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Francis House AIDS Sufferers Find Refuge, Hot Lunch At Francis House

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By PHILIP MORGAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 3, 2007

TAMPA - Raynell Franklin likes having a place where he can talk freely with friends who understand what he's going through.

Francis House is a welcome refuge for many reasons, among them the recent Thanksgiving feast of turkey and ham, stuffing, vegetables and four pies.

"It's a blessing, really," Franklin says.

The amiable 53-year-old with iron-gray hair has had AIDS for 10 years. He's among the 20 to 25 AIDS sufferers who gather daily at Francis House. Here, in addition to a hot lunch, they can get counseling to keep them drug-free, help with government services and the solace of a support group that meets every morning at 11.

"We learn a lot from each other," says Franklin, a former nurse who is on disability income.

Francis House is one of the nonprofit organizations featured in The Tampa Tribune's annual Holiday Wish List, which runs through Dec. 24 on Page 2 of BayLife and on TBO.com (keyword: Wish List). Charities are invited to publish their needs so readers can know how to help.

Francis House was founded in 1990 by Sister Anne Dougherty, a Catholic nun who started a ministry to counsel AIDS patients at St. Joseph's Hospital. These patients, afflicted with the then-new plague that terrified the world, asked for a place to meet where they wouldn't be treated as pariahs. Francis House was born, says director Joy Winheim.

Though the stigma isn't as great as it was 17 years ago, many clients still fear the reactions of others.

"We have a lot of clients that haven't told their families. We have a lot who won't tell their churches - won't tell anybody," she says. "So I think it's always going to be there.'

Most of the clients have homes but are unemployed or on disability. Winheim says the lunch Francis House serves is the only complete meal many of them get during the day.

Clients help clean up after lunch and do other chores to earn "Francis House dollars." They get the vouchers for scheduling and keeping appointments with their mental health or drug abuse counselors, attending group sessions and taking other positive steps in their lives.

They can spend their dollars in the on-site food pantry or the thrift store.

The thrift store needs organizing, Winheim says. She's hoping she can get some client volunteers to take that on.
Decorating the store is a wall mural, with illustrations of some of the children who were in the day care program at Francis House when the piece was painted. The mural has taken on a new poignancy of late: The little boy peeping out from behind an arch, a child born with AIDS, recently died, Winheim says.
"He was 19."
Francis House is seeking donations of large stockpots, potholders and dish towels, serving trays, a large stand-up freezer, new sofas for the community room, blinds, shelving and storage tubs for the thrift store, bathroom vanities, office supplies, and gift cards from Publix, Wal-Mart, Sweetbay and The Home Depot. To grant a wish, call (813) 237-3066. Reporter Philip Morgan can be reached at (813) 259-7609 or pmorgan@tampatrib.com.

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