I happened to meet a friend,
Stan, who tells me that he is going to the store to purchase
some plants for his balcony. As we part, I begin to think
about Stan’s “balcony.” I’ve been over to Stan’s apartment
enough times to know that he doesn’t have one.
It hit me later that day—Stan
was now referring to the fire escape outside of his window
as a balcony. Referring to one’s balcony certainly sounds
more fashionable, more glamorous than using the term fire
escape for your trendy Lake View pad. But isn’t it against
the city fire code to place obstructions in the path of an
emergency escape route?
People and their perceptions
have always been very interesting to me. Obviously my definition
of a balcony varies greatly from my friend Stan’s. And when
it comes to matters of housing and real estate, economics
further complicates perceptions.
People, typically government
politicos, use the term “affordable” when describing new housing
options for people of moderate to low income. Most of these
policy makers are at the end of the socioeconomic spectrum
from the people whom they are developing these housing programs
for.
Here in Chicago, numerous
housing initiatives and programs have been created to address
the limited housing options for people of modest means with
and without disabilities. Many of these city-financed housing
developments are marketed as being affordable. But, what does
affordable mean?
For one of these programs,
affordable means, based on family size and income, qualifying
for subsidies that lower the price for a single family home,
in neighborhoods targeted for redevelopment, to around $110,000
and a 2-flat around $181,000.
For a person who is a Supplemental
Security Income (SSI) beneficiary receiving approximately
$545 a month, $110,000 might as well be $1,100,000. As Social
Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) beneficiary payments
also reflect prior employment history, monthly allotments
are often more than $545, but below the necessary income to
purchase such an affordable home. But even as a renter, $545
a month doesn’t go far in the urban jungle.
The federal Housing Opportunities
for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program is supposed to help
expand housing options. And HOPWA does work. By 2004, Chicago
will be home to an $11 million HIV/AIDS care campus located
on the city’s West Side. Through funding from various private,
state and federal sources, this facility will provide support
and independent housing, social services, health treatments
and independent living skills for low-income and homeless
people with HIV/AIDS.
However, San Francisco appears
to be on the opposite end of the spectrum. The San Francisco
Board of Supervisors is considering reductions in housing
subsidies to the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. According
to Patrick Monette-Shaw (an independent community observer),
over three years the San Francisco Department of Health has
invested nearly $2.5 million in a database – “REGGIE” – developed
by independent consultants to perform “needs assessment of
SF people living with HIV/AIDS.” Thus far REGGIE (which has
produced no data) has cost PWAs 55 housing slots, plus another
20 this year, approaching 10% of the total slots available
from the roughly 1,000 in the inventory to help people with
HIV/AIDS. It doesn’t make sense for government to continue
investing in administrative waste, when many domestic social
programs like HOPWA are being cut back, turning the lives
of persons living with AIDS and others, from barely affordable
to unaffordable. We all deserve options that meet our needs.
When our options are threatened, there is only one alternative—to
demand action from our representatives. There is no room for
complacency.
Special thanks
On behalf of the TPAN staff,
I extend warm thanks and best wishes to our executive director,
Dennis Hartke, as he moves on to new endeavors. Dennis gave
us nine years of outstanding service and commitment. In those
years he frequently worked 10 to 12-hour days with no apparent
fatigue. His knowledge of the latest medical news in HIV never
ceased to amaze us. Moreover, we relied on him for his kindness
and generosity, his wit and his friendship. He will be greatly
missed.
