San Francisco Chronicle (SF) - FRIDAY, July 28, 1995 Edition: FINAL Section: Peninsula Friday Page: P1 Word Count: 959
Manny Fernandez, Chronicle Staff Writer

He lived in a tiny shack behind his family's house in East Palo Alto, put there by relatives who did not want him near the children because he has AIDS. So Longosai Tongamoa grabbed his belongings and his pride and moved inside "the doghouse," he said.

The move was no surprise to Tongamoa, who is in the last stages of the disease. After finding out he was HIV-positive more than three years ago and after watching his friends die of AIDS, his dreams of living a better life turned sour.

But now Tongamoa lives in a spacious two-story Victorian house in Belmont. He listens to Bob Marley in his bedroom, eats zesty Italian food and sits in his wheelchair in the courtyard upstairs, where the sun lights up his face.

"I never dreamed of (living here)," 37-year-old Tongamoa said. "This house is so beautiful. I have my own palace to myself."

Tongamoa's dreams became a reality when he moved into Belmont House, a hospice for low-income San Mateo County AIDS patients who have been given six months or less to live. After nearly three years of preparation by charity groups and agencies in Belmont and San Mateo County, the house at 730 El Camino Real opened July 1.

Although the house is staffed with nurses and a nutritional consultant, the patients are welcomed guests and are given time to enjoy their final months in sunny dining rooms and private bedrooms.

"We create an environment in which low-income persons can live their last days in comfort," said Deborah Rogers, Belmont House program director. "It's not a medical facility. I feel I have a special opportunity to bring some joy and peace into their lives at this time." Residents, businesses and local government agencies worked together to renovate and furnish the six-bed house.

Formerly a single-family home that had been used recently for commercial printing, the house was purchased and renovated by the city of Belmont for $750,000. The San Mateo County AIDS program will finance the hospice program through yearly $300,000 federal grants, including money from the Ryan White Care Act.

Catholic Charities, which provides services for underprivileged groups in San Francisco, Marin and San Mateo, provides daily hospice care. Mercy Charities provides maintenance. In addition to Rogers, the house staff includes 5 1/2 nursing assistants, one registered nurse and a nutritional consultant.

Allison Knapp, housing specialist with the Belmont Redevelopment Agency, said she has never seen a project generate as much community support as Belmont House. Architects and landscapers donated their time. Residents donated furniture and silverware.

"No one organization could do it alone," Knapp said. "It has been a real collaborative effort. It really shows what people can do if they put their minds to it."

Knapp designed a 20-foot weaving that will hang in the dining room and co-designed a welded steel sculpture that will be placed in front of the house. Inspiration for both artworks came from the project, she said.

"I was humbled that there was so much support," she said. "Personally, I feel real strong that no one should be abandoned. This is a good example of doing exactly the opposite, of taking care of people until the very end."

The county AIDS program found in 1992 that many of the 1,500 reported patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome in San Mateo County were either homeless or about to be homeless.

A needs-assessment survey that interviewed hundreds of patients and housing specialists in 1993 found hospice care for AIDS patients to be lacking in the county, said Gene Copello, county AIDS program director.

"It was clear to us that we needed to develop a housing plan," Copello said. "We've really tried to bring people together to try to address the epidemic as best we can." For a county its size, San Mateo County's 1,500 reported AIDS patients is unusually high, Copello said. In addition to reported AIDS cases, the Health Department says that 3,000 to 4,000 residents are HIV-positive, Copello said.

"I think that as the epidemic continues to unfold in San Mateo County . . . we know that the needs for housing will increase," Copello said.

The house will be at full capacity with six patients by mid-August. Each patient will have a customized activity plan. Some will go for strolls in a park; others will listen to music or play games.

Patients pay about $400 a month through Social Security benefits to receive constant care, observation and transportation to medical appointments.

Tongamoa, Belmont House's first patient, moved in last week. He was taken by elevator up to the second floor, where he took one look at the high ceilings, new furniture and cozy courtyard and thought he was dreaming.

He is fed three meals a day, plus two snacks. He also receives 24-hour care plus pain medication and antibiotics.

And, added Tongamoa, who was raised on the island of Tonga, it is quiet here. When he was at AIDS treatment clinics this year, there was too much death. "It hurts me when I see guys dying," he said.

But at Belmont House, Tongamoa says, he has found serenity.

"The way we treat people that are sick and dying is important," Knapp said. "We've created a beautiful environment for people." ---------------

An open house and ribbon-cutting ceremony at Belmont House are planned for August 24. Those interested in donating furniture or volunteering at the house can call (415) 802-9443.

CAPTION: PHOTO `I never dreamed of (living here). This house is so beautiful,' said Belmont House's first tenant, Longosai Tongamoo, 37, in the front yard with facility manager Katherine Hill,/BY LIZ HAFALIA/THE CHRONICLE

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