Formerly the New York City AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN)

Save Money & Prevent

HIV/AIDS Homelessness In NY!
 INCLUDE THE 30 PERCENT
RENT CAP IN THE FY12 BUDGET!
(A.6275 / formerly S.2664)
New York can prevent homelessness for 10,000 people living with
HIV/AIDS and their families by ending a double standard that denies them
affordable housing. By applying the same 30 percent rent cap that already
exists in every other low-income housing program to the HIV/AIDS rental
assistance program, New York can keep people living with HIV/AIDS in
their homes and out of expensive shelters, emergency rooms, hospital
beds and nursing homes. The 30 percent rent cap will NOT create a new
entitlement or expand eligibility, but rather improve an existing program.

Thousands of low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS become

homeless every year because they are required to pay between 50-85%
of their disability income towards their rent, despite being enrolled in a public rental assistance
program. Those who remain housed are forced to make difficult trade-offs between essential needs,
including co-pays for medication, transportation to the doctor and nutritious food, in order to pay their
rent.

The status quo has become too costly for people with HIV/AIDS and New York taxpayers.
When a person in the rental assistance program loses their home due to arrears, they are placed into
expensive and dangerous SRO hotels that cost two to three times as much as rental assistance. By
preventing housing loss and placements into costly emergency housing, this bill will pay for itself
and produce immediate cost savings. There are additional indirect cost savings by improving
adherence to care and treatment and preventing new HIV transmission. The Senate has already
passed a standalone bill twice with bipartisan support and the Assembly passed it once.

CONTACT: Jaron Benjamin at jaron@vocal-ny.org or (718) 864-3932.

80-A Fourth Ave. | Brooklyn, NY 11217 | www.VOCAL-NY.org | info@vocal-ny.org | (718) 802-9540 | 718-228-2477 fax