In 1988, Brother Bob Reinke, who is currently a pastoral associate at St. Ann's Church, began visiting AIDS patients at St. Mary Hospital when little was known about the virus.

"People were nervous to even enter [an AIDS patient's] room," said Reinke. "You heard so many rumors. No one knew exactly how it was transmitted."

Reinke recalled several cases in which patients had lesions all over their bodies. For Reinke, these extremely visible manifestations represented a modern day example of leprosy.

Over time, one man's calling evolved into a countywide agency that has been able to care for approximately 25 percent of the county's 7,000 AIDS cases, with 50 percent of those coming from Jersey City.

The program is affiliated with the Franciscans, who started St. Mary Hospital and turned it over to the Bon Secours Health System in September, 1999.

The agency receives $2.4 million annually from the federal government via the Ryan White Fund, which was set up in memory of the young man who contracted AIDS from a blood transfusion in the 1980s.

Although the money originates in the federal government, it is funneled through the office of the county executive, who allocates the funds to the local HIV Planning Council, which rewards it to FAITH.

In addition to the government grant, the organization receives $55,000 from the United Way of Hudson County and personal donations from companies, churches, and individuals. With the approximate $2.5 million it takes in every year, the agency is able to sponsor an array of social programs.

The process begins with assigning a case manager to a patient to assess the patient's situation and access the resources that will best meet his or her needs.

"Our goal is to provide a one-stop continuum of care so that each individual receives what they need at that point in their lives," said Executive Director John Lorenzo.

Programs range from providing emergency housing for those who are temporarily homeless to giving medical prescriptions to those who can't afford them, particularly in the beginning of their treatment when they are adjusting to their predicament.

Other assistance that FAITH offers includes food vouchers to help subsidize those on a fixed income, transportation for patients who have difficulty reaching their medical destinations, and an entitlement program in which a counselor assists a client in attaining services such as Social Security, Disability, Supplementary Security Insurance, and hospital Charity Care.

Support groups for those living with HIV and AIDS are also a central part of FAITH Services, providing patients and their families with individualized attention that caters to their emotional needs.

Confronting issues that negatively affect the client's behavior, such as substance abuse and mental illness, is a focus of the support program.

"You just can't treat the disease itself without looking at all these important life issues a person faces," said Clinical Services Director George Sheridan.

Due to AIDS awareness initiatives and combination antiretroviral therapy, which is a treatment that uses several inhibitors to suppress the infection, the amount of deaths and the number of new cases has dropped significantly over the last decade and a half.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates the number of new AIDS cases to be at approximately 40,000 currently, compared to over 150,000 per year in the late 1980s.

Deaths caused by HIV and AIDS in New Jersey have dropped from 15,000 in 1995 to a little over 5,000 in 2002, according to the New Jersey HIV/AIDS Reporting System (HARS).

FAITH Services is contributing to this downward trend by providing educational programs to students throughout the county on how to protect themselves from the deadly disease.

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