1. FROM THE EDITOR

2. ASO OF THE MONTH

3. VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

4. PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT

5. YOUR SPACE

FROM THE EDITOR
Janet Dorman

This will be my last column as the Editor of From the Rooftop. On July 10^th, my husband, Tom, and I will be moving to Maine where I have been called to serve as the Senior Pastor of the Foreside Community Church in Falmouth.  While I am excited about this new call and am looking forward to reconnecting with all my New England friends and colleagues, I am also sad to be leaving the Bay Area after four years.  I will especially miss volunteering with all of you at Under One Roof.  From my first day in the store, I felt welcomed and that was important to one who was very much a stranger in this city. 

One of my earliest experiences in San Francisco was taking the #1 California St. Bus from 27^th Avenue down to the Embarcadero to go to the Farmer’s Market at the Ferry Building.  As I got on the bus, I realized I was the only Anglo on it. The passengers were mostly Asian and the other few Caucasians were speaking Russian.  The driver was Latino.  Like Dorothy who looked out the window after her house dropped out of the tornado, I realized I wasn’t in Kansas anymore.  I certainly wasn’t in Boston.  I knew that the city was diverse, but this bus ride really brought that home and that I was the odd one out. 

When I got off the bus, I walked across the Embarcadero Park toward the Ferry Building.  As I went along, my attention was drawn upward to the trees where there was a good deal of very noisy activity.  Parrots were squawking and flying between the trees, bright green and red feathered darts against the darker green and gray of the trees. I stood and watched and was enchanted by this exotic encounter, and I guessed that these were the wild parrots of Telegraph Hill that I had seen in an indie documentary of the same name.  While many people have been captivated by them, some argue that they are not indigenous, and are, therefore a threat to native species.  The same is said about the palm trees that gracefully line the Embarcadero, planted after the ’89 earthquake that brought down the elevated train line.  

It is true that non-native species can be horribly invasive and overwhelm native stock.  Everything I had read, however, seemed to indicate that the parrots and palms were not harmful to indigenous flora and fauna.  Of course, there was a time when the ancestors of those on the #1 bus were also viewed with suspicion and fear, a time when they suffered virulent discrimination, and even internment in some cases.   

My Saturday morning excursion occurred when the immigration reform battle was beginning to heat up.  That coupled with my own sense of being the outsider perhaps made me more sensitive to the distinctions we are so apt to draw between “them and us,” between those who belong and those who do not. We have a sad history of choosing to act out of fear rather than interest or wonder when we encounter those who look, speak or act differently from us.

I am reminded of a quote by Albus Dumbledore to Harry Potter.  He said that it is our choices that show who we truly are. In the following Volunteer Spotlight, Leo Gallant spoke of the choice made by very different communities – LGBT folks, straight folks, deaf folks – to come together to respond to the AIDS crisis in those early days when people were pulling apart out of fear and hatred.  Amazing things were accomplished because of the courage and wisdom of those who put aside fear and joined together to make a difference. 

Amazing things can still happen.  UOR is going through a rough time, but I am encouraged by the volunteers who are working faithfully and with hope to keep the mission alive despite rough economic times and difficult staff transitions. I look around as a semi “veteran” and am delighted to see new faces on the shifts in the store.  Whether we are more like the parrots and palms tress or count ourselves indigenous to the landscape, we need to understand that we are one community, working under one roof, to help alleviate suffering and give hope through our on-going support of the AIDS service organizations in our family. 

Thanks for taking me in and giving me a place in this wonderful organization.  I will never forget you. 

Peace,  Janet 

PS  I am happy to introduce you to our new Editor, Dani Hernandez-Roach.  You will meet her in the “Your Space” column below.  Her contact will remain at uoreditor@gmail.com.

VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
Leo Gallant

This month we shine the spotlight on Leo Gallant who is a familiar face behind the store register on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. Leo first heard of UOR when the store was on Market Street, next door to the Names Project where Leo and others were making sections of the quilt in memory of loved ones who had died of AIDS. 

When I asked Leo to give me some background for the Spotlight, I received the story of a man who moved around the country quite a bit before settling in San Francisco.  I also received the story of loss and heartache as so many friends, as well as his lover, died from AIDS. 

Leo is originally from Rhode Island and of French Canadian and Irish stock.  He grew up in Pawtucket and did two years at the University of Rhode Island before, as he succinctly put it, he “flunked out in 1964.” Leaving academia behind, he “pulled a George Bush” and joined the Air National Guard (attending all weekend drills and summer camps unlike our former prez) and served six years with no combat duty, being honorably discharged from the Utah Air National Guard. 

It was after his military service that Leo worked in a variety of jobs around the country, the last one being with Kmart.  During that time he met his lover, Paul D. Isaac, in Fresno in 1973.  Paul was hearing impaired and used American Sign Language to communicate.  When Leo was transferred up to the Bay Area, Paul followed and was able to find work with Wells Fargo Bank.  Leo was transferred a couple of times in the next several years, but he finally resigned from Kmart in 1985 to enter San Francisco State University and rejoin Paul.  It was then that it all hit the fan as the AIDS epidemic roared through the gay community. 

While going to school, Leo volunteered at the SF AIDS Foundation Hotline.  That was the time when the first HIV test became available, and the big question in the gay community was, “Should I get tested or not?”  There were no meds, no treatment, at that time.  Since most questions that came in were about the test, Leo decided to take the test so he could speak about the experience with callers. He didn’t expect to be positive.  Paul decided not to test, even though they suspected he might be positive as he was beginning to exhibit some symptoms.  Leo writes: 

“That's when I got the shocking news that I was positive and in those days it was a death sentence.  In those times, those of us who tested positive were faced with huge decisions, we needed to write wills, durable power's of attorney for health care and nomination of conservator in case dementia settled on you.  The big decision for those who were employed was should I go on disability now and enjoy what is left of my life or go on working till I got to sick to work?” 

Leo continued his studies. Paul continued to exhibit mild symptoms of the disease and they both began to experience the huge loss as countless friends died, three of them while he and others held them in their arms.   

Leo said the early days of the epidemic were a sad and courageous time for the gay community.  All parts of the LGBT community and much of the straight community came together to help and to set an example for the world.  Members of the Paul’s Deaf Community did the same, offering services not provided by the medical community and allowing people to die at home surrounded by family and loved ones.  He said, “We re-wrote the book on how to die with dignity and set an example for the country and the world.”  

Paul and others in the Deaf Community began making quilt sections for the Names Project to honor their dead friends.  Then Paul’s eyesight began to fail in one eye, then the other.  Leo said that for one who depends on eyesight for communication, losing it leaves them in a world alone. “Paul was not willing to learn to communicate all over again and his powers of visual observation were a part of his being he couldn't live without.” In consultation with his medical providers, he made the decision faced my so many in a time of failing abilities, to discontinue his AIDS medication and take only what he needed for pain.   

Leo writes, “Paul died in our bed and in my arms on November 17, 1992 with three of our friends and myself holding him.” 

He continues, “As more and more friends died over the years I stopped making new acquaintances who might become friends I'd just have to bury.  Like many, I escaped into my job and waited for the other shoe to drop so I could join Paul.  Well life doesn't work that way and it looks as if I am a long term survivor who has never had an opportunistic infection and will most likely die from cardiac problems or being shot by a jealous lover.  When I retired almost four years ago I wanted to volunteer within the AIDS community and the natural choice was Under One Roof since the quilt has moved to Atlanta and UOR provides a link to those times. 

As the community faces tough economic times and Under One Roof is struggling to survive, the only salvation our Volunteer Based Organization has is the strength of our volunteers.  We need your help just like we needed it during the early days of the epidemic. If you haven't volunteered in a while now is the time to come back.  As so many of us are part of the Baby Boomer generation we are retiring and I encourage all to volunteer within the community and especially with HIV/AIDS organizations.” 

Thanks, Leo, for sharing your story with the rest of the volunteers.

PRODUCT HIGHLIGHT

SF Mercantile is a San Francisco company that designs, imports and wholesales unique and distinctive San Francisco mementos. All designs are created by artists who Live, Love and Laugh in the "City by the Bay".  Here is a selection of their Sunrise/Twilight Glassware.

San Francisco Skyline Shot Glass	San Francisco Skyline Wine Glass	San Francisco Skyline Tumblers	San Francisco Skyline Martini Glasses
Price:  $15.00	Price:  $22.00	Price:  $20.00	Price:  $22.00
Come in and see the full line displayed in our store window! or buy online in our webstore!

YOUR SPACE

Dani Hernandez-Roach

The Grand Opening

Regrettably, attending the Grand Opening of the Under One Roof Community Resource Center at MOMS Pharmacy wasn’t originally in my plans for Tuesday night, March 31^st, BUT the event turned out to be of the most poignant experiences in my life thus far. Being at an extremely formative point in my life, I couldn’t help but look at the Grand Opening as a moment of growth for all involved in the opening. I began to look at the work of Under One Roof in a significantly different way. The one knock—and virtually the only one—that gets leveled at Under One Roof is that because of its inherent design, we rarely get to see the direct results of our work. And that night, I feel I saw my share of the magic of Under One Roof, and how it happens. It doesn’t get much more direct than seeing Under One Roof’s assiduous workers being praised for all they had done in getting the Community Resource Center up and running.

The evening was filled with various faces—many that I recognized, many that I didn’t, and many I knew I would never encounter again. Helping to organize the unfortunately un-alphabetized nametags ensured a chance to meet and converse with many people I wouldn’t have otherwise met.  All the same, it quickly hit home that every single person was part of the same goal, and that we were all different inputs working for the same output. Every last foot that stepped through the doors, every last hand I shook, every last voice that cheered as the ribbon was cut, I realized, is fervently dedicated to strengthening the HIV/AIDS community. It was an evening that went far beyond the confines of pure business—it was dripping with camaraderie, sincerity, and recognition of both the work completed and the work ahead. As representatives from both Under One Roof and MOMS spoke about the significance of the event, and as the clips of various ASO’s rolled, I was genuinely touched by the level of investment on everyone’s part, and to put it mildly, the night was one for the books.

One of the paramount moments for me was being asked to cover this very event and sincerely reflect on what I saw, heard, felt, and experienced. I was more than happy to take part in helping out with the opening, and to that end, I feel that some names need to be mentioned: Mark Burns for being there to lead the way; Gregg Gerst for being eloquent and sparkling as usual; all the volunteers and staff members who worked tirelessly throughout the evening; and finally, Chris Christensen for organizing the whole thing and never seeming even a trifle overwhelmed. Everyone was brimming with positive response over the fantastic turnout of the Grand Opening—because grand it was. Walking away from the event, I reflected that the evening a huge step toward the bigger goal, the monumental dream. And I realized that everyone has the same dream of building a strong and perseverant HIV/AIDS community. The evening left everyone, including myself, envisioning the bright future of the work MOMS and UOR will do together to realize that dream. That said, I’d like to end with this…

            “It’s not just a daydream if you decide to make it your life…”—Pat Monahan