“It Made Me Whole” 

As a gay Black man growing up in a small Long Island community, David Harvey always stood out. After his HIV diagnosis at age 25, he turned to drugs to cope with the isolation and stigma: "Even when I was first diagnosed, people didn't wanna hug you or touch you." Through Food Bank For NYC's LGBTQI+ inclusive community programs, David found not just nutritious food but also a healing community of men facing similar challenges. "It made better choices for me because I eat more healthy… It made me a whole person."

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Transcript: 

Know that I’ve just gotten better. I built my own little bars, my own little prison I lived in.

When I lived in Brooklyn, I never used to come out and…I’m getting a little choked up.

Since I came here, my life has changed…and [its] opened up a lot of doors in my life way better, you know, as a homosexual male.

I’m originally from Long Island.

It was a small black community in suburbs, and it was kinda rough for me there because I kinda stood out. People would talk about me, and I was like, ‘I’m David Harvey. That’s up to say, say it to me.’

I got diagnosed with HIV, I’ll say, at about the age of twenty-five, then I started using drugs.

Even when I was first diagnosed, you know, people didn’t wanna hug you or touch you.

They put me in isolation for fifteen days, and I was so, mentally disrupted by it that even when they opened the door, I would shut the door. So, I had to see a psychiatrist afterwards.

Since I came here, they worked with me through some of the issues that I went through with my HIV diagnosis. You know, obviously depression, anxiety, drug addiction, you know…

And all those things came to an end through meeting with other men that had the same issues as me and learning to cope and deal with life on life’s terms.

Well, I get food stamps and I also get the pantry and stuff like that, but this helps immensely.

It made better choices for me because I eat more healthy, because they provide a lot of vegetation, you know, things I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t wanna eat. So even if I don’t like it now, just throw it in the blender and drink it.

It made me a whole person.

I no longer use drugs. A lot of things I’ve aspired to that I never thought in my youth would ever take place for me.

Please keep giving because the services are really needed. You help a lot of people, and there are a lot of people out here dealing with a lot of mental issues and drug addiction and hopelessness.

And just coming here and sometimes just a hug for somebody can help them. You know?

And having a place like this is a true blessing.