When looking into her family history, Allies’ client Eunice P. learned that her longest lived relative died at age 88. Eunice has dedicated herself to “breaking family legacies” since her mother’s death in 2020, so she’s doing everything she can to live a long and healthy life.

“I’m going to outlive everybody,” she said. “I got another 30 in me.”

Nearly 30 years ago, Eunice didn’t have the confidence that she’d live two years, let alone reach her 80s. She was diagnosed with HIV in the early 1990s, and like many people diagnosed at that time, she was told to get her affairs in order because she would not have long to live.

“To be honest, it was scary,” she said. “It was scary as hell. I was a single mother of a four-year-old. I just had to figure out real quick what I was going to do.”

Eunice said it took some time to come to terms with her diagnosis.

“When you find out you have HIV, it takes a minute to swallow it, deal with it,” she said. “You’re worried about what you’re going to do with your life. I really did think I was going to die.”

Eunice also grappled with the fact that she didn’t fit the expected demographics of HIV and AIDS at the time.

“The first year I was positive, I didn’t educate myself. I was embarrassed that I had it,” she said. “Back in ’93, this was the biggest gay disease in the world. How does a straight woman get HIV? How does a straight woman who doesn’t do drugs, who has had one partner for four years get HIV?”

Like many people with HIV in southwest Pennsylvania at that time, she turned to the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force – now Allies for Health + Wellbeing – for support.

“When I first started, that was the place,” Eunice said. “They were very open. The organization itself was very welcoming, the food bank was fabulous. They had support groups that were great. I made a lot of friends.”

Today, Eunice still gets care at Allies and has great things to say about her case manager, David Shannon. “I have my wonderful man -- I don’t want to switch off him ever,” she said.

She’s looking into sharing her experiences with HIV, particularly with people who are newly diagnosed.

“I like educating newcomers, I really do,” she said. “I must have got this for a reason, and the reason was to educate people, who still think in 2025 that straight people can’t get it, and you can’t live with it. You can live a great life. There’s ups and downs, but you have to fight. That’s my keyword – you have to fight for your life, and you have to fight for yourself.”