Anita has been with WT4AC since 2020. She wears many hats for the organization,
serving as a member of the committee board, delivering food, providing condoms,
masks, and education on HIV/Aids in the community. Anita also runs her own support
group, Hope Invites Victory. Its purpose is to build a strong heterosexual HIV community
that teaches awareness and makes people want to live.
Anita’s passion is living life and helping PLWHIVA to also find their passion to live a full
life, free of the shame and stigma associated with HIV/AIDS. She aims to help others
not to view their diagnosis as a death sentence, but something like diabetes; A condition
that needs to be managed and monitored. Anita also aims to help others find confidence
to feel better about themselves, so they can become active in the community, develop
meaningful relationships, and ultimately encourage others to do the same.
What keeps Anita motivated is seeing the difference in people she’s worked with, who
were once isolated and withdrawn because of their status, evolve into individuals who
get involved, create meaningful connections in the community, and find the will to live
full lives, including finding love. Anita found love with someone who accepted her
despite having different status.
Anita is from Cleveland, Ohio. She is a wife, a mother of six, grandmother of 15, a
cancer survivor, a substance abuse survivor, and has been living with HIV/Aids since
1995. It’s an understatement to say Anita beat the odds. Her biggest inspirations are her
children and her grandmother, who recently passed. One of Anita’s fondest memories of
her grandmother is that she never believed that Anita’s status was positive. It was a
testament to all that Anita does, and the light/passion for life she has within. She is a
warrior, a survivor, she doesn’t give up with the belief that she can conquer anything.
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