A Circle of Strength

The Ujima group, which meets weekly in Southeast Washington, has been described by AIDS workers as the only one of its kind in D.C. (By Nikki Kahn -- The Washington Post)

Then there's Isler, a compact 51-year-old with graying stubble, a quick wit and an air of understanding. He knows where these men have been, because he's been there. Knows what it's like to count every single dime. Which is why each week he gives the men bus tokens for attending. And every third Wednesday, he passes out $10 gift cards from Giant or Safeway.

Lee, Kevin, Russell and Stanley have become Ujima's core. You could fill half a century with the combined number of years they've spent locked up. But in the short time they've known each other, they have learned to see themselves in each other's stories and their new goals.

Kevin, 37, is practicing his multiplication tables to earn his GED.

Russell, 49, is looking for a job: "No one's in a rush of hiring an HIV-positive ex-con."

For Lee, 51, who's on parole until 2011, it's a slow climb to routine daily life, where getting his first credit card application in the mail is a major event. Bank of America is offering a $200 credit line. "I couldn't believe it," he says.

And here are some more numbers:

Four hundred and three dollars. Kevin's monthly income.

Twenty-five. The number of years Stanley, 50, has lived with HIV.

Ten. The number of relatives Ujima men have lost to AIDS complications. A mother, cousins, sisters and brothers.

* * *

After walking out of Lorton on April 19, 1988, Gary Isler tried to do the right thing. He's held on to a job. He's been with the same woman for 15 years. He's stayed clean.

Still, adjusting is hard, he says, recalling several years ago when he bought a used black Mazda MX-3. He was sure someone was going to pull his criminal record and take the car back as he tried to drive it off the lot.