$1.5 million in new AIDS housing funding is needed because AIDS housing resources in Chicago are limited and scarce. HIV-positive people with safe and affordable housing are better able to manage their healthcare, complex treatments, and receive the rest and nutritious foods they need to stay healthy. A physically disabling disease that attacks the immune system, HIV/AIDS is also a disease of poverty. Nearly 1 in 2 people with HIV/AIDS live in poverty or become too sick to earn a living. Affordable housing is scarce and rents are rising; poor people with HIV/AIDS increasingly face untenable choices between paying for rent and utilities, or food and medication. Without help, too many disabled people can scarcely afford to meet any of their basic needs. For these reasons we urge Mayor Daley and City Council to appropriate $1.5 million in new, ongoing city funding toward AIDS housing services in the 2008 city budget.
We the undersigned, urge you to increase AIDS housing funding by $1.5 million in the 2008 City of Chicago budget.-
After leaving prisons, substance abuse treatment centers or hospitals, people with HIV shouldn't have to wait months or years to find housing. Community residences (group living settings that provide intensive supportive services) need more funding to meet the demand for services.
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Critically important rental assistance for 211 low-income, disabled people with HIV/AIDS will end in January 2008 if no additional funding is identified. Without rental assistance, these individuals are likely to face severe housing instability or homelessness in the dead of winter.
According to national estimates, 10,000-15,000 people living with HIV in Chicago need AIDS housing, but just 1,460 units are available.
Stable housing helps low-income people with HIV:-Access medical care to manage HIV disease and avoid costly hospitalizations
-Eat properly and take medication on schedule %u2013 critical for maintaining health and delaying the onset of debilitating illness
-Obtain supportive social services that help people with HIV live independently and stay healthy
-Give people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness the stability to explore job training, education, and other productive activities to re-build their lives
Thank you for addressing this need.
