National AIDS Housing Coalition

admin — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 16:29:36 +0000

Research shows that half the people living with HIV/AIDS in the U.S. will need some form of housing assistance during the course of their illness. The Centers for Disease Control recently revised the longstanding annual estimate of the number of annual infections to 56,300, a 40% increase. With our current economic crisis impacting every sector of society, quick action is needed. Here in the District, home to many national AIDS service organizations, the DC Department of Health confirms at least 278 people with HIV/AIDS are waiting for housing. Sadly, the needs of many others likely go uncounted. NAHC applauds the efforts of DC Fights Back and other local AIDS activists who rallied on December 1st at the DC HUD Field office to demand that the people on the housing waiting list are housed in safe, affordable, decent housing. Please see press from the demonstration below.

“Protesters Call for Affordable Housing
Hundreds in City Said to Need Help”
Washington Post

“Activists Protest at HUD Office on World AIDS Day”
News Channel 8 (ABC Affiliate)

“AIDS Activists Rally for Affordable Housing”
National Public Radio/WAMU

PENDING CONCURRENT RESOLUTIONS: Role of Housing as an Essential Component of HIV Prevention, Treatment, and Care

admin — Fri, 26 Sep 2008 16:00:43 +0000

H. Con. Res 427 S. Con. Res 102

NAHC Congressional supporters are leading the push for a resolution supporting housing’s role as a critical component of HIV/AIDS prevention and health care.

Click Here for a copy of the Dear Colleague letter

NAHC Releases Policy Paper from Research Summit III- Examining the Evidence: The Impact of Housing on HIV Prevention and Care

admin — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 15:12:10 +0000

Click Here to download a copy

Stand Against AIDS Caravan

admin — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 01:57:25 +0000

OXFORD, MISSISSIPPI - SEPTEMBER 24-26 2008 - JOIN A CARAVAN!
For more information go to (www.c2ea.org) or call 1-877-ENDAIDS (363-2437)

Save the Date: North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit

admin — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:19:14 +0000

North American Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit
Summit IV: Mobilizing Knowledge – Housing is Effective HIV Prevention and Care
June 3rd– 5th, 2009, Washington DC

Click Here for CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Convening Organizations:

US National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC)
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Health
Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN)

The United States National AIDS Housing Coalition (NAHC) will convene the fourth Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit June 3rdthrough 5th, 2009, in Washington, DC. NAHC will continue its collaboration with the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and will be joined for the first time by the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN) as a co-convening organization, to expand the scope of the Summit Series to bring together researchers, policy experts, consumers and providers of HIV/AIDS housing from across North America. The Housing and HIV/AIDS Research Summit Series is now established as the premiere venue for informing HIV/AIDS housing policy, and is acknowledged as an innovative and influential opportunity for the broader discussion of housing and health. Summit III brought together 225 participants, representing 25 states, the District of Columbia, and three Canadian Provinces, for presentations by over 40 experts on the relationship of housing status and HIV prevention and care. NAHC’s formal collaboration with the OHTN will make Summit IV the first regional research and policy meeting of its kind.

Increasing evidence points to the role of housing – or lack of housing – for the continuing HIV epidemic and health disparities. The theme of Summit IV is mobilizing knowledge, with a focus on building participants’ knowledge base and skills to inform housing and health policy and practice in their communities. In addition to the regular sessions, Summit IV will be preceded by a half-day training institute designed to build the capacity of consumers of HIV/AIDS housing and services to participate more actively in the design, guidance and interpretation of research.

National Affordable Housing Trust Fund Established!

admin — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:29:56 +0000

The long-awaited National Affordable Housing Trust Fund was signed into law by the President on July 30 as part of Pub.L. 110-289, the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. HIV/AIDS housing consumers, providers and advocates have been important contributors to the National Housing Trust Fund Campaign since its inception. The version of the Trust Fund adopted, while not identical to proposal promoted by the Campaign, will, once operational, lead to the production, rehabilitation and preservation of units of primarily rental housing targeted to extremely low income people from a dedicated source of funding, not subject to the whims of the annual appropriations process.

Please visit this site for more information on the Trust Fund. http://www.nlihc.org/template/page.cfm?id=40

Endorse the Housing Declaration Presented at the International AIDS Conference

admin — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:48:00 +0000

NAHC joined with member partners Housing Works, Inc. and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, along with the Ontario HIV Treatment Network, to co-sponsor a housing satellite meeting at the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City, August 3. The meeting represented one of the first times that housing was highlighted in this international venue which attracted 25,000 participants. More than 150 housing summit participants learned about the state of Global HIV/AIDS housing from participants from Nepal, the US and Latin America and shared information about HIV/AIDS housing issues confronting their communities across the globe. The declaration, asserting housing for people with HIV/AIDS as a human right, was presented and discussed in a facilitated discussion with representatives, including representatives of communities from South Africa, Mexico, Peru and the US. The declaration was endorsed by meeting participants and presented to and accepted by International AIDS Society official Ron MacInnis. The meeting signaled the beginning of a week of action by HIV/AIDS housing advocates to keep homelessness and poverty and housing’s implications for HIV/AIDS healthcare in the forefront at the International Conference. Endorsements were collected throughout the six day conference and we invite you to endorse the Declaration which will be used in our effort to continue to advance the inclusion of housing in the global discourse on healthcare for people living with HIV/AIDS.

Click Here to Endorse

The International Declaration on

Poverty, Homelessness, and HIV/AIDS

Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well being of him [or her] self and of his [or her] family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his [or her] control.

- Article 25, The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

Whereas adequate and secure housing has long been recognized as a basic human right,

Whereas growing empirical evidence shows that the socioeconomic circumstances of individuals and groups are equally or even more important to health status than medical care and personal health behaviors,

Whereas in the case of HIV/AIDS, the link between poverty and disparities in HIV risk and health outcomes is well established, and new research findings demonstrate the direct relationship between inadequate housing and greater risk of HIV infection, poor health outcomes and early death,

Whereas poor living conditions, including overcrowding and in extreme cases, homelessness, undermine safety, privacy and efforts to promote self-respect, human dignity and the attendant responsible sexual behavior,

Whereas the lack of stable housing directly impacts the ability of people living in poverty to reduce HIV risk behaviors and homeless and unstably housed persons are two to six times more likely to use hard drugs, share needles or exchange sex than similar persons with stable housing,

Whereas, in spite of the evidence indicating that adequate housing has a direct positive effect on HIV prevention, treatment and health outcomes, the lack of adequate housing resources has been largely ignored in conferences and policy discussions at the international level, and

Whereas the United Nations, in both its 2001 Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the 2006 Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS, embraced the goal of universal access to comprehensive prevention programs, treatment, care and support by 2010.

Therefore, we hereby demand that policy makers address the lack of adequate housing as a barrier to effective HIV prevention, treatment, and care; and we further demand that all governments fund and develop housing as a response to the AIDS pandemic.

Click Here to Endorse

Declaración de la Cumbre Satélite sobre la Pobreza, Personas sin Hogar y el VIH/SIDA

Sommet par satellite sur la pauvreté, le sans-abrisme et le VIH/SIDA Déclaration

2008年世界艾滋病大会穷人、无家可归者与艾滋病卫星会议声明

View Endorcements

2008 International AIDS Conference Satellite

Latoya — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 14:44:22 +0000

In conjunction with the International AIDS Conference in Mexico City this July 2008, the United States based non-governmental organizations the NAHC and Housing Works, Inc., and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation, together with the Ontario HIV Treatment Network (OHTN), have formed an international committee to convene a two- hour conference satellite event titled “International Summit on Poverty, Homelessness and HIV/AIDS.” Summit participants will work together to develop and present to the International Conference a declaration demanding adequate housing as a fundamental human right and an essential element of effective HIV prevention and health care. Going forward, the summit committee and consensus statement on housing and health will serve as valuable educational and organizing vehicles for PLWHA and their allies to build the international, national and local political will to support the development of culturally appropriate housing resources as a key element of HIV prevention and care strategies.

Click here for more details.

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admin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:53:04 +0000

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Section 8 Appropriations Request

admin — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 19:00:19 +0000

April 21, 2008

Senators Feingold and Collins Release Section 8 Funding Request Letter

As you know, the section 8 program is a critical component in the continuum of housing for low income people, including people with HIV/AIDS. But Section 8 but has not kept pace with need in many years. Senators Feingold (D-WI) and Collins (R-ME) are circulating the letter below for signatures. It urges the Senate THUD Appropriations subcommittee to increase funding for the tenant-based Section 8 program for FY2009. The letter closes on this Thursday, April 24.

Follow these easy steps to request that your Senator sign on:

Call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 225-3121 and ask to be transferred to your Senator’s office. (Don’t know who your Senator is? Visit www.senate.gov to find out.)
Ask to speak to the staffer in your Senator’s office that handles housing issues.
Tell the staffer about the importance of Section 8 in providing housing for people with HIV/AIDS in your community.
Ask the Senator to sign on to the letter. If the staffer wants more information, Amanda Beaumont is staffing the letter for Sen. Feingold and Jen Capriola is staffing the letter for Sen. Collins.
Please let NAHC know the results of your contact by emailing Latoya Thomas at latoya@nationalaidshousing.org.

Below is the letter to Appropriators requesting an increase for Section 8.

PROGRAMMATIC REQUEST LETTER

Dear Chairwoman Murray and Ranking Member Bond:

We are writing to urge you to support the highest fiscally responsible increase in funding for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program in the fiscal year 2009 THUD appropriations bill. We ask that you include funding sufficient to renew existing vouchers as well as fund new vouchers in fiscal year 2009. Increasing numbers of American families are facing housing affordability challenges, whether they are renters or homeowners, and we are concerned that the current level of funding for the Section 8 program does not come close to meeting the existing rental assistance need in communities nationwide. The housing affordability burden continues to fall most heavily on low-income renters throughout the country and increased funding for the Section 8 program will help meet the affordable rental housing needs of these American families.

The Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher Program, originally created in 1974, is the largest Federal housing program in terms of HUD’s budget with approximately two million vouchers currently authorized. Yet the current number of vouchers does not come close to meeting the demand that exists in communities around our country including urban, suburban, and rural areas. We have heard from advocates in our states about the increased need for additional funding for the tenant-based program - not only to fund existing vouchers in use, but to also fund new, incremental tenant-based vouchers for low- income families currently unable to be served by the program. Advocates in our states also continue to tell us about the increasing numbers of families on waiting lists for vouchers and unfortunately, these waiting lists will only grow longer if the Section 8 program does not receive increased funding.

A number of different government agencies and advocacy organizations all cite the effectiveness of Section 8 in assisting low-income families in meeting some of their housing needs. In 2002, the Government Accountability Office determined that a one-bedroom unit of housing provided through the Section 8 program costs less than it would through other federal housing programs. That same year, the Millennial Housing Commission reported to Congress that the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program is “flexible, cost-effective, and successful in its mission,” and that the vouchers “should continue to be the linchpin of a national policy providing very low- income renters access to the privately owned housing stock.” The Commission also called on Congress to provide a substantial investment in the tenant-based Section 8 program in the future.

In order to address the growing need for affordable housing, we urge you to include a sizeable and fiscally responsible increase for the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program in the fiscal year 2009 THUD appropriations bill that will not only fully fund existing vouchers, but also provide funding for new Section 8 vouchers in 2009. We commend you for the support that you provided to the Section 8 tenant-based program in the Revised Continuing Appropriations Resolution for fiscal year 2007 as well as the Consolidated Appropriations Act in fiscal year 2008. We look forward to working with you to not only boost funding for this valuable federal program that helps millions of American families secure affordable housing, but also promote responsible reforms to the Section 8 program that will allow the program to better serve the needs of American families for years to come.

Thank you for your consideration to our request. Your continued leadership on affordable housing issues is appreciated.

Sincerely,
Your Member of Congress???