Community in a Time of Crisis: Yale, New Haven, and HIV/AIDS, 1981-1996

Community and Caregiving

A physician and a nurse smile while examining an HIV positive child. The physician is touching the child's face.

Warren Andiman, MD, and Joyce Simpson, RN, MPH, and young patient with HIV, c. 1991.

In 1983, a small group led by Yale researcher Alvin Novick, MD, and recent Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) graduate William Sabella gathered in the back of Partners Café, a local gay bar. Together, they sketched plans for a new organization: AIDS Project New Haven (APNH). Fueled by outrage at the lack of attention to the disease decimating their community, APNH became a central hub of AIDS care and advocacy in the city. Novick himself became a beloved mentor not only to those involved in AIDS activism, but also to medical practitioners and researchers in New Haven. APNH developed programs like Caring Cuisine to support people with AIDS and their families, plastered condom ads on city buses, and became vocal participants guiding the work of the Mayor’s Task Force on AIDS. 

APNH’s work was rooted in New Haven’s white, gay community, and over time, more organizations emerged to support other groups that had been marginalized and overlooked. Elsie Cofield, a retired teacher and wife of Rev. Dr. Curtis Cofield, founded the AIDS Interfaith Network in 1987. The Cofields’ extensive ministry had exposed them to the challenges of Black New Haven residents with AIDS, many of whom struggled to access social support. At the same time, local Puerto Rican residents rallied around Hispanos Unidos Contra el SIDA, which offered Spanish-language outreach and education, as well as resources for people using intravenous drugs. Hispanos Unidos’ close connections to this community eventually helped pave the way for the success of the Needle Exchange Program. 

Though Connecticut was home to the nation’s first hospice, patients with AIDS were largely ostracized, and rarely granted access to existing palliative care institutions. Catherine Kennedy, a 1986 graduate of Yale School of Management (YSOM) and active volunteer with APNH, sought to remedy this situation. Her experience in health insurance and public policy led her to explore different possibilities, and ultimately to acquire a full nursing home license for an entirely new kind of facility. After almost a decade of preparation, Leeway opened the door for its first patients in 1995, creating a site not only for palliative care, but also for skilled nursing care tailored entirely to people with AIDS. 

AIDS cases and AIDS deaths in both Connecticut and the United States rose sharply between 1983 and 1986. Many Connecticut AIDS patients were gay, were IV drug users, or both. These patients were racially diverse, but predominantly identified as male.

Graphs showing prevalence of AIDS in Connecticut, 1986.

In its first 3 years, the AIDS Project New Haven grew from about 12 members to 70 regular workers. They established AIDS counseling programs, an AIDS hotline, and educational outreach for the New Haven community. APNH celebrated the way that LGBT communities were coming together for mutual aid.

AIDS Project New Haven newsletter, 1986.

Flyer for New Haven Gay Community Service Network, undated.

The front page of a flyer for the AIDS Interfaith Network. In the word AIDS, the letter A is replaced by two interlocked hands.

 Flyer for AIDS Interfaith Network, undated.

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