Natalie's Everyday Heroes: Brady East STD Clinic celebrates 50 years of care

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- The Brady East STD Clinic on Milwaukee's East Side is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.

The clinic on Brady Street has always worked to offer free testing and treatment without judgement.

It couldn't do it without volunteers like Jerry Warzyn.

Flipping through photo albums brings back a lot of memories.

"I love the mustaches from the 70s and 80s," said clinic operations manager, Ruthie Weatherly.

"They're coming back," Warzyn laughed.

Warzyn sees how much has changed in four decades.

"When I first started, the main entrance was the waiting room down there," he said, pointing to the front of the building.

But he also knows how much has stayed the same here at the BESTD clinic.

"We have a wide, diverse clientele. And we don't judge them when they come in the door," he said.  

The photos take him back to when he started volunteering at the clinic on brady street in 1984.

"I know more about STIs than I ever thought I would in my life," he said good naturedly.

He was in his late 20's then. Working here through the height of the AIDS crisis.

"It was very difficult. You lost a lot of good people," he said, although his work focused on the Tuesday STI clinic.

The people and the importance of the work have kept him going for 40 years.

"All the volunteers that I've worked with inspire me to volunteer," he explained.

Warzyn eventually ended up managing the Tuesday night clinic at BESTD.

Weatherly puts his service into perspective.

"I always joke with him that he started volunteering the year I was born. So, he's been volunteering for the entire time I've been alive," she said.

That's something she finds inspiring.

 "I think it's very rare now to have someone who's so dedicated for so long," she said. "The clinic is entirely run by volunteers."

And if it weren't for the Jerry Warzyn's of the world, BESTD wouldn't have been able to serve the thousands of patients it has over the years.

"We believe that taking care of your sexual health affects the rest of your life," Weatherly said.

A cause Warzyn has dedicated his life to.

"The reward I get is from peoples' satisfaction," he said.

The Brady East STD Clinic is hosting a celebration to honor its 50 years of service on Saturday, Oct. 12th at the Radio Milwaukee event space. Warzyn is being honored with a lifetime service award. For more information on BESTD and the celebration, click here. 

And if you'd like to nominate an Everyday Hero, send Natalie a message at [email protected].