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PROVINCETOWN GUIDE
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| DIRECTORY |
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Provincetown :: Thursday, September 2nd 2010
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It's a Family Affair
Provincetown: Where People Take Care of Each Other
By Steve Desroches
June 4th, 2009
There’s something special about the small-town charm of Provincetown. It’s not just how townies get discounts at shops here and there, or how the corner grocery will give you a free coffee once in a while, or how everybody seems to know everybody else.
| This year marks the 20th anniversary for “Sisters in the Name of Love,” an annual fundraiser on June 9. |
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The truly special, and important thing about the Provincetown community is how people take care of one another, especially in a time of crisis.
However, another special trait about Provincetown is the community’s flair for celebration, especially life, love, and friendship.
This year marks the 20th anniversary for “Sisters in the Name of Love,” an annual fundraiser for the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod (ASGCC) and Helping Our Women (HOW). This year’s celebration is at the A-House on Tuesday, June 9 at 8 p.m. And this year is extra special, as it is dedicated to the memory of Alice Foley, founder of the Provincetown AIDS Support Group in 1983 and former town nurse. Foley passed away this past April.
“Sisters in the Name of Love” began in 1989, founded by Tony Johnson and Jim “Big Lil’” Thompson, with the help of many Support Group volunteers. When confronted with the loss of friends and loved ones, the celebration of life and love became all the more important. And each “Sisters” is a celebration of the community spirit is Provincetown.
Now, “Sisters” is a veritable army of fundraisers, which over the years has orgnized to raise money not only for the Support Group and HOW, but the Soup Kitchen and Hurricane Katrina vicitms. If someone is in need, the “Sisters” have their back.
This year’s anniversary production includes Suede, Sarah Burrill, Kay Hole, Amber Alert, Barbie Q, Anita Cocktail, Adam Berry, Rose Thunder, Scarbie, Pearlene, Polly Yurathane, Nicole Gelinas, Thirsty Burlington, the girls from Illusions, Ashley Shakespeare, and many more.
For those who have never been, “Sisters” is truly a unique Provincetown event, with drag queens and music and laughter. It’s a wild night for a good cause.
Provincetown is truly a revolutionary community when it comes to its response to HIV and AIDS. In the early days of the pandemic, much of the country either ignored it or condemned those with the virus.
President Ronald Reagan never publicly acknowledged AIDS until 1987. By that time over 40,000 Americans had died of AIDS. And his comments were only to come out against teaching sex education in America’s schools.
“How that information is used must be up to schools and parents, not government,” said President Reagan. “But let’s be honest with ourselves, AIDS information cannot be what some call ‘value neutral.’ After all, when it comes to preventing AIDS, don’t medicine and morality teach the same lessons?”
But by 1987, Provincetown already had the Support Group providing for those with HIV and AIDS, promoting prevention education and supporting one another through a tremendously difficult time.
“It was the early ‘80’s, ’82 maybe, that I was asked, as town nurse, to visit a sick young man living alone in town,” said Foley, when she was interviewed for Starry, Starry Night: Provincetown’s Response to the AIDS Epidemic, a collection of oral histories of town residents. “When I went to see him, I discovered he had driven from Colorado to Massachusetts General Hospital and then he had been referred out here. When I called the social worker who had referred him to ask why she would send a dying man to Provincetown she said, ‘because the gay community will take care of him’.”
And take care of him, and many more, the entire community did. Both the ASGCC and HOW, the beneficiaries of “Sisters in the Name of Love” are now indispensable local organizations that provide assistance to those with not only HIV and AIDS, but other life-threatening and chronic illnesses.
The AIDS Support Group now works all over Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard, operates Foley House, a home for people with AIDS, (named after the organization’s founder), a prevention program, and a needle exchange.
The total operating budget of the ASGCC is approximately $1,600,000. Of that, approximately $1,071,000 is in the form of contracts and grants with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, $32,000 is from Cape communities, and the remainder is from private fundraising efforts like “Sisters in the Name of Love.”
HOW was formed in 1992 by Irene Rabinowitz to address the lack of services in the region for women with chronic and life-threatening illnesses. Their original focus was serving women with cancer, but in 1994, it was expanded to include all women diagnosed with chronic and life threatening illnesses.
“Sisters in the Name of Love” is Tuesday, June 9 at 8 p.m. at the A-House, 4-6 Masonic Place, 508.487.3821. Tickets are $10 at the door. Make sure to bring lots of dollar bills to give to the performers, which will in turn go to both beneficiary organizations.
For more information about the AIDS Support Group of Cape Cod and Helping Our Women go to www.asgcc.org and www.helpingourwomen.org. Also visit www.Provincetownmagazine.net for more stories and events.
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