Housing Works Activists Disrupt Meeting; Demanding “Change the Definition”
Activist plasters one of 3,000 posters in Albany urging State to change definition of HIV-illness
Housing Works knows how to make a statement. Last week seven Housing Works staffers interrupted a State meeting demanding that New York State change the definition of HIV-illness.
Thousands of poor people with HIV throughout New York State cannot access lifesaving supportive services, such as housing and nutritional assistance, because they don’t meet New York’s antiquated definition of having “HIV-Illness.” The State’s definition originated as a means for billing Medicaid and is not used by any doctors or even the health department. However, it was used when creating the law that requires New York City to house everyone with symptomatic HIV or AIDS. Because of the definition, people don’t qualify for housing until they are already seriously ill.
For more information about this ongoing campaign, go to redefineit.org, watch video of Housing Works activism in action, and read Housing Works President and CEO Charles King’s op-ed in the Villager about the need to house people with HIV.
Posted on November 16, 2009 at 9:07 pm
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