TIHAN volunteers Nancy Robertson and Scott McManus put together care packages for distribution during the monthly Poz Café lunch.

kelly presnell / arizona daily star

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Volunteering at the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network Poz Café does more than bring smiles to the faces of Scott McManus and Nancy Robertson; it puts smiles inside them.

"Working with everyone there is just kind of selfish, because it's so rewarding and makes me feel so good," said Robertson, a retired teacher who began helping at the Poz Café more than two years ago through her congregation at Temple Emanu-El. "It just puts a smile inside of me. As I started to meet people and learn more and more about the inner strength so many CarePartners have, . . . they are so inspiring. I feel I've made some wonderful connections, and I'm fortunate to know the people who come to the Poz Café."

McManus agreed that the Poz Café, which will celebrate its 100th edition this month, is all about making connections for both volunteers and clients of the Tucson Interfaith HIV/AIDS Network, also known as TIHAN. These people are known as CarePartners.

"I think people who come to TIHAN are infected with a virus, but at TIHAN, the employees and volunteers are infected with a virus called love and joy," said McManus, a New Jersey native who relocated to Green Valley in 2002 to be near his family. Since then, he has been active in TIHAN and organizations such as the Southern Arizona AIDS Foundation.

"In any disease-related scenario, you see so much fear and so much hopelessness and dread, and a big part of the Poz Café is about bringing people out of their cocoons and letting them connect with others like themselves who are coping with the virus and living as fully as they can."

A CarePartner himself, McManus views the Poz Café as a "big support group around a big family table."

The monthly lunch provides practical support as well, offering CarePartners the opportunity to "shop" for free at the Poz MarketPlace for toiletries, soap, toilet paper, laundry supplies and other everyday items. McManus said these items, which are particularly essential so CarePartners can maintain sanitary households, often become luxuries to individuals and families living on limited budgets due to illness. Another source of support is the Poz Breakfast program, which provides free breakfasts courtesy of Mother Hubbard's Restaurant.

Other TIHAN services include CareTeams, or groups of volunteers that offer in-home assistance, transportation, meals and support to CarePartners. The nonprofit coalition of 36 local religious communities also provides education to clergy members and laity.

The collaboration of religious groups provides a compassionate, safe and non-proselytizing atmosphere in which CarePartners can thrive, said Juanita Molina, TIHAN's director of CarePartner support.

"These faith communities exude a tremendous amount of organization and compassion and care," Molina said. "It's wonderful to have an interfaith organization with so many volunteers."

McManus, who is Catholic, said TIHAN's interfaith aspect brings an appealing diversity to the lives of people of all faiths and to those who are less connected spirituality.

"I get to see how diverse we are and maybe how we read certain things differently but have a commonality or sameness as far as we want to treat each other with compassion and want to be there for each other how we are, in a greater sense, a family on Earth together," he said. "Basically, we are all in this together."