Grants totaling more than $1.2 million to address housing needs of Ohioans living with AIDS or HIV-related diseases have been approved by the Ohio Development Services Agency for four organizations across Ohio.
An unequal distribution of money will go to the Community AIDS Network in Summit County, Community Services of Stark County, Inc. in Stark County, COMPASS Family and Community Services in Mahoning County and the AIDS Resource Center Ohio in Montgomery County.
This money will be used to provide rental, mortgage and utility assistance and case management services to 2,397 people across Ohio, including Athens.
“As a person’s housing situation is more secure, they are much better able to address other items in their lives,” said Penny Martin, Communications Specialist at the Ohio Development Services Agency. “This program works to provide this support to those living with AIDS/HIV.”
There is an ARC only a few blocks from college green in Athens. However, it is a satellite of the ARC Ohio organization that originally serviced only the Dayton area, said Martin.
The ARC in Athens has received a similar grant in the past, said Vicki Marshall, Housing Opportunities for People With AIDS Coordinator.
“It’s a basic program to provide housing assistance for low income HIV/AIDS clients who qualify,” Marshall said. “(Financial assistance) makes their lives a little easier when something happens and they can’t pay the bills.”
In order to qualify for assistance through this program, a person must be HIV-positive and their household income cannot exceed 80 percent of the county’s median income.
In Athens, a person’s household income would have to be below about $30,387. This number is based on the median income for 2012, which was $37,984, said Marshall.
Though thousands of people will receive assistance across the state, there will only be a handful of people in Athens eligible for assistance.
“Twenty-nine people out of a population of approximately 62,000 people is very minimal,” Marshall said. “It’s a good thing.”
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