Just as a report from the AIDS Foundation of Chicago showed that needs for housing assistance among people with HIV/ AIDS continues to outpace available resources, Mayor Daley announced plans to help support an $11-million HIV/AIDS care campus in the West Side’s Lawndale community.
The new facility, to be developed by AIDSCare near Roosevelt and Kedzie, will be a campus setting of five buildings, the first of its kind in the U.S. It will provide support and independent housing, social services, health treatments and movement toward independent living for low-income and homeless people with AIDS.
“People living with HIV/AIDS have needs that go far beyond healthcare,” Daley said. “This new development will provide housing, human services, wellness sessions, case management, support and care.”
The city will sell AIDSCare 20 vacant parcels for $1 per lot. The 2.7-acre campus will be constructed in three phases, beginning next spring and completed by 2004. The first phase will have a three-story, 18-unit Family Living Residence with 12 two-bedroom and six three-bedroom units. The next is a three-story, 30-unit Supportive SRO residence, and a 16-unit Independent Living Residence with mostly single units. The third phase will be a Wellness Center and a multi-purpose center for area residents. AIDSCare has federal, state and private donations to cover the costs.
The AFC report shows there is a need for more than 5,000 individuals to receive housing services each year in Chicago. The region’s affordable housing crisis and chronic poverty among people with HIV/AIDS are mostly to blame, AFC said.
See aidschicago.org.