Speaking with Avis is an energizing experience.
“My keyboard keeps me strong when I’m frustrated,” says the 65-year-old Project Open Hand client, whose ideas and manner of communicating will lighten even the darkest day. “I play my music and dance a little bit to throw everything off. I love music. And I pray a lot.”
It was 1994, when Avis went to the hospital and found out she had a fibroid tumor “the size of a football" which led to bigger medical issues over time: an infection, blood clots and tumors, blood loss. Avis took a blood test, where she learned that she had ARC, which is medical shorthand for AIDS-related complex, a phrase that was at that time commonly used to describe patients with HIV who show more mild symptoms of the illness.
As the ARC progressed from the stress that her body had to fight, Avis knew she needed help. Fortunately, she found that help with Project Open Hand.
“They’ve helped me through so many crises,” says the San Francisco native who has called the East Bay her home since 1972. “Even when I couldn’t get around and broke my legs, they truly saved my life.”
Project Open Hand is the largest provider of nutrition to the HIV/AIDS community in the nation, an accomplishment that reflects over 30 years of work offering meals with love, support and a model of care. Avis, who lives near Oakland’s Fruitvale neighborhood, benefits from Project Open Hand’s conveniently accessible East Bay grocery center on San Pablo Avenue in the Uptown neighborhood of Oakland.
Upwards of 22% of Project Open Hand Wellness Program clients are residents of Alameda County, where Project Open Hand is addressing an urgent need. According to the Alameda County Health Department, an estimated 5,649 People Living with HIV and 41% of newly diagnosed HIV cases in Alameda County are African American patients (Source: 2015 HIV/AIDS Needs Assessment, Alameda County Public Health Dept.).
The compassion of the Project Open Hand team gives Avis strength, and she said the people who deliver her meals comfort her and that they laugh together no matter what is going on in her life. She has also learned healthful food preparation. Zucchini salad is now a favorite—with a b
eloved cranberry wheat muffin being a close second. Because she has always been musical growing up in a Jehovah’s Witness congregation, it makes sense that Avis turned to music, dancing and her keyboard for solace.
“Lord I will turn this around,” she promised, after realizing something was missing in her life. After praying, she picked up a keyboard and realized that she knew how to play it. Creating her own jazz music and writing songs and poetry have turned into great outlets. And she has learned to enjoy the "simple things" like walking and hiking in nature with her mom, and traveling. Some of her favorite travel destinations include Florida, New England and Oklahoma.
Above all, and with help from Project Open Hand, Avis refuses to let the epidemic “stop her."
Mary Ladd’s writing has appeared in Playboy, Time Magazine, KQED, & San Francisco Weekly. She is currently working on The Wig Report, a hilarious book project with an insiders take on catastrophic illness. Mary went through 22 rounds of chemo, 7 surgeries, 8 infections, 49 blood tests, and completely lost her hair, eyebrows, and 30 pounds… but gained 4 wigs and many fashion finds in the process.