CAROL STERLING
INTERVIEWED BY KEYAN YORK
THE FREE PRESS
INTERVIEWED BY KEYAN YORK
THE FREE PRESS
As executive director of the Chicken Soup Brigade for the past six years, Carol Sterling has taken in as many new clients as she has lost. It's a way of life for a woman who runs an agency that provides practical assistance to people living - and dying - with AIDS. Now 10 years old, the Chicken Soup Brigade delivers hot meals and groceries, provides transportation and does housework for more than 450 men, women and children in the Seattle area living with HIV/AIDS.
Talking with Free Press staffer Keyan York, Sterling tells what it's like to have as tough a job as any in the social services - one whose goal is to help people live and die with dignity.
What led you to become involved in the Chicken Soup Brigade?
For me, my personal involvement was one of a grassroots sort of person who knew that the AIDS crisis was coming. I'd seen enough of it in the media to know that it was going to impact specifically my community - and by that I mean the gay and lesbian community - and that we had to get prepared. I know I'm not a scientist, I'm not a planner, I'm not a physician. But I knew that the practical kind of support that Chicken Soup Brigade offered was exactly the thing that appealed to me. I wanted to get in there, get busy, get something done.
How successful has the Chicken Soup Brigade been in helping people living with HIV and AIDS.
It's important to note that by the time Chicken Soup Brigade sees someone as a client, it's too late. And for the most part, by the time people get to us, and it's hard for me to acknowledge this, it's palliative care. It's making things a little easier. And I will go to my grave believing that what we're here to do is to enhance the quality of life for people - not to make death simpler, not to make it more convenient, but rather to ensure that the quality of life they have, however much time that is, is good. We cannot give them what a normal life can give them, but we can certainly give them a clean home and a ride to the doctor and what we consider credible food.
On a personal level, how difficult is it for you, your staff and your volunteers to maintain a positive approach to your work when no matter what you do, the client is not going to live. How do you balance that emotionally?
The paid staff here is the most incredible collection of humans imaginable, and we come from an incredible variety of backgrounds and attitudes. I know that even though a friend is dying of something that I can't impact, if I know that the work that my volunteer staff did was to make his home comfortable, so that
|
'The alleged President Reagan gave us one gift in this country: He forced non-profit social service agencies to be smarter, better and more visionary about attracting volunteers.' -Carol Sterling
|
The majority of your volunteers and staff are women. Do you think that's because of the traditional role that women have played as caregivers?
I guess it does seem that people are coming from this practical nurturing standpoint that has been rewarded in women and encouraged in woman more than in men. I think that's an element. Another element is that with men, there is a lot of anxiety about HIV itself, especially among gay men who may feel the issue is too close. They've lost too many friends. They're concerned about their own health, and they're doing it on a day-to-day basis. It may be too depressing and so they're attracted to other ways of helping.
Would you say that you get stronger volunteers, because of the emotional nature of the work, than one might find in other volunteer-based operations?
I'm going to say this for the press - and I don't believe I ever have before - that the alleged President Reagan gave us one gift in this country: He forced non-profit social service agencies to be smarter, better and more visionary about attracting volunteers. Once programs were cut off and government support was cut off, people really had to decide if they were going to fish or cut bait. So we attracted volunteer managers who understood that it's no longer the nice little lady from the church who will do whatever the Father says. It's people who want to make a valuable contribution. So I think everybody recruiting volunteers is looking for smarter and stronger volunteers. As a staff, part of our responsibility is to downplay the emotional toughness of this job. Because what we are looking for is people who understand that "well done" is better than "well said." A good meal, delivered on time, something that someone can count on, is just as important as someone to hold your hand and listen to the anxiety and fear or anger that you may feel as a person living with HIV. But the truth is that you become attached to people. I think that we don't attract people who are necessarily stronger to begin with. We attract people who are more open to trying and to risking, and that's the most important word here. Volunteers who think that as long as they're giving, they are also getting. And I don't know any volunteers in this organization who would say that they are giving more than they are getting.
People willing and able to help the Chicken Soup Brigade, either financially or as a volunteer, are encouraged to call Carol, or volunteer coordinator Linda Coomas, at (206) 328-8979. The Chicken Soup Brigade is a non-profit organization.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |