long time ago, when I worked for a non-profit agency, I had an office in a community center “on the block.” I worked long long long hours, and even though I wasn’t part of the neighborhood or even directly working to provide any HIV services to that particular community, they adopted me anyway.

Your story takes me back a little bit to those days when a lot of my prejudices shattered in the warm embrace of a community of lovely people who were nothing at all like what I was taught to believe.

I can fairly say that they changed my outlook and my life forever. I owe them a debt of gratitude far larger than anything I was ever able to give back.

Jim