Carol A. Baltosiewich is a nurse and former member of the Hospital Sisters of St. Francis noted for her work with HIV/AIDS patients. She is from Belleville, Illinois.[1]
Life
editIn the 1980s, Baltosiewich was assigned to care for a young gay man dying of AIDS in rural Illinois.[1] Knowing little about AIDS or the gay culture, she convinced her superiors to send her and another sister to Saint Vincent's Catholic Medical Center in Greenwich Village New York, a hospital known for their work with both gay and AIDS patients.[1] They also worked at Saint Clare's Hospital in Hell's Kitchen, an institution that served a large homeless and indigent population.[2] She lived in a convent in Hell's Kitchen during her time in New York.[1][3] While there, she visited gay bars, worked on a hotline for those with questions about HIV, and volunteered with the Gay Men's Health Crisis.[3][2]
As part of her ministry, Baltosiewich held the hands of AIDS patients while they died, sometimes when their own families were too afraid to be in the same room as them.[2] She stayed overnight in homes set up for AIDS patients as part of the Good Samaritan Project.[2] In 1988, Baltosiewich founded Bethany Place in Belleville to provide services for those with HIV and AIDS.[1][3][4][5][2][6]
She later left her religious order.[1][3] Baltosiewich also served on a state AIDS commission.[1][3]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f g Michael O'Loughlin (December 29, 2019). "A Catholic Sister learns to serve people with AIDS". Plague: Untold Stories of AIDS & the Catholic Church (Podcast). America. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ a b c d e "Nuns learn by helping victims". The Manhattan Mercury. Manhattan, Kansas. Associated Press. November 25, 1988. p. 22. Retrieved January 11, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ a b c d e O'Loughlin, Michael (January 21, 2019). "The Catholic Nun Who Came to New York to Confront the AIDS Crisis". Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ Freeman, Brittany (November 20, 2014). "Bethany Place provides a new kind of home". Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ Weichert, Heidi (December 30, 2017). "Bethany Place assists metro-east residents who have HIV or AIDS". Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ Browning, Daniel R. (June 9, 1991). "Counseling Service for AIDS Victims Gets Ultimatum". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. St. Louis, Missouri. p. 59. Retrieved January 11, 2020 – via newspapers.com.
