Housing for people with AIDS

People with AIDS are homeless for a variety of reasons, including financial devastation, rejection based on fear of contagion or fear of the dying process, and homelessness prior to a diagnosis of AIDS. The author developed and directed the Shanti AIDS Residence Program in San Francisco, the first program to provide housing for people with AIDS. This model is appropriate for single, independent people able to live cooperatively with others. It provides shared living situations for three to six people per apartment, and office staff physically maintain the houses and assure that the needs for community-based home care and other services are met. Other models are proposed for people who are physically or cognitively dependent (and require physical care or supervision in addition to housing), who are socially unable to live cooperatively with others in an unstructured living environment (e.g., active substance users or the emotionally disturbed), or who have families (e.g., mothers with dependent children or gay men who live with their lovers).