February 9, 2007
ALL FOR HASA, HASA FOR ALL!
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T-cells shouldn't decide whether you can pay your rent |
How sick do you have to be to get help with your rent? That's a question no low-income person with HIV/AIDS should ever have to ask. Housing is a basic need that keeps people from getting sick. That's why Housing Works and NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN) have been leading the HASA For All campaign, supported by allies such as the AIDS Center of Queens County, CitiWide Harm Reduction, GMHC and others.
The time to kick the campaign into high gear is now.
"This is the most pressing issue in the AIDS community," says Housing Works president Charles King. "Mayor Bloomberg says he wants to end the epidemic—the only way to do that is get everyone into housing and care."
HASA is the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) and it's responsible for getting disadvantaged people with HIV/AIDS vital assistance, such as allowances for transportation and food, case management and, of course, housing. Currently, asymptomatic low-income people with HIV can receive only $250 in housing subsidies per month. Those with an official AIDS diagnosis (a T-cell count of under 200 or a diagnosis of two or more opportunistic infections), however, get $940 per month. That means HASA forces those with HIV to wait until they progress to AIDS to qualify for the ramped up benefits. In some cases, HIV-related housing resources can be lost if one's health status improves.
The HASA For All Campaign wants to erase the harmful distinction between those who are asymptomatic and those who have "AIDS" and move an estimated 7,000 asymptomatic, low-income HIV positive New Yorkers into medically appropriate emergency and permanent housing to ensure a healthy standard of living and ultimately save lives. "That monthly rent increase would mean the difference between homelessness and having a place to live," says Jennifer Flynn, NYCAHN's executive director. In addition to rent increases, HASA for All seeks an increase in individual public assistance, which includes nutrition and transportation allowances.
The current situation has already proved fatal: Many homeless people living with HIV who are not sick enough to get emergency or permanent housing quickly progress to AIDS, as documented in the City Department of Health's 2006 report "The Health of Homeless Adults in New York City" (referred to by some cynical folks as "The Death of the Homeless" report). According to the report, AIDS was the number one killer of women and the number two killer of men in New York City shelters, accounting for 11 percent of all deaths.
"People with AIDS aren't even supposed to be in the shelters," points out Flynn. A landmark 1988 lawsuit declared housing people with AIDS in the city's shelters a danger to their health. By law, HASA must provide medically appropriate, same-day emergency housing assistance to eligible persons who are homeless or potentially homeless.
As City Council Speaker Christine Quinn's State of the City speech approaches on Feb. 15, we hope she will make achieving the goals of the HASA for All campaign a priority. Housing Works' number crunching shows that if every eligible person were to sign up on day one, it would run the city a maximum of $68 million. That may sound steep, but in the long run, even this huge estimated investment would save more than it costs on emergency room and hospital cares—not to mention the immeasurable cost in lives.
Come to HASA For ALL campaign organizing meetings the last Monday of every month at 4PM. This month there is also a meeting on February 12 to plan for the State of the City presentation. Both meetings are at GMHC, 119 West 24th , 4th Floor. For more info or to get involved, call Shirlene Cooper, 718 802 9540 x 17 cooper@nycahn.org. NYCAHN will train people to become campaign leaders if they are directly affected.