Hands across the Net


	Charles Haltuch (center) in his kitchen, surrounded by friends. When he and housemate, Dana Hunter, asked an AIDS agency for a computer, he had no idea of the effect it would have on his life and outlook. (Photograph by Mark Richards)

ealth is everything: a jog around the block, an impromptu dinner with friends, a vacation in the fall, a future. Dana Hunter and Charles Haltuch have lost their health and don't get out much. But like healthy people, they want to live with a sense of connection and purpose and tomorrow. The housemates, both on disability with AIDS, live in Santa Cruz, California. In spring 1995, they called the Santa Cruz AIDS Project and asked for help in getting a used computer, which they needed to manage all the paperwork required to process their disability payments.

The AIDS Project staffer knew just the person to call: John McAnally, founder of PCs4PWAs (PCs for People with AIDS). John, an AIDS Project volunteer, got the idea of providing computers when he responded to an email from a man bedridden with AIDS and eager to get his own computer. John decided to put his knowledge and contacts to use by finding refurbished computers for people with AIDS, and PCs4PWAs was born.

"John showed up at our little house one evening last spring," recalls Dana. "He brought a Macintosh Plus and a modem. Within 30 minutes, he was showing us how to locate tons of information on HIV on the Internet. And if that wasn't enough excitement, he also showed us how to get into chat sessions with other people like us."


	Charles Haltuch(left) and and Dana Hunter (right) hanging out with some old and new friends, all of whom are connected -- or reconnected -- with each other via the Internet. (Photograph by Mark Richards)


	While Charles and Dana visit friends downstairs, others gather in the upstairs bedroom to tinker with the computer that is connecting the two housemates with the outside world. (Photograph by Mark Richards)

All in a day's work for John, whose PCs4PWAs group began collecting used hardware -- sometimes very used -- in 1994. Volunteers refurbish computers donated by individuals and corporations in nearby Silicon Valley. A local computer repairman fixes donated equipment for just the cost of parts.

Dana says that he and Charles remain devoted online converts. "We access HIV information for ourselves and others, and we've met a whole new group of friends. I figure we've met more friends in the last few months online than we'd met in the past 10 years. The computer and the Internet have allowed us to socialize and interact with many different people without ever leaving the house."

On its application form, PCs4PWAs indicates that it is not merely a computer-donation project: "We strive to provide links for better and longer living." Dana phrases the message in another way: "I don't think most people know how much the old computer in their closet could do for someone's life."