Housing is the greatest unmet need of people living with HIV.
The Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS, or the HOPWA program, the only dedicated federal housing assistance program for people living with HIV, requires additional funds to prevent homelessness for more than 3,000 households that stand to be displaced by recent changes to the program’s funding formula. Federal policy must prioritize expanding access to affordable housing for all, particularly for people living with HIV.
AIDS United recruited our longtime advocacy partner, the National AIDS Housing Coalition as one of our latest new Public Policy Council members in 2020. Throughout 2020, the AIDS United Policy Department continued to raise awareness of the importance of this program among community members and policymakers. We will advocate that congressmembers and administration partners strengthen the federal response to the HIV epidemic by fully funding the HOPWA program and others that support easing disparities in social determinants of health.
Through our 2020 advocacy, we secured a $20 million increase for the HOPWA program, for a total of $430 million to support the housing needs of people living with HIV.
