Heart To Heart
To Heart
...Page 39
Babs gets Close to
Cammermeyer
...Page 28
Tha Carolmae’ Moet Comprahaneive Gay & Lasbian Nawspapar
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AIDS ministry acquires site
CHARLOTTE—^The Cathedral at Char
lotte, Inc., a non profit organization involved
in developing an abandoned uptown motel
into a comprehensive resource center for those
touched by HFV/AIDS, took a significant step
forward when it purchased the former Con
sort Inn property located at 900 N. Tryon
Street. Romel Motor Inns Associates, Inc.
Liquidating Trust had acquired the property
by foreclosure in late 1991 after it had been
seized by the United States Marshal in con
nection with the prosecution of the former
motel managers on drug trafficking and money
laundering charges. The deed stamps indi
cate a purchase price of $500,000 for the 2.33
acre tract and 75,000 square foot facility,
Attorney Jerry Alan Reese, founded the
Cathedral at Charlotte “because of the pa
thetic and callous response of the institutional
Christian church to the AIDS epidemic and
the need for a center where the resources of
those involved in HIV/AIDS support activi
ties could be better focused to meet the physi
cal, emotional and spiritual needs of those
touched by the disease.” The corporation
strives to provide an organization whereby
persons from diverse backgrounds and
lifestyles can work side by side in the allevia
tion of the suffering, ignorance and fear asso
ciated with AIDS.
The Consort Inn property was leased in
November of 1992 and Reese moved into two
rooms of the facility in April 1993. Reese was
joined several months later by caretaker Noel
McAdams, disabled master carpenter living
with HIV who has supervised the security of
the property and interior cleaning and demo
lition. A building permit application is pend
ing to permit the upfitting of several rooms
into caretaker living units and temporary of
fices for meetings and volunteer activities.
Already, over 200 individuals, businesses and
groups have Contributed time, materials and
funds for the project.
A preliminary site plan and architectural
drawings for the project are being donated by
the local firm of Wilkerson Associates. When
completed, the complex will offer a full range
of facilities and services designed specifi
cally for those living with AIDS, those pro
viding care for loved ones, and those mourn
ing a loss. Included among the facilities and
planned programs are meal services; a fully
staffed medical clinic; meeting rooms for
group gatherings and religious services; fi
nancial and social services counseling; physi
cal therapy; an upscale shop selling donated
furniture, clothing and china; a baked goods
shop; branch bank; pharmacy; offices for
local AIDS support organizations; and from
30-40 apartments overlooking an enclosed
atrium with plants and fountains offering a
garden setting for rest and reflection. The
entire complex will be designed around a
colonial village theme with the atrium area
designated as the “Commons.”
To raise the necessary capital to complete
renovations and fund the planned programs,
Reese recently incorporated a charitable foun
dation known as The Foundation for The
Refuge, Inc. Funds will be solicited from area
religious congregations, charitable founda
tions and individual “friends.” Reese points
out that a small congregation or large Sunday
school class will be asked to “adopt” an apart
ment while a larger congregation or civic club
might finance the meeting hall, atrium garden
or dining room. “The resources required to
complete this project are pale in comparison
to the wealth of this community. This project
is a test of spirit, not of resources,” says
Continued on page 21
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Architectural rendering of The Refuge
Duke University pians free HIV legal clinic
by David Jones
Q-Notes Staff
DURHAM—Duke University is putting
the final touches on a year-round legal ser
vices office for people with HIV. Carolyn
McAllaster, a member of the Duke Law School
faculty, has championed the new project and
obtained support for it from the school’s fac
ulty and administration.
To be called The AIDS Legal Assistance
Project, the program will be housed at the
Duke Law School in the fall of 1995. Clients
will be represented by Duke law students
working under the supervision of law school
faculty members. Students will receive aca
demic credit for their work. From eight to
twelve students will be able to participate
each year, working 100 hours per semester.
Legal work will be free to indigent HIV-
positive persons, and will cover document
preparation of wills, living wills, health care
powers of attoniey; planning for the needs of
dependent children; government benefits in
cluding Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security
disability and food stamps; employment and
housing discrimination, and other legal issues
that arise.
The project is an expansion of an existing
program, the AIDS Wills Project begun in
January 1994 with student and faculty volun
teers. Some 35 law student volunteers have
been active in that project under the supervi
sion of McAllaster, whose brother died of
complications of HIV two years ago. Clients
of the Wills Project have come primarily from
the Duke Medical Center’s HIV clinics and
local AIDS service organizations. No aca
demic credit has been given for work by
students in the Wills Project. The Legal
Assistance Project will perform free legal
work for eligible clients receiving medical
care at Duke and other clinics and hospitals.
McAllaster told Q-Notes that “This is some
thing that we need to do and we are just going
to get it done,” in spite of the fact that she and
Continued on page 5
New Life MCC sells
controversial property
Rev. Bob Darst
by David Stout
Q-Notes Staff
MATTHEWS, NC—Members of New
Life Metropolitan Community Church (New
Life MCC) have voted to sell the building that
made them the target of a neighborhood’s
anti-gay crusade over a year and a half ago.
At a special congregational meeting, held
Sunday, November 27, it was decided that the
church’s best interest would be
served by selling its facility, near
Margaret Wallace Road, to the
adjoining property owner for
$75,000.
The neighbor, who is not the
same owner as when the con
gregation obtained its building,
was offering substantially more
than market value to acquire the
land.-According to the church’s
pastor. Rev. Bob Darst, the man
bought the original neighbor’s house for his
son and daughter-in-law and wanted New
Life’s lot to build a home next to his children.
Darst said that the Board of Director’s
decision to support the sale was a difficult one
to make. Some were concerned that selling
would be akin to “giving in” to the campaign
of hate or that Charlotte’s gay community
would misconstrue the move as a retreat. “We
didn’t know how people would take it; we
didn’t want to be seen as having sold out to the
bigots.”
Circumstances seem to bear out the
church’s belief that relinquishing the prop
erty was in its best interest, though.
Once New Life members had navigated
the zoning problems initially levelled against
the church, they faced another, even larger,
roadblock to using their worship space. Neigh
borhood citizens were able to pressure the
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Building Standards
Department to launch a full-scale inspection
of the church. Those inspections, and result
ant violations, found the building to be in need
of approximately $20,000 in repairs, although
some of the violations seemed questionable.
“[Among other things] we were told that we
would have to raise the roof, place steel bars
in the concrete block walls every 3 or 4 feet
and put a concrete barrier on top of the build
ing, before putting the roof back on,” Darst
recounted.
The congregation did not have
the money to bring the building
up to code so they continued to
hold worship services at the Uni
tarian Church, where they had
been for a half-dozen years prior
to the purchase.
Because of the upheaval and
hatred the church had been sub
jected to, attendence was in the
midst of a decline when the pur
chase offer came in. Spirits were
raised considerably when the initial bid was
revealed to be $72,000, because the building
had been bought for only $55,000.
At the special congregational meeting,
members voted to ask for $74,000. A Board
representative then re-negotiated with the pro
posed purchaser and was eventually able to
wrangle an even better price of $75,000.
When all the costs for acquiring the prop
erty were tabulated, including closing costs,
insurance, mortgage payments, installing a
septic tank and an air conditioner. New Life
had invested approximately $67,000 in its
space. After the purchase, they were left with
a balance of about $8,000.
New Life’s Building Fund now stands at
almost $44,000 and Rev. Darst says that the
church will continue looking for a home of its
own. “Our Building Search Committee is
strictly made up of lay people now — they
have already found two possibilities. One is in
Midwood-Plaza and the other is on Wilkinson
Boulevard. I don’t want to say too much right
now; I’m afraid of spooking the deals.”
School children award
Clinton a c-minus on AIDS
WASHINGTON, DC—-The nation’s
school children have issued a midterm report
card to President Clinton on their top five
goals — one of which was AIDS — and on
that issue, he received a mediocre C-.
About 23,000 students in the 4th through
6th grades cast their votes in a survey con
ducted by Parade magazine, a Sunday pub
lication inserted in many newspapers across
the nation, and the Weekly Reader, a national
student newspaper. Clinton was rated on
five issues determined by students: 1) pro
tecting the environment, 2) finding a cure for
AIDS, 3) helping the homeless, 4) reducing
taxes and 5) stopping illegal drugs.
An article in the January 15 Parade re
ported a desperate plea firom Melissa Wheeler,
a fifth grader at Diamond Elementary School
in Fort Stewart, GA, regarding the president’s
response to AIDS. “There needs to be more
awareness on AIDS—or there might not be
a future for my generation,” wrote Wheeler
to Clinton.
Parade also stated “AIDS is now the
children’s number 2 issue, marking a consis
tent rise in their concerns about the disease.”
One of the children’s illustrations accompa
nying the story shows the Names Project
AIDS Memorial Quilt wrapped around the
globe and a somber tag line beneath the
drawing: “Let’s find a cure before the world
disappears under it.”
The concern about AIDS expressed by
the students pleased Donnie Luebring, a
spokesperson for Americans for Gay Rights,
a political advocacy group. “I applaud the
recognition of, and concern for the AIDS
epidemic. Their disturbing insight, and de
sire for action from the presidency, speaks
volumes of wisdom, which we can only hope
does not go unheard”
Luebring predicted that gay and lesbian
voters would remember Clinton’s broken
AIDS promises when they hit the polls in
‘96. “While we are disappointed with
Clinton’s inability to effectively handle gays
in the military, we are far more discouraged
by our president’s failing leadership with
regard to the growing AIDS epidemic. We
are angry with his ‘AIDS can wait’ approach.
At this... point, there are few reasons for gay
voters to help Clinton win a second term.”