Chicago Tribune - February 17, 2003
Shia Kapos, Tribune staff reporter

He has a workable drug regimen to treat his AIDS, he is off the streets and plans to go to school and find a job.

Life has not always been so promising, though. Patrick credits the stability offered by his new home with helping him get "back on track."

He lives in AIDSCare, a North Side home that houses 17 AIDS patients who otherwise would be homeless. Last week, AIDSCare broke ground for a West Side campus that will house dozens of low-income and homeless people with AIDS along with offering medical and other facilities for the North Lawndale community.

"We're trying to enrich the neighborhood while providing housing and services for people who are HIV or AIDS positive," said Jim Flosi, director of AIDSCare, a non-profit organization that is drawing criticism from some West Side residents who don't want the facility in their neighborhood.

The $14.5 million, five-building campus will spread across 2.7 acres on the 1200 block of South Kedzie Avenue.

Three of the buildings will offer 65 apartments with various levels of assisted or independent living, including a building designed for women or single parents with children who are capable of living on their own but need continued support from social services.

The fourth building is a multipurpose building that will house a pharmacy, dental clinic and wellness center, all of which will be available to residents of the North Lawndale community, Flosi said.

The fifth structure will be home to various agencies that work with children and a youth education center.

"It's unique," said Luis Vera, director of litigation at the AIDS Legal Council of Chicago. A campus like this stands as a symbol that there shouldn't be any distinctions between the `HIV community' and the community as a whole."

Some North Lawndale residents say the distinction is clear.

"This isn't benefiting people in the community. This is for people with AIDS who are homeless," said Rajah Latimore, who owns a nearby business that has been in the neighborhood for 60 years.

The fact that the mixed-use project will offer medical and dental services also is a concern to some residents, according to Isaac Lewis, editor of North Lawndale Community News.

"Some people are worried about the safety factors of using the same health facilities as those who have contracted AIDS," he said.

Flosi hopes education will help quell those fears.

City officials say the addition of a new business will help a neighborhood that has struggled economically for years.

The city last month transferred 27 vacant city-owned parcels to AIDSCare for its campus at a cost of $27--or $1 per lot. And it plans to offer other transfers for future projects, said Alicia Berg, commissioner of the Department of Planning and Development.

Along with the Planning Department, the Chicago Department of Public Health provided $1.2 million in federal funding and the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department has made a financial commitment.

"This campus will keep families together, strengthen our community and vastly improve health care for those who need it most," said Ald. Michael Chandler (24th).

Berg said resistance to the campus was small and that the idea of housing in an area plagued by homelessness is being welcomed.

Vera said the campus would have been unimaginable 10 years ago.

"People are more educated now," he said. "They know persons with HIV are healthier and that they contribute to society."

Patrick, the 30-year-old who lives in AIDSCare's North Side facility, said the new campus is sure to save lives and give hope to those who might see AIDS as a death sentence.

"I was afraid of coming here at first. I didn't want to go anywhere where people were sick and dying and where you could see death on their faces," he said. "But when I got here, they looked like healthy, regular people. ... Living here has helped me come to grips with the disease."

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