AIDS Issues Update:
Thomas D’Angelo (1950-2009)
D’Angelo telling the world that AIDS is not over
Housing Works mourns the loss of Thomas D’Angelo, longtime Housing Works staffer and the first person to win the Keith D. Cylar Activist Award honoring Housing Works’ HIV-positive staffers. He died Sunday, November 22, after a long battle with cancer.
D’Angelo, a graduate of Housing Works’ job training program, worked in the transgender housing program. He was a fierce activist who participated in civil disobedience actions more than a dozen times in the name of social justice for people with HIV/AIDS.
At one point, D’Angelo was arrested at every civil disobedience since 2001. He was most recently arrested at a protest this spring in the Mayor’s office to stave off budget cuts.
“Tommy was such a fierce advocate and always stepped up to the plate to raise a ruckus on issues important to him,” said Douglas Sanders, Housing Works’ executive assistant. Sanders was chained together with D’Angelo during a civil disobedience action in 2006. “It was the first and only time I’ve been arrested. He was comforting, like, ‘Oh, I’ve been through this before. He was helping me break into civil disobedience. He demonstrated great courage and unwavering commitment to direct action and civil disobedience.”
D’Angelo was born in East New York, Brooklyn in 1950. When he was 12, he was living on the streets and doing drugs and ended up in a juvenile detention center in his early teens. That was the start of almost 20 years of incarceration. When he found out that he was HIV-positive but not sick enough to qualify for city services, D’Angelo got a hotel room and set about taking his life. Four days later, D’Angelo was in intensive care, surprised to be alive.
When he got out of the hospital, he began to piece his life together. In March of 2001, he wandered into a Narcotics Anonymous meeting at Housing Works’ Cylar House facility. He started attending the day program, participating in groups, and getting medical care, and he put himself on the list for an apartment. When one opened up, he moved right in. He enrolled Housing Works’ Job Training Program, trained in case management, graduated and was hired in November of 2001 as a Community Follow-Up Worker.
JTP Instructor Jennifer Lester said she will remember D’Angelo’s determination and positive attitude.
“I loved Tom,” Lester said. “He knew what he wanted, and you asked him to do something and he was willing to do it. Even when he was sick, he never complained. He’s a model of what we expect from JTP.”
During his employment at Housing Works, D’Angelo was promoted several times. Most recently, D’Angelo returned to his roots, working in Brooklyn with the Transgender Transitional Housing Program.
D’Angelo was well-aware that he served as a role model to other people with HIV/AIDS, showing that they could turn their lives around. In a 2005 interview with HIV-Plus magazine, he said, “[Housing Works] encouraged me to help myself and get the feeling that I can lead by example. Not that I’m a leading type. I’ve always been a follower. But I do lead by example.”
Housing Works President and CEO Charles King said, “While Tommy’s passing saddens me deeply, I will choose to remember Tommy as he appears in the photo below with his buddy David and his pal Nancy, smiling and happy as he gets ready to march through the Lincoln Tunnel to kick-off the “Campaign To End AIDS,” an “End” that D’Angelo did not get to see in his lifetime but one that he would expect us all to continue fighting for.”
We will post additional information regarding D’Angelo’s funeral and our Housing Works memorial when we have more details.
Your inside source for in-depth activism news is updated daily by Staff Writer, Julie Turkewitz
