Donte Smith has gone full circle with Heartland Human Care Services, from needing their help personally to working there and now helping others.
Smith, 25, who is gay and lives in the Belmont Cragin neighborhood, is an HIV prevention worker at the Ravenswood facility.
Ironically, Smith was going to Heartland Services in late-2010 for his own needs, starting with treatment for complications arising from his HIV-positive diagnosis, which he received in April 2009.
"It's really rewarding to be on the other end. In the past, I have used Heartland Services. Like many Black gay men, I have been homeless," said Smith, originally from Houston and living in Chicago for the past five years.
"To be the one now providing services, or helping people connect with services [ for their battle with HIV/AIDS ] , that feels really good, like I'm giving back to the community. I love my job; it's very rewarding."
One fall day, for instance, he did outreach, walking around Chicago and handing out condoms, talking about safe-sex and HIV.
"I've had a lot of people help me, a lot of people take me under their wing. I'm now trying to help others." Smith said. "I'm at a place today where things are starting to flourish—all from my own determination to change my life and get medical care."
But Smith's world hasn't always been roses. He's endured plenty of thorns over the past 10 years or so.
Let's see, he was kicked out of Georgetown University for being a political organizer. He was incarcerated in 2006 for political organizing. He's battled unemployment, has been homeless many times and, for the past two years, has had to deal with the stigma of being young, gay, Black and HIV-positive.
When Smith first went to Heartland Services in late-2010, he was living in a foreclosed home in Chicago, with medical issues, in need of medical care and yet no funds or insurance to pay for it.
"To have a compromised immune system [ from HIV ] makes it harder to find employment and find a house," Smith said. "If it wasn't for Heartland, I definitely would still be in those situations, facing all those things, all of those issues. … You feel like you can't achieve anything, like life is screwing you over, that you have huge difficulties that cannot be overcome. You easily get depressed, sad."
Smith was homeless from November 2010 through March of this year. At times he was able to sleep on a friend's couch, otherwise it was in abandoned buildings. He was at rock bottom last winter, living alone in a freezing, abandoned building. "That was a very difficult time," Smith said. "If it wasn't for the support of my friends, I don't know where I'd be. They helped shake me out of my depression, forced me to go get medical care. Otherwise, I'm not sure I'd be as lucky as I am."
Smith, who landed at Heartland Services though a placement by Americorp AIDS United, now lives in a collective house—with eight other people, six cats and eight chickens. "It's great. I love living collectively," said Smith, who started living collectively at Georgetown. "Economically, it makes sense—sharing resources, etc. Socially, sure, it can make you anxious at times, but I have my own room, so it's not too bad."
Smith worked from March through August at Jackson Park Hospital as an HIV tester and he also did community outreach in South Shore and Greater Grand Crossing.
Smith is preparing to launch a website ( www.gonegrey.tumblr.com ) on World AIDS Day, dedicated to telling the stories of Chicagoans who have been living with HIV/AIDS for at least 15 years. He wants to expand the profiles to people from across the country and around the world, if possible.
"To hear their stories, honor their history. It's been amazing, rewarding," Smith said.
Smith also is a volunteer for the Illinois Alliance for Sound AIDS Policy, a group of policy advocates throughout Illinois who organize to address issues facing people living with HIV, such as stigma, ADAP ( AIDS Drugs Assistance Program ) and comprehensive sexual education in Chicago public high schools. Plus, he is a part-time DJ ( DJ Masisi ) at various gay events throughout the city.
"This virus has really decimated our community—the young, gay, Black community," he said. "It has limited the potential of growth and possibilities for so many.
For so many who I have seen over the years, the thought for them living to 40- or 50- [ years-old ] is almost unfathomable, so limited—because of HIV/AIDS."
Even Smith worried about his future, his legacy.
"The idea that 'HIV is a gift' didn't make sense to me until recently," Smith said. "That [ phrase ] has been floating around for decades in the poz community. But HIV woke me up to my life. All of a sudden, my life was on a clock. It made me re-evaluate so much in life."
Smith is one of many in his extended family that are gay, Black and HIV-positive.
Smith learned of his own fate that day in April 2009 after being tested at Broadway Youth Center—and he was not expecting the results he was told.
"Sure, I knew I was in a high-risk population, that's why I was so paranoid about getting tested regularly, but I didn't think I had gotten [ HIV/AIDS ] ," Smith said. "I remember being really angry at first [ when diagnosed ] . I remember hoping that the sky would come swallow me in a cloud of flames, like Elijah The Prophet. It was a frustrating, angry time."
But, through HIV, Smith has changed his course and gained a new lease on life.
This story is part of the Local Reporting Initiative, supported in part by The Chicago Community Trust.
