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BEAUMONT – Deondre Moore was diagnosed with HIV nearly 3 years ago at the age of 19.
“The day that I found out I was in the doctor’s office at Sam Houston State and the first thing that came to mind is that I have to go home,” said Moore. “This was the day after Easter so I had just left home so I had to drive two hours to come home. I had to get to my mom. I didn’t know who else to talk to.”
For Kathleen Wingate, Moore’s mother, the news was shocking.
“He came in and we sat in the den, and he proceeded to tell me and it nearly killed me,” said Wingate
Since that fateful moment, Deondre and Kathleen have been trying to spread awareness about the disease. They are being featured in commercials airing around the country partnering with Greater Than AIDS and The Elton John AIDS Foundation.
“When I first thought about me wanting to come out and tell this story, it’s something that I struggled with just in general,” said Moore, a Beaumont Ozen graduate. “But there was this voice and I always said it was God talking to me telling me that it was something I needed to do.”
As the situation strengthens their family, Wingate wishes the same outcome for other families affected by the disease.
“I’m hoping it has helped to make other people stronger,” said Wingate. “That’s the reason. So many people turn their backs on their kids, for whatever reason. And at the end of the day, like I remember speaking to one lady after church service, that’s still your child.”
Being raised in Beaumont, Deondre feels that it is necessary to spread his message to this area.
“As a person coming from this city, I can say I was nervous,” said Moore. “It’s always in the back of my mind, what are people at home going to think or say? But I have to know that, what I’m doing in the service and what I’m doing in the community is much larger than my own personal feelings or whatever one or two people might think about it.”