“I was at a point where I was ready to give up,” said Jonathan S., a client at Allies for Health + Wellbeing. 'Allies – they actually stand by their name. They are truly an ally.'
Diagnosed with HIV more than eight years ago, Jonathan arrived in Pittsburgh from Harrisburg in December in poor health and with few resources. He was staying in a shelter when he was connected to Allies and was accepted into Allies’ case management program.
“Just like that, all of a sudden, answers started to come,” Jonathan said. “It’s truly like a blessing.”
Jonathan has been working with Lindsay Palombini, MSW, LSW, client services manager HUD housing specialist for Allies, and case manager Joseph Bauer. Within just a few weeks, the Allies team had found him a place to live.
“He [Bauer] asked me to do some looking around because he doesn’t want me to end up in a spot where I’m not going to be happy,” Jonathan said. “We took into consideration my future medical situations, me needing home health, which is also going to be starting soon. We got the unit that was needed, and I just moved in four days ago.”
Though Jonathan still faces serious health concerns – his HIV is undetectable but has contributed to other issues – he’s glad to be on the right track.
“I got to tell you, just having your own place, a place to call your own, is such a big relief,” he said.
While his health concerns are being handled elsewhere, he’s grateful to the team at Allies for addressing his other needs.
“The support is invaluable,” he said. “From not having any support to finally having support means so much more than anybody realizes.
“I feel safe now.”
