B.C.’s only support group for HIV-positive women closes after funding cuts
VANCOUVER — Valerie Nicholson believes she might be dead if not for Positive Women’s Network.
She was addicted to drugs and sleeping in decrepit hotels in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside when she was diagnosed with HIV about 13 years ago. She assumed it was a death sentence.
“I decided to shove a needle in my arm because I thought I was going to die anyway,” she recalled.
That changed when she learned about Positive Women’s Network, British Columbia’s only community-based organization specifically serving HIV-positive women. She met women living full, healthy lives with HIV and got the support she needed to treat her addiction.