The $1.13 million development is funded by the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network.
[Note: this story has been modified since its original posting.]
Finding a home for low-income people with HIV can be difficult: The ideal location is somewhere near a health care facility and a bus stop.
Waterbrook Place, a $1.13 million housing development to be funded by grants to the Regional AIDS Interfaith Network of Central Missouri will be in such a place.
“We got really lucky with that location,” housing coordinator Ken Cissna said of the land RAIN bought at Garth Avenue and Worley Street. “It’s very close to the health department and the Family Health Care Center.”
On Wednesday night, the Community Development Commission approved RAIN’s request for $87,000 in HOME money, which comes to the city from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grant to RAIN is still subject to approval by the Columbia City Council.
The site plan calls for two one-story buildings: One will have two one-bedroom units, and the other will have two two-bedroom units. A third building on the property will be a two-story building composed of four one-bedroom units. Combined the 8 units will be about 7,160 square feet.
No design plans for the outside of the buildings exist, but according to RAIN, the buildings “will be wood frame, and include design features compatible with the surrounding architecture.” Two housing units on the lot will have to be demolished. RAIN intends to finish the project by 2008.
Location is only one barrier for Cissna when it comes to finding homes for homeless HIV positive clients. Money, he said, is the hardest thing to find.
“(Gov. Matt) Blunt is just going after every social service agency there is,” Cissna said. “His plan eventually, I’m thinking, is to phase everything out except for medication with these clients, which would greatly affect their health.”
Landlords can be troublesome, too.
Cissna said some landlords shudder at the thought of housing tenants on HUD’s Section 8 program, which helps with rent payments. They think the tenant “will trash the place,” he said. Others accept the money but don’t use it to maintain their property.
“The trick is to get the landlords to trust you,” Cissna said. “Most of the landlords have tried (housing tenants on Section 8), had a bad experience and are done with it.”
At Waterbrook Place, Cissna won’t have to worry about gaining trust or dealing with “slumlords” because the facility will be operated and managed by RAIN.
“Addressing the problem of homelessness is not a simple, easy, quick solution, but creating more units is the first step,” Mindy Mulkey, executive director of RAIN, said. “Right now, we could fill the place (Waterbrook). We always have a few people waiting to get in.”
RAIN’s services don’t stop with housing. The organization also provides counseling, medical services and case management for clients living with HIV and hepatitis C.
“You can’t just stop with placing someone who’s homeless in an apartment,” Mulkey said. “They need ongoing support to develop the skills that are needed to actually live in the apartment, to do everything that you and I take for granted.”
Still, housing, Cissna said, is key. RAIN’s clients can’t afford to “couch surf from friend to friend” he said. Some HIV medications must be refrigerated, which means clients need a stable home.
“If they don’t manage their medication regimen, it could kill them,” he said.