Recent articles have brought home the reality of AIDS in the City, particularly among inner-city residents. Patients at the clinic and acquaintances in the neighborhood have died of AIDS, including Nick who died of crytococcal meningitis in 1986, 4 years after having been diagnosed with enlarged lymph nodes. Another was Mr. Lightly, a 60-year-old homosexual, who has been arrested previously for selling his insulin syringes to drug users. There was also the discharged mental patient, who has been diagnosed as having the AIDS virus. Also among the patients are those who have watched family members and friends die of AIDS. For most of the clinic patients, a diagnosis of infection is a source of fear and denial with little motivation for changing behavior such as unsafe sex, drug and alcohol abuse, and unplanned pregnancy. Experiences with these patients has mobilized clinic staff to change their attitudes of despair about AIDS, to increase public awareness of the disease, and to take precautions for the safety and health of their patients and themselves. 1 reference.