HUD: Nowhere to Hide
Cardboard houses aren’t going to work
“Housing for AIDS is the name of the game. HUD, HOPWA, shame, shame, shame!” That was the chant of 100 D.C.-based activists outside the U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offices on Monday, World AIDS Day. The group was protesting the 278-person HOPWA waiting list, which has grown by more than 50 people in the last two months.
The rally was organized by Campaign to End AIDS affiliate D.C. Fights Back and included a wide swath of activists, including a woman who is number 143 on the HOPWA waiting list.
And guess what? HUD listened!
After an hour of people dressed in cardboard houses circling the premises outside the HUD offices, acting HUD D.C. Field Office Director Belinda Fadlemola agreed to meet today with members of the community and the D.C. Department of Health, which maintains the waiting list.
D.C. press also turned up the heat on HUD. The protest was featured in the Washington Post and News Channel 8.
“This meeting will help us find out what the issue is, and how we might work together to facilitate providing services to those in need,” said HUD spokesperson Maria Bynum.
HUD maintains that the D.C. DOH is responsible for maintaining—-and getting people off—of the waiting list.
D.C. DOH Communications and Community Outreach Bureau Chief Michael Kharfen did not point the finger back at HUD directly but did say more money is needed to addressing the shortage of housing for people with HIV/AIDS.
“We certainly do have a need housing for people living with HIV/AIDS ,” Kharfen said. He said the DOH has allocated $200,00 for a fund which helps people with AIDS keep up payments on their apartments and works with the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development. They are also working to expand services for people on the housing waiting list.
“In the past, much of the supports have been ‘all or nothing’—all once you have the voucher, relatively little during the waitlist,” Kharfen said. “Now we are trying to ensure help and assistance during waitlist time as well.”
A problem with many causes
HOPWA provides D.C. with $11.5 million in funding, which qualifies 600 people for housing. But that number barely makes a dent when you realize that one out of 20 people in D.C. are living with HIV/AIDS, and more people are learning about their right to qualify for housing subsidies.
In addition, D.C. faces an extreme and growing housing shortage. 25,000 people are on the waiting list for Section 8 vouchers (and given the statistics, it’s likely that at least five percent of them are HIV-positive).
Unlike with Section 8 housing, where participants can use their vouchers and move to a region with more affordable housing stock, HOPWA housing vouchers are only applicable in the jurisdiction in which they’re given. A person with AIDS who receives a voucher in D.C. isn’t allowed to find a cheaper apartment in Virginia.
Kharfen said that the D.C. DOH is attempting to centralize the intake process for HOPWA in order to free up dollars and increase the number of people who can receive housing. But the real solution, Kharfen said, is to increase HOPWA funding dollars for the district.
Housing needed ASAP
People living with AIDS in D.C. can’t afford to wait. Housing is proven to provide health benefits for people living with HIV/AIDS and also decrease risk factors that lead to HIV transmission.
“Housing is a life-or-death issue for people living with HIV and AIDS,” George Kerr, a member of D.C. Fights Back told the Washington Post, which covered the protest.
Housing Works Vice President of National Policy and Organizing Christine Campbell agreed. “We need a better understanding of where the money is going and we need to have a better plan to get the people housed,” Campbell said.
Campbell will be attending Friday’s meeting with HUD and DOH. The Update will let you know the outcome.
Posted on December 5, 2008 at 2:14 am
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