VENTURA : 1 Woman’s Chronicle on AIDS Awareness

Six years ago, the most Patricia L. Hoffman knew about AIDS was that members of her church congregation were afraid to talk about their grief for a lost son, daughter or other relative who had died of the disease.

Then Hoffman, who had three grown children of her own and had always been active in the Presbyterian Church, became a volunteer at Daniel Freeman Marina Hospital in Marina del Rey.

She joined AIDS Project Los Angeles, received 20 hours of training and hit the halls of the hospital hoping to help and learn about those suffering from the No. 1 killer disease among Americans ages 25 to 44.

Today, Hoffman’s journal of her yearlong experience with AIDS patients at the hospital has been published under the title “AIDS and the Sleeping Church.”

“The book is a way for me to help awaken the church about its perception of people with AIDS,” said Hoffman, 60, who lives in Ventura. “I don’t think there is a single congregation that has not been affected by AIDS, and it’s very painful that people still keep quiet about having a relative with AIDS.”

Like many people, Hoffman said, she couldn’t help feeling fearful about catching the disease by physical contact.

“Although I knew there was no danger for me to be infected, there were a few times early on when I would get anxious about it,” Hoffman said.

After spending two afternoons a week comforting those dying of acquired immune deficiency syndrome, as well as their grief-stricken families, Hoffman was so touched by the experience that she took a course at UCLA on being a chaplain.

After leaving the volunteer work at the hospital, she went to work for the AIDS Research and Education Project at Cal State Long Beach, where she helped develop and implement a physician education program for their care of patients with HIV infection.

Since moving to Ventura with her husband, Cecil, in 1991, she took a clinical pastoral education program at St. John’s Regional Medical Center, and for the last two years she has been a chaplain to people with HIV in Ventura County.

She has also published a guide for pastors to minister to AIDS patients.

“I think the key is to keep our hearts open to all the suffering,” Hoffman said. “As long as our hearts are open we will be able to reward ourselves and others.”