AEGiS-Miami Herald: Miami reopens housing program: About 300 low-income AIDS patients will now be eligible for housing assistance from the city

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

Miami reopens housing program: About 300 low-income AIDS patients will now be eligible for housing assistance from the city

Miami Herald - September 19, 2003
Carolyn Salazar, csalazar@herald.com

After a three-year freeze that left thousands of ailing people without financial support for rent, the city of Miami will reopen a waiting list for a program that offers housing assistance to people with AIDS.

The city, which administers the AIDS housing assistance program for Miami-Dade County, will open the waiting list today at a press conference at Jackson Memorial Hospital, allowing thousands of applicants throughout the county to apply for 300 available slots.

Applicants, who must meet strict financial aid guidelines, have until Oct. 31 to apply. Participants will be chosen through a random lottery and may begin receiving rental assistance as early as December.

"This is exciting because there is a huge need out there for people who have AIDS and need housing assistance," said Liza Gallardo Walton of the city's Department of Community Development.

AIDS activists hailed the news as a step in the right direction but did not declare a victory just yet -- saying they are waiting to see if the city will deliver on its promise.

"It sounds good, but we need to make sure it goes beyond rhetoric," said John Muhammad, former chairman of Miami-Dade's HIV/AIDS planning advisory board and a board member of the National Association of People with AIDS. "But it definitely is a good thing, although it should have happened long ago."

The move comes months after the Office of Community Development admitted it violated federal rules by doling out thousands of dollars in AIDS funding for education and prevention when the money should have gone to housing needs.

The department corrected the problem earlier this year by earmarking $10.6 million for the Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS program. -- allowing hundreds of new people to be admitted into the program.

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