The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) is making $41 million in Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) competitive funding available to states, local governments, and non-profits through the HOPWA: Housing as an Intervention to Fight AIDS funding opportunity. Housing instability has been a major issue facing many persons living with HIV since the beginning of the epidemic. Achieving and maintaining stable housing can be a powerful structural intervention in ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Read HUD’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).
“We know safe, stable housing is critical for persons living with HIV to best manage their health,” said HUD Secretary Marcia L. Fudge. “This funding will support communities in ensuring our neighbors are able to access housing alongside medical services. We cannot end the HIV/AIDS epidemic without support for housing.”
Through this NOFO, HUD will provide funding for housing assistance and supportive services for low-income persons living with HIV and their families, coordination and planning activities, and grants management and administration. Selected communities will implement new projects that elevate housing as an effective structural intervention and align with initiatives aimed at ending the HIV/AIDS epidemic. HUD is seeking projects with exemplary and innovative qualities, including community-level coordination, data collection with emphasis on stable housing and positive health outcomes, culturally competent approaches to providing housing and services, and a systemic approach to advance equity in underserved communities that can serve as a national place-based model.
Projects funded through this HOPWA funding opportunity will achieve six required project objectives: (1) Implement and document housing and services models for low-income persons living with HIV and their families that are innovative and replicable in other similar localities or nationally; (2) Increase alignment with new or existing local initiatives or strategies to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by elevating housing as an effective structural intervention; (3) Improve coordination among local housing and service providers and use of available community resources; (4) Increase the amount of quality data collected and used for data-driven decision making with an emphasis on stable housing, positive health outcomes, and racial equity; (5) Assess and document replicable practices that ensure equitable access and culturally competent approaches to providing housing and services for subpopulations of persons living with HIV experiencing service gaps; and (6) Prioritize sustainable, effective, and equitable approaches to providing housing and services to persons living with HIV and their families that can be continued past the funded project’s period of performance.
HUD will publish a pre-application webcast by April 30, 2021 for anyone interested in submitting an application for the HOPWA: Housing as an Intervention to Fight AIDS funding opportunity. The webcast will cover the information in the NOFO. More information on the webcast will be provided through the HUD.gov HOPWA mailing list. To sign up for the mailing list, please visit the HUD.gov HOPWA mailing list subscription page.
The HOPWA program is the only Federal program dedicated to addressing the housing needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS and their families. Grantees partner with nonprofit organizations and housing agencies to provide housing and support to program beneficiaries.