An Inside Look at How Prisoners For AIDS Counseling and Education Is Making Inroads into the World of the Forsaken

by Ronald F. Day

Can you imagine languishing in prison for two, five, ten, or maybe even twenty-five years? In a place of cold steel and cold sentiment, high reinforced concrete walls and high recidivism rates, barbed wire fences and befuddlement, bravado permeates the day and men (and women) weep in the dark. Indeed, serving time can evoke thoughts most people would rather not fathom. So it goes without saying that being in the belly of the beast and having this predicament compounded by suffering from an incurable and debilitating disease like HIV, is tantamount to dueling with a double-edged sword. Either one alone can precipitate feelings of despondency and dejection. Together, they can cause one?s stress level to skyrocket, wreak havoc on a compromised immune system, and increase one?s susceptibility of opportunistic infections.

Years ago, a long stint in prison could amount to a death sentence for someone living with HIV. A great deal has changed since then. This is evident by asking Paulie Quartieri, forty-three, who has been living with HIV for more than twenty years?seventeen of those years behind bars. Despite having to contend with the virus and imprisonment, he understands the importance of adherence and of maintaining a positive attitude. In a poem entitled ?HIV & Me,? he writes: ?I learned to accept it/And think positively/Sure/it shares my body, But/my mind belongs to me.? His advice to others with the virus: ?You have to be strong and not stress. Stress will kill you quicker than the disease itself.?

In 2003, there is cause for optimism. New classes of medications are available and more are on the horizon. More people are educated about modes of transmission,  prevention, and treatment options. Yet, despite the inherent truth in these assertions, a clear problem still exists. The incidence of HIV/AIDS is significantly higher in the prison population than in the general one, while the level of AIDS education is considerably lower. This amounts to another double-edged sword, since the vast majority of those incarcerated (over ninety percent) will one day return to their respective communities, or, quite possibly, to yours. In essence, this is not a quagmire exclusive to prison.

Is there an antidote brewing in the laboratory of prison officials or is there one already available? Just as there are conscientious AIDS activists and responsible community representatives disseminating HIV/AIDS information on the outside, likewise, some prisoners on the inside are doing the humanistic work of antiretrovirals: combatting the virus by suppressing ignorance and replicating awareness. The empirical evidence that this antidote works: P.A.C.E. (Prisoners for AIDS Counseling and Education).

P.A.C.E. was established at Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch, New York, in 1989. The goal of the P.A.C.E. program is to educate the prison population about HIV/AIDS, yet P.A.C.E. does much, much more. Indeed, P.A.C.E. provides a plethora of invaluable services, including professional consultation, hospital visitation (although this very beneficial aspect of P.A.C.E. has been discontinued), support groups, peer counseling, HIV/AIDS education (an intense twelve-week cycle), HIV/AIDS 101 presentations, a treatment information library, and community resource information.

The above services alone are plenty, but there are also other useful ones offered through P.A.C.E., in conjunction with several community-based organizations with which P.A.C.E. is affiliated. The NYC Commission on Human Rights (HIV Prison Project) conducts Anger Management Workshops and classes on HIV and hep C; Planned Parenthood of Newburgh coordinates seminars on the reproductive system; the Altamont Agency conducts training sessions and provides certification to qualified P.A.C.E. team members; and P.A.C.E. has worked with the Department of Labor to implement a 2,000-hour apprenticeship program for HIV/AIDS counseling. Based on the knowledge acquired through participation in the P.A.C.E. program, several former team members have worked or are currently working as AIDS counselors. As George Shaw, thirty-eight, dubbed ?the OI man? for his in-depth knowledge of opportunistic infections, notes: ?It?s more than just education and counseling. P.A.C.E. is into transforming lives.?

I joined P.A.C.E. a year and a half ago to become more knowledgeable about a disease that was plaguing our communities. But what cemented my interest in joining the P.A.C.E. team is the emphasis on accountability. Moreover, the P.A.C.E. program, located in the academic school building, is a place where healthy discourse on HIV and other health-related issues is encouraged and where HIVers are embraced. Not surprisingly, this is essential because in prison callous attitudes abound.

This is what is most troubling to William, a fifty-two-year-old P.A.C.E. team member who tested positive for HIV in 1991. ?My biggest fear,? he asserts, ?is being around people who are uneducated about the virus. That?s why there has been only one time when I have revealed my status to anyone outside of P.A.C.E.? At the mention of P.A.C.E., William beamed. ?Not only has P.A.C.E. been informative,? he says with confidence, ?it has led me to believe that I can whip this thing.? William has had a positive attitude since testing positive, but P.A.C.E. has provided him with ?a sense of freedom or release from stress and anxiety.?

Paulie is a P.A.C.E. team member, also, but he is sort of an anomaly in that he has no qualms revealing his status to anyone. As for those who would shun him because of his status: ?My thinking is this,? Paulie states emphatically, ?this is who I am. Accept me for who I am, or have a nice day!? Paulie is just as adamant about how beneficial P.A.C.E. has been to him. ?Due to the P.A.C.E. program and the education I received, I can thank the P.A.C.E. program for my being alive.? Charles Hamilton, forty, encapsulates the assiduousness of the program: ?We take educating people about the virus very seriously despite our incarceration. Helping others help themselves is one of our goals in the fight to stop the spread of HIV.?

What has made P.A.C.E. so successful over the years? The patriarch of P.A.C.E., Allen Simon, fifty-seven, affectionately known as Al, attributes the program?s success to the ?tenacity of P.A.C.E. team members. And I would add that the administration has been very supportive of the program.? Conversely, the biggest obstacle in 2003, according to Al, ?is the sense of complacency that has set in.? This is certainly problematic because, two decades into this pandemic, the beast has yet to be tethered. Indeed, as the prison population has swelled, the rate of infection has increased precipitously. If there is no accountability, the sense of urgency will continue to dissipate. The more people who are concerned about this conundrum the better.

There are certainly worthwhile AIDS awareness programs in other correctional facilities in New York State and in other states around the country. Yet the prevalence of risky behaviors in prison (unprotected sex, tattooing, and IV drug use) dictates that programs similar to P.A.C.E. need to be available in all correctional institutions. In the meantime, however, we must continue to be in the forefront, not just as educators, but as advocates. The onus is on us. AIDS is now a chronic illness with no cure in sight. So as we say in the program, ?P.A.C.E. for life.?

Ronald F. Day, #93A8505, is a peer educator for the P.A.C.E. program at Eastern Correctional Facility in Napanoch, New York. Responses to this article and/or methods to enhance the education of the prison  population are encouraged.