HELPING HAND ASKS FOR HELP

For her 21st birthday, Jessica Atchley discovered that she was HIV
positive. At the time it felt like a death sentence, and she used it to
justify self-destructive methamphetamine and crack cocaine habits. Not that
she needed a reason. She had been using drugs since she was 13.

"I felt like my life was over," Atchley said. "I was going to die anyway,
so that's how I lived."

By 2002, when she was 28, her life had spiraled so far out of control that
even she recognized it. She turned her two children over to the state for
foster care and went into a drug treatment program.

In August, Atchley celebrated three years clean and sober. She has custody
of her children again and supports her family as a checker in a grocery
store. Her HIV diagnosis is no longer the death sentence she once feared.

Atchley will share her story this morning at a breakfast for community
leaders that will kick off the United Way of Lane County's annual fund drive.

The nonprofit agency raises money each year to support programs that serve
the county's financially and socially vulnerable residents. Last year's
campaign brought in just more than $4.6 million in money contributed by
individuals, small businesses and large corporations; the agency hopes to
exceed that total by 11 percent.

The money collected last year supported 63 projects, including Committed
Partners for Youth's mentorship program, White Bird's low-income health and
dental clinics, and the Lane County Law and Advocacy Center's legal
services for senior citizens.

Atchley wouldn't be where she is today without the help of two United
Way-backed nonprofit organizations.

She transferred from a drug program in St. Helens to the Willamette Family
Treatment Center in Eugene, which provided a safe place to start over that
allowed her to bring her children.

As part of her recovery, the Willamette Family Treatment Center linked her
up with the HIV Alliance, an agency that supports those who have been
diagnosed with the illness and seeks to prevent future HIV infections and
AIDS victims.

Both programs were life-savers for Atchley. At Willamette Family Treatment
Center, she received the support and training she needed to live without
drugs. Now the HIV Alliance backs her in a variety of ways. She lives in an
apartment subsidized by alliance funds, and their counselors are on hand
whenever she needs them.

"I love that agency," she said. While Atchley carries the disease, a
variety of drugs keep the symptoms of full-blown AIDS at bay.

Among its services, the HIV Alliance provides health testing for those who
are at high risk of becoming infected, such as injection drug users, men
who have sex with men and sexually active youth.

Getting people tested is important, alliance Executive Director Diane Lang
said, because most infections are caused by the small percentage of people
who don't know they are sick.

"When they find out they're positive, they do take preventative steps," she
said.

United Way funds go to the HIV Alliance's needle exchange program, a
project that keeps intravenous drug users from spreading the infection.

The needle exchange also puts HIV alliance volunteers out among people
using drugs. They can link users up to other intervention and treatment
services, Lang said.

The needle exchange volunteers also test for the presence of HIV; in three
years of testing, they have not found a single case of HIV among the drug
users they see.

Clean needles also prevent the spread of hepatitis C, she said.

Atchley will be one of several speakers at this morning's breakfast
encouraging community members to be generous. United Way has set an
ambitious goal to raise $5 million.

Organizers acknowledge that it will be a challenge to bring in that kind of
money, especially since two natural disasters - last year's tsunami and
last month's hurricane - already have drawn millions in donations from
local residents.

"We support giving to Katrina," United Way of Lane County spokeswoman
Cherie Kistner said. "What we're hoping to emphasize is that we here in
Lane County need to make sure that our vulnerable citizens have their basic
services and needs met."

While Atchley is a little nervous about standing up in front of strangers
to tell her story, she is also happy to do it. Her past does have a place
in the present as a cautionary tale, she said.

"It's a teaching tool, not only for my kids, but the rest of the community."

It's also a tale of hope, of how people can make a difference.

"It's a rough road, but I'm doing it with the support of a lot of people,"
she said.