With four group homes licensed as Residential Care Facilities for the Chronically Ill (RCFCI), we operate the longest-running assisted-living programs for people living with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County. Casa Los Angeles is in the Pico-Crenshaw area, Casa Madona is near Downtown Los Angeles, and Soldano House and Casa de Corazon are in Long Beach.
Under the direction of on-site residence managers, homes are staffed around the clock by caring, bilingual/bicultural certified nursing assistants (CNAs) trained to handle medical emergencies and supervise the daily care of our residents. CNAs also clean and disinfect the homes and prepare nutritionally balanced, HIV-specific meals that accommodate the complex requirements of highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). A nurse case management team (registered nurse and social worker-MSW) provides on-site medical, nursing and social services. For services not provided on site, residents are linked with outside providers.
Designed exclusively for single women and women with children, Casa Madona is the only AIDS-housing facility of its kind in California. It exists to keep families together and assists mothers, whenever possible, in reunification with their children. More than half of Casa Madona’s residents have children. Since 1987, the group homes have housed more than 600 persons living below the poverty line with HIV/AIDS.
Through the Housing Case Management Program, clients are able to overcome many of the barriers to finding and holding on to a stable place to live. Each client maps out an individualized service plan in conjunction with Alliance for Housing and Healing support staff and the case manager from the referral agency. Plans include short and long-term objectives based upon client goals and are designed to improve quality of life. All residents are assisted with their life challenges by Alliance for Housing and Healing professionals, who in turn work in close collaboration with more than 100 social service and medical providers to connect residents with a wide range of resources. These include HIV/AIDS medical care, HIV/AIDS education, mental health counseling, alcohol and drug-abuse services, case management, parenting skills, legal referrals, benefits counseling, transportation, and food banks. Alliance for Housing and Healing support staff regularly visit clients in their homes to monitor their progress and advocate on their behalf. A housing coordinator works with each household to ensure its physical needs are met and that client confidentiality is assured.
What started as the West Hollywood Palms has become the West Hollywood Memorial Walk, a tribute to life and a promise to those lost to continue our commitment to improve the quality of life for people living with HIV/AIDS.
Developed in Cooperation with the city of West Hollywood, these memorial plaques line the sidewalks of Santa Monica Boulevard from Fairfax Avenue to Doheny Drive. Not only do these plaques remind our community every day of our need to assist and find compassion for those who suffer from HIV/AIDS, but they enable a valuable community asset to act on that generosity and compassion in a healing way.
For multi-diagnosed people living with HIV/AIDS, a stable place to live is critical to connecting to specialized care, adhering to often complicated treatment regimens and to fostering the built-in support system that family so often provides. CHOISS (Community Housing Options and Independent Supportive Sites – prounounced ‘choice’) is designed to allow destitute individuals with symptomatic HIV and a verified second diagnosis–such as mental illness, substance abuse or physical disability–to live on their own, either alone or with family members, rather than on the street.
The housing consists of nearly 150 rental units leased across Los Angeles County. Alliance for Housing and Healing acts as liaison between the property manager and the CHOISS client, assisting its residents-who may be completely new to the responsibilities of independent living-on everything from understanding a lease agreement to general housekeeping. Alliance for Housing and Healing subsidizes rent, a portion of telephone and utilities and handles move-in, maintenance and lease-increase costs. Persons who are indigent pay no rent.
Launched in 1998, CHOISS provides desperately needed homes and supportive services to a diverse and growing group of individuals and their families. Since its inception, CHOISS has provided housing and care to over 600 persons – among them nearly 200 dependent children.
The Emergency Financial Assistance program is designed to empower clients so they can achieve and maintain a positive quality of life by providing need-based short-term financial assistance. This includes:
Alliance for Housing and Healing also maintains the role as Central Coordinating Agency (CCA) for the federal Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program. In this capacity, we administer $1.8 million annually to 22 other AIDS service organizations for permanent housing placement and short-term rent, mortgage and utilities assistance.
