Women can find even more help at center

Published 11:07 pm Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Five years ago this summer, in cramped quarters on a busy street, I met someone whose burden was made lighter by the Positive Women’s Network.

At 55, the woman, who identified herself only as Jenny, had lived more than a decade with the human immunodeficiency virus that can lead to AIDS.

The Positive Women’s Network was then located in a small house on Broadway in Everett. There, Jenny and others like her found social support and understanding as they coped with chronic illness.

Today, the Positive Women’s Network has a new Everett home and a broader mission. The private, nonprofit organization has just opened its Women’s Wellness Center at 2817 Rockefeller Ave.

Downstairs from The Dance School that generations knew as Betty Spooner’s School of Dance, the Women’s Wellness Center offers an array of classes and services designed to encourage good health and a balanced life.

Circuit training, tai chi, massage, yoga, life coaching and hypnotherapy are among the choices so far. Open to all women, the center offers $40-a-month memberships; classes also are open to nonmembers.

“We’re honored to be in a building with such a rich history,” said Kerri Mallams, executive director of the Positive Women’s Network.

On Tuesday, Mallams led me on a tour of the leased space and explained the evolution of the Positive Women’s Network. It began in 1994 when she was an intern with the Snohomish Health District.

Mallams was a social work student at the University of Washington back then, involved with the health district’s HIV program.

“At the time, there were no services for women with HIV. Most women had never met another woman with HIV,” Mallams said. By 1996, Mallams had incorporated the Positive Women’s Network as a nonprofit organization.

The agency grew to help women affected by other chronic illnesses. Low-income clients got free mammograms and pelvic exams and were helped with applying for food stamps and state health plans.

A program called TLC – for therapeutic licensed clinicians – offered massage to women in need.

The Positive Women’s Network continues to connect women with affordable health services, but women with HIV are now served primarily by the Snohomish Health District as aggressive drugs extend the lives of AIDS patients, Mallams said.

“Thank goodness the situation for the HIV population has changed,” she said. Building on the notion of wellness for those with chronic diseases, Mallams said “it occurred to us that those services would be helpful to all of us.”

Financial support comes from many sources, including contracts with hospitals involved in the agency’s breast and cervical wellness programs; private donations; and the sale of Bead Positive key chains that deliver a breast-health-awareness message.

As the network has evolved, one Marysville woman has been helped along the way.

“I met them in 2002 when I was a student at Everett Community College,” said Christine Jubie. “I didn’t really have insurance at the time.”

Jubie, 54, used the Positive Women’s Network to get free exams. She found her primary care physician, Dr. Allison Novins, through the program.

“She’s a really neat, upbeat woman,” Jubie said of Novins. “I’m off the program, but I still see her. At the wellness center, I’ve become one of the first members. It’s such a beautiful place.”

With its hardwood floors, tasteful design, massage rooms and exercise equipment, the center looks like a spa.

“It’s very much a healing center for women of all economic levels,” Jubie said. “This is a place for all women.”

Columnist Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460 or muhlsteinjulie@heraldnet.com.