A Bronx Tale
Housing Works staff and clients cut the ribbon at the opening of the Bronx COBRA office.
On Wednesday Housing Works officially opened its first COBRA case management offices in the Bronx. The ribbon-cutting comes 12 long years after Housing Works first attempted a office in the borough, an effort stymied by the Giuliani administration.
“It was a long time coming,” said Linney Smith, Housing Works Senior Vice President of Prevention and Services, who spoke at the opening.
In1996, Housing Works had leased office space at 162nd and Grand Concourse for a COBRA office, but when the Giuliani administration terminated 6.5 million in operating contracts, Housing Works defaulted on the lease. At the time, Housing Works had 80 units of Scatter Site apartments in the Bronx, but no central office. Housing Works sued the City, which agreed to settle the lawsuit for $4.8 million.
That history made Wednesday’s ceremony all the sweeter.
Connecting to care
One of the goals of the Bronx COBRA office is to form a network with other service providers to provide more comprehensive services to COBRA clients with HIV/AIDS.
“What better way to serve the community than by being in the community?” Smith said.
Housing Works President and CEO Charles King agreed, “Moving the office into the Bronx where so many clients live is important. It’s one point of entry into an array of services Housing Works offers to individuals and families of individuals.”There are 22,000 people with HIV in the Bronx and the highest concentration is in Morrisania and Hunts Point—the neighborhoods surrounding the offices, according to Michael Clarke, Housing Works Vice President of COBRA services. In the Bronx alone, 500 AIDS patients died last year. Since opening in April, the Bronx office has served 126 clients, 40 of them new to Housing Works. “The word is getting out,” Clarke said.
COBRA Case Management aims to help clients with HIV/AIDS who would otherwise be unable to obtain and maintain the level of services they need to function optimally. The case managers play an integral part in their clients’ lives—linking them with legal resources, mental health services, dental services, housing and more—and help them stay connected to care. Twenty percent of COBRA Case Management staff are Housing Works Job Training Program Graduates who understand the struggles of navigating the system.
COBRA client Venus said that an eviction brought her to the Bronx offices. “They’ve been really supportive, especially with my legal issues,” she said as she smiled happily.
_For more information about case management services in the Bronx, contact Clarke at Clarke@housingworks.org or the Housing Works Central Intake Department at 877-296-9264 or here.
Posted on December 11, 2008 at 9:21 pm
Share
Donate Today
Join our healing community by becoming a member today
