After spending years battling drug addiction, homelessness, while suffering incarceration and then the loss of her child, Shirlene Cooper found herself dying in the hospital from AIDS-related illnesses. She spent eight months in the hospital bed unable to move. She made a promise to God that if she survived, she would commit herself to helping other people living with AIDS fight back. Shirlene survived. So has her promise. Shirlene kept this promise alive by dedicating herself to helping other low-income and homeless New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS exercise their rights to housing, wider access to treatment, and to medical assistance.

People are often shocked to learn that Shirlene does not work as a full-time employee of the New York City AIDS Housing Network. But she has come to embody this organization for which she donates her time and efforts. Founded by one of her close friends who recently died of AIDS, the New York City AIDS Housing Network has found a champion advocate in Shirlene, who has picked up the torch with full gusto and continues to run full steam ahead.

Shirlene currently gets by with only a metrocard and a small stipend to compensate for her expenses at the NYC AIDS Housing Network. But, she often donates between forty to well over sixty hours per week educating, mobilizing, and fighting for the rights of the 45,000 low-income New Yorkers impacted by AIDS. She is a tenacious and winning advocate. Recently, Shirlene helped convince the New York City Council to pass legislation ensuring that all New Yorkers living with AIDS would have access to permanent housing. This legislation is considered among the first "rights"-to-housing legislation in the United States, and many activists consider this a landmark Human Rights victory for the poor, the sick, and the dispossessed in America.

Shirlene Cooper once hit rock bottom. In her hospital bed, Shirlene’s life hung by threads and her spirit swayed in the balance. In this moment of crisis, Shirlene dug deep to find a core of inspiration: her faith. She has since drawn inspiration from African leaders and African-American leaders, such as Keith Cylar, the founder of the AIDS service organization, Housing Works, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela. In finding her inspiration, Shirlene found her way back to the world of the living, this time to serve and to bring succor to those most in need. Her struggle has in turn become an inspiring example of the struggle to overcome and the struggle to do good for the less fortunate. By undertaking these struggles and by helping others with theirs, Shirlene Cooper has become an inspiration to all of us.

To learn more about Shirlene and her cause, and how you can make a difference, please visit: www.nycahn.org.

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