Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2002. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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Associated Press - Sunday, December 29, 2002
Anne Wallace Allen
Wohl bought the 1860 house last year and has been fixing it up to become what she calls "a pre-heaven" -- a luxurious and peaceful stop on the path from life to death for end-stage AIDS patients.
Five residents will stay at Chrysalis Community at no charge. While there, Wohl says, they will experience physical and metaphysical renewal through conventional medicine and complements such as reiki healing touch, drumming, yoga and healing circles.
The goal? To bring about healing and to create a place "where people can live and die with love," she said.
Wohl is a fast-spoken, twice-divorced native of Old Westbury, N.Y., who lived in Williamstown, Mass., for many years before buying her house across the border in Pownal. She has worked for years with people at the end of their lives, but her inspiration for the Chrysalis Community is her brother John, a ballet dancer who died of AIDS in 1987 at the age of 31.
Her unique community for people with AIDS is the first of its kind in Vermont, according to those who work with AIDS patients.
Vermont CARES, an AIDS service organization in Burlington, has apartments for people who are living with the AIDS virus, but people have to pay one-third of their income to live there, said Kendall Farrell, the group's executive director.
About 220 people in Vermont are listed as having the AIDS virus.
Starting late this winter or early next spring, Wohl will begin honoring her brother's memory. Her house has been renovated to include five guest bedrooms, each with a private bath and many with views of the Taconic Mountain range.
She doesn't know where the guests will come from, though she has pledged that the first will be from Vermont.
As for the other four: "The universe has guided me on this whole thing," she said. "I truly believe the residents will appear [who] need to be here."
Wohl used the money from the sale of her Williamstown house to buy and renovate the farmhouse and its 108 acres, but said donations and volunteering are what will keep it going.
"I trust the universe," she said. "When you have pure intentions, things happen."
She will choose who lives in the house. She has only two requirements: that they have health insurance and that they be open, physically and psychically, for the kind of healing Wohl espouses.
"They can't just stay in their rooms and give up; this is a living community," she said.
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