House of Compassion

Summary: Newspaper article on House of Hesed, Manitoba’s only transition home for people living with HIV/AIDS, provides a supportive, home-like environment where residents are accepted and cared for.

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House of Compassion

Lying in a hospital bed six years ago, Jonathan Carrington knew he was in a desperate situation. He was bi-polar, suffering from dementia, and HIV positive.

His roommate couldn’t care for him, his family didn’t know his condition, and the gay community to which he belonged had shunned him because of his disease.

Carrington wasn’t expecting open doors or open arms, but he found both at a little house on Langside Street.

House of Hesed is no longer on Langside, but the three-storey home built of cozy red bricks on Edmonton Street is still a refuge for people living with one of the most stigmatized diseases in the world: AIDS.

Carrington experienced that rejection from all but his closest friends when he found out he was HIV positive.

“I was more ostracized than I have ever been in my whole life,” he said.

But a meeting with Moe Feakes, the director of House of Hesed, convinced him these people were different.

“The people there didn’t care about your religion, your sexual preference was never discussed. They just accepted you with open arms like one of their own,” said Carrington.

The only HIV/AIDS transition house in Manitoba, House of Hesed meets a very specific need. It has bedrooms for 10 people living with HIV/AIDS who need a home where they will be loved and cared for.

“There aren’t many people who like hospitals,” says Cameron Tucker, one of the eight paid staff who spend time with the residents, cook for them, remind them to take their medication, take them to movies, or just hang out and chat.

“Here we’ve got plants, we’ve got dogs—it’s a very homey feel. We want it to feel like a home, not a business.”

A home where someone cares is what many AIDS patients don’t have, the director, Moe Feakes, realized 14 years ago. When her best friend died of AIDS, she started volunteering at Kali Shiva, a volunteer-based organization that provides health care for people living with HIV/AIDS in Winnipeg.

“I got to know people dying in deplorable conditions in rooming houses—dying alone,” she says. “It was really sad. It was heartbreaking to see that. Because people don’t want to go to the hospital, they just silently waste away.”

Feakes said the inspiration to start a home for AIDS patients was something that came from God.

“It’s about wanting to give people a sense of self-worth and value, and how they’re cherished, and if we do that, we’re doing what God wants,” she says.

She opened the house in 1999 after a Christian foundation gave her the money to get started. Last year, House of Hesed moved to the larger, more comfortable house on Edmonton Street.

Besides a room and board allowance the Manitoba government provides for each resident, all the house’s operating costs are covered by donations from individuals and churches.

Although one of the goals of the organization is to strengthen and equip the residents to live on their own and take care of themselves, they may live in the house as long as they like. Carrington says this is the home where he wants to spend the rest of his life.

The staff aren’t trained medical workers, but they help residents take their medication, eat a balanced diet, and take them to the hospital whenever necessary.

Though modern drugs often allow patients who take care of their bodies to live long, healthy lives, the reality of death can’t be escaped. Three residents passed away this May.

When a resident dies, everyone gathers for a memorial service. Each person brings a flower and they share their memories of the person’s life.

“There’s a lot of sadness, but there’s also a lot of hope,” says Feakes. “We get all our strength from God. He’s everything here because without Him, we couldn’t do what we do!”

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