HIV/AIDS Resources: Hidden in Plain Sight

 I spent many summer nights at the community baseball diamond as a player and observer. As a young observer, one of my favorite activities was to chase the foul balls that were hit behind the stadium. When I beat out the crowd of like-minded, squirrel-bodied kids, the prize in exchange for the rogue ball was 50 cents or a candy bar ( I preferred the candy bar) from the venue’s snack shack…a youthful incentive that promoted hyper activity, both in pursuit of the ball and post-candy bar consumption.

On one instance, I sat with my parents, attentively watching the ensuing game. I heard the familiar “crack” of the bat hitting the ball, and immediately saw the ball fly upwards and backwards, reaching over the tall guardian fence, and landing with a denting “thud” on the aluminum roofing above. Within seconds, I was in agitated pursuit of the escaped ball, making amazingly precise mental calculations of the ball’s trajectory and its final resting place. The other children swarmed, and I was undeterred. My feet pulsated on the pavement. My heart ran. There’s the ball. There’s another kid. That’s my ball. But he’s faster. But it’s mine. But he’s closer. Mine. Mine. Mine…his. Aw, shoot!

I returned to my parents’ side, only to have adult insult added to adolescent injury…and a lesson that would last a lifetime. My dad said something about chasing gold and rainbows, while the reward was here all the time. Huh? Is this a family secret of leprechaun lineage I knew nothing about? Maybe we won an insanely large amount of money that would deter me from ever chasing a ball again? “When you got up to chase the ball, I noticed a dollar bill right under your seat.” Hmm. It was there all the time. I was sitting on the very thing I was trying to pursue. But I was so caught up in other things that I didn’t even see it. Close by…hidden in plain sight.  

This past week, I presented at a conference in Chicago. While there, I met with people from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago. My mind was opened to see what I had not seen before. It’s easy enough to go about my day, blind to the daily realities of many people around me. I had not stopped to think about the homeless with HIV/AIDS, or the incarcerated with HIV/AIDS who are caught in the Catch 22 of “tell and be stigmatized and secluded” or “don’t tell and don’t get the services you need.” I hadn’t considered the hundreds of organizations that try daily to help people with HIV/AIDS live with dignity. It was there all along, I just didn’t see it. The plight and resources of persons living with HIV/AIDS were hidden in plain sight.

Another of these resources is in front of us and merits attention. The World AIDS Day Federal Conference Call for Federal Staff and Grantees will be taking place on Tuesday, Nov. 17th. Representatives from the VA, HUD, SAMHSA, HHS, NIH, and other federal programs will be providing updates and overviews of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. For more information, see http://www.aids.gov/world-aids-day/conference-call.html  

At this very moment, there are needs to meet within our immediate reach. The needs are not “over there” with “those people,” but are here and now, with these people in our immediate circle of influence. So many needs are in plain sight if we’ll just take the time and opportunity to see them. Opportunities to reach out to others are right here, right now. I hope that I won’t be blind and indifferent to the needs that are in front of me, behind me, and all around me…hidden in plain sight.