On January 14, Alan Jones retired from Allies for Health + Wellbeing after 30 years of service. He was the longest-serving staff member.
So much has changed in the past few decades and Jones has seen it all.
Until September 2017, Allies for Health + Wellbeing was known as the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force (PATF). PATF was founded in 1985 by a group of volunteers dedicated to providing care to those living with HIV/AIDS. Over the years, PATF services progressed from an agency helping people with AIDS die with dignity into an agency helping people living with or at risk of HIV/AIDS as well as viral hepatitis and STIs live healthier, more fulfilling lives. As medical treatments for HIV/AIDS have improved, the services PATF/Allies for Health + Wellbeing provides have evolved and expanded to meet the growing and changing needs of our community. Services now include a medical clinic, behavioral health services, Trans-affirming care including HRT, PrEP services, medical case management, HIV/hepatitis/STI testing and counseling, a food pantry, transportation, emergency financial assistance, housing, and prevention and educational outreach. Allies for Health + Wellbeing is the oldest and largest AIDS service organization in Southwestern Pennsylvania, and offers the most comprehensive, integrated medical care at one location.
Alan Jones started at the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force as a volunteer in 1990. By 1991, he became employed as a caseworker. He worked with deaf patients with psychiatric problems at Mayview State Hospital prior to joining PATF.
Alan recalls it being a difficult time when he joined the organization: “The organization was a non-for-profit organization. We worked on a limited budget. All of our office furniture was donated. People would donate office supplies to us from paper towels to copier paper, and clothing and food for our clients. My opening caseload was 102 clients; all persons living with AIDS, all of whom would be dead within the next few years. I once lost 13 clients in seven weeks. Many of our clients, unable to work, died before they were able to receive their first disability check from Social Security. The paperwork took up to a year to process at times. In those days, much of the work was done by volunteers we had of all ages and backgrounds. Some were clients, some were family members, or gay people in our community. The stigma was terrible. We had funeral homes that wouldn’t even take the bodies of people who had died of AIDS.”
I asked Alan what brought him to the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.
“I was a gay man who was concerned about what many then called ‘the gay man’s disease.’ We were witnessing a new epidemic in this country. At that time there was little treatment for persons living with HIV and the stigma was awful. Most people who were given an AIDS diagnosis were dead within two years. I had several friends who had died of AIDS in the late 1980’s, and several others who were living with it and dying.”
Alan recalls the hardest parts of being on the frontline back then:
“I remember visiting a new client in rural western Pennsylvania for the first time. He had moved back home to die. He was only 31. His mother, who worked as a waitress, had a hospital bed set up in her modest home, and was determined to care for her son until he died. When I called her to confirm my home visit the following day the first thing she asked me was if my car had Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force on it. I said no, that I drove my own car to do home visits. She was so relieved. She said, ‘yesterday, my boss at the restaurant asked me if my son had AIDS, and I of course lied and said he had cancer. His reply was, ‘Good, if he had AIDS you would be out of a job.’ In those days, people didn’t work in restaurants or in the medical field if they had HIV. Many people were still ignorant about HIV, its causes, and how it was spread. I had clients who died of AIDS whose families would leave food on their doorsteps without going into their homes. I had clients who never got to see children in their families, even their own, before they died. I lost over 160 of my own clients to AIDS.”
The bright part of all of this, Alan noted, was that in the mid 1990’s new medications and methods of HIV treatment came out and changed how people were living with HIV. “It was a game changer,” he said.
By 1999, Jones had become burned out from dealing with so much loss. “I made a change. I was able to remain at PATF, but went into doing HIV testing, community outreach, and did a lot of education within the community; especially the gay/bi community and with men who were high risk for HIV. I did HIV testing at gay bars, Gay Pride events, and at bathhouses. I worked with gay social groups like Leather Pittsburgh and gay groups at various colleges in the area. We did Safer Sex Workshops, educational talks, and outreach at gay bars. We’ve given out thousands of condoms over the years. PATF has also provided free legal services for clients.”
When asked what kept him at PATF/Allies for Health + Wellbeing for 30 years, Alan said:
“As a gay man, it was a wonderful place to work. I was able to help people living with HIV and AIDS. I was able to do outreach. I have helped many people in life crises, dealing with coming out issues, or finding out they were HIV positive. I could assist them and get them into care. It was wonderful being there for the community, my community. I helped people leave this world in a better situation. I had a client, Michael, who died of AIDS, and his partner Barry wrote in a card to me that I helped his partner on his journey home. I couldn’t tell you how many people I worked with who had been raped, dealing with an unwanted pregnancy, STI infection, etc. I feel so good about what I did for the past 30 years. Working there all those years was not just a job, it was a part of my life. I couldn’t tell you how hard it was at times, but I also got a lot of fulfillment from it as well. I have received so many emails and cards over the years from both clients and their families. It has been a wonderful journey. I am grateful for that.”
Alan says it was hard leaving his career at PATF/Allies for Health + Wellbeing. He is starting a new chapter of his life now. Between several hobbies, like selling antiques at an indoor Fleatique for fun, taking care of a house that is 151 years old, going to the Y, and doing family history, he is currently in a writing class. He has lunch at least once a week with old friends. “After working 42 years straight, it’s my turn,” Alan said. “I love history and want to do some research with the Pittsburgh Gay community as well.”
“I want to thank the many persons I have known through PATF–clients and volunteers, fellow co-workers past and present–for bringing so much love into my life. I would like to remember all of the clients I knew that left this world due to AIDS, all before their time. I often think of them and the things we spoke of.”
Thank you for your many years of service to our community, Alan.