Housing Opportunities for People with AIDS

HOPWA is an organization to help people with AIDS. Below are the current forms to begin the process of finding a home...

The New Mexico statewide Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS (HOPWA) application, requesting $1.1 million, was awarded full funding on Monday, November 03, 1997.
The New Mexico project was organized as a three year state wide project under the leadership of the MFA with the following project sponsors:
New Mexico AIDS Services
Pecos Valley HIV/AIDS Resource Center

Southwest Care Center
Navajo AIDS Network

CAA CARES Program

This was the first year New Mexico submitted a statewide HOPWA application.

New Mexico currently has the nation’s third highest poverty rate and an estimated 1,350 residents with HIV/AIDS. The poverty rate for New Mexico’s people with HIV/AIDS is as high as 89% in southwestern New Mexico and averages 93% among Native Americans. However, the extent of HIV/AIDS among Native Americans is difficult to pinpoint. Because of cultural norms, Native Americans get tested away from home and do not seek government assistance.

New Mexico people with HIV/AIDS say housing costs are their greatest obstacle to self-sufficiency and prevent their having safe, decent, and sanitary living conditions.

To meet New Mexico’s identified HIV/AIDS housing and support service priority needs, the New Mexico project will take a two-pronged approach: (1) The project will fill gaps in the continuum by providing housing and support services, coordinated through AIDS/HIV case management on a regional basis, that will enable consumers to become self-sufficient and; (2) The project will forge state wide regional collaborations and coordination between the housing and HIV/AIDS services communities to enhance and expand housing opportunities for people with HIV/AIDS.

The five sponsors, and eight public and private organizations from every region of the state will leverage HOPWA funding with an array of housing and support services valued at $7,632,032.

It is anticipated that 888 individuals and 92 family members will benefit state wide from this funding.

Housing facilities will include a 4-bed independent living duplex in Albuquerque and a 4-bed community in Gallup sensitive to Native Americans. Tenant based rental assistance for 128 one-bedroom units and 18 two-bedroom units state wide will be provided.

Services will include tenant based rental assistance available to participants on an as-needed basis to achieve stability, Emergency grants of up to $350 to assist participants with moving expenses, security deposits, locks or minor home repairs or to stabilize after a crisis, and motel vouchers to assist participants and their families who must travel long distances to HIV/AIDS specialty clinics.