Op-ed submission, 722 words:
The Other Affordable Housing Crisis
The Unfortunate Secret of the HIV/AIDS Crisis
By Betsy Lieberman
The good news is that Americans with HIV/AIDS are living longer and, in general, can look forward to better health than in the past, thanks to new drug therapies. But as life expectancies increase, they — still battling for their lives — face a dramatic shortage in affordable housing, especially housing with supportive services.
In short, without national action, today’s healthier HIV/AIDS patients could become tomorrow’s homeless.
Consider Maria, who lived with her husband and daughter in an apartment and had a job until her health deteriorated due to AIDS-related illnesses. Maria soon lost her job, then her apartment. When her husband died of AIDS, she and her daughter had no one left to turn to — until she connected herself to support services. Now, as a resident in an apartment subsidized through federal Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) funds, Maria is involved in a day health program and serves on several councils that focus on improving care for people facing homelessness and HIV/AIDS.
Maria is one of the lucky ones. Several hundred programs across the country are doing their best to answer the challenge, but they need help.
Between 850,000 and 950,000 people currently live with HIV/AIDS in our country, and up to half are expected to need housing assistance at some point in their life. In some communities, up to 20 percent of the 3.5 million people who experience homelessness in one year are living with the virus. The number of homeless people with HIV/AIDS is likely to increase dramatically in coming years, unless the problem is addressed.
Our nation’s communities must respond by finding appropriate and creative ways to meet the housing needs of this vulnerable population.
On average, a person must make almost three times the minimum wage or work 96 hours a week to rent a modest two-bedroom apartment. For many low-income and working poor, this is a grave hardship, especially for those living with HIV/AIDS. The inability to work for periods of time due to episodic health issues caused by HIV/AIDS means that maintaining housing becomes as difficult as finding it. Imagine living with AIDS on SSI (Supplemental Security Income), which averaged about $545 a month in 2002, and having to rent an apartment.
Despite the difficulty of this challenge, solutions are at hand. What we need is more public support.
For example, AIDS Housing of Washington, as well as other AIDS supportive and housing developers across the nation, has developed housing projects that stabilize individuals and families living with HIV/AIDS while moving residents toward independent living. These housing models include provisions for support services, which are needed as much as the units themselves. Support services include any type of assistance residents may need to help them succeed in permanent housing, such as health care, transportation, counseling and job skills training.
Yet as public funding for housing declines, these support services are too often eliminated from housing plans.
It is not enough to build new units of housing and expect that those facing HIV/AIDS and chronic homelessness can resume an independent life without additional support. We must be more farsighted as a nation when it comes to these vulnerable populations and realize that spending more up front on proven housing program models will save us time and money in the future, not to mention give people an improved quality of life.
Finally, we must educate people that AIDS is not over. Infection rates for African Americans and Latinos are alarmingly high, and women are now being infected at the same rate as men. In addition, rates in rural areas are increasing; AIDS is no longer only gay, white, male and urban. More resources in our national, state and local governments must be committed to organizations that are serving the multiple needs of this population as well as the homeless population in general. Ending homelessness in 10 years is an ambitious goal. To reach it, a serious commitment must be made not just to provide a roof overhead but also to address issues that cause homelessness or are generally connected with it.
Without more resources and public awareness, our nation cannot effectively assist the growing number of homeless people, especially those affected by HIV/AIDS.
Betsy Lieberman is founder and executive director of AIDS Housing of Washington and recipient of the Ford Foundation’s Leadership for a Changing World award. She may be reached by e-mail at betsy@aidshousing.org.