Housed in a former convent, ICC is New York City's only residence  for HIV-infected children and provides a variety of medical and social services. But its  primary function is not so clinical: to give the children some essential TLC. "If each child does not have a grown- up to hold him every day, consistently and systematically,"  explains Mulgrew, who first learned about the center through a friend two years ago, "even if the child survives AIDS, he will not know  about self-esteem or well-being." Since 1989, more than 700 infants and children have occupied ICC's modest 18-bed facility. Parents, many of whom are battling drug addiction, are encouraged to make regular and highly structured visits, with the eventual goal of caring for the children themselves.  

     Mulgrew has been actively involved in the organization for over a year now, visiting and caring for the children whenever the  schedule of her television series, Star Trek: Voyager, permits, and  helping to coordinate fund-raising activities. Mulgrew's current  project is raising money for a much needed medical facility. Today, children at ICC requiring urgent medical care are sent to Columbia- Presbyterian Medical Center. Though the treatment available there is state-of-the-art, the hospital can't always provide the  one-on-one nurturing that can mean so much to a child. As Mulgrew puts it:  “We want everything under one roof so that a child never has to go a day without someone holding his hand."