HIV/AIDS and housing instability can often go hand in hand.  The cost of treatment, combined with periods of illness and other issues, can make it difficult to make ends meet.  Without support, the financial and physical burden of the disease can lead to housing insecurity and sometimes, homelessness.  The recent 12-month findings of the Positive Spaces, Healthy Places project show that 42% of research participants have significant difficulty meeting monthly housing-related costs.

Jon, one of the residents at Fife House in Toronto, is a person living with HIV/AIDS and an expert on finding stable housing.  He has gone from owning his own condo, to losing his apartment and being homeless, to finding secure housing once again.

Jon’s housing insecurity came after his HIV+ diagnosis when he began to get sick and needed to take a leave of absence from work.  Though he was covered by his work’s disability plan, his living costs exceeded his income because of the huge expense of his medications.

“Things slowly started to crumble in every which way.  I started to see everything fall apart very quickly,” said Jon.

What could have prevented this?  Jon said that it would have helped if he had been able to sit down with someone to explain his financial situation and create a plan to get him through that tough time without losing his home.  A close look at his finances would have shown that he was a few hundred dollars short every month, but that relatively small deficit made the difference between being able to keep his house and losing it.  An income supplement, as opposed to a full welfare cheque, and someone to follow up on his financial plan would have met Jon’s needs and potentially prevented him from becoming homeless.

Reaching out to others made it possible for Jon to find housing once again.  He had kept quiet about the crisis he was experiencing, but finally opened up to some friends over coffee at a local café.  They beckoned to acquaintance at another table, who referred Jon to a case worker at the AIDS Committee of Toronto, and then on to housing workers at Fife House.

Not everyone can find help at a local café, but you can still access the support that Jon did by getting in touch with a local AIDS Service Organization (ASO).  Jon had received support from a caseworker before, but didn’t know that they could help him with things like finances or housing.  He found that ASO case managers can help with more than issues directly related to health.  But, they can only help if you’re open about the difficulties you are facing. Use the HealthyHousing.ca Directory to connect with organizations in your area.

Jon recommends:

• Reaching out before you reach a crisis point.  Reaching out might mean contacting friends, family or a caseworker at an ASO.
• It’s helpful to know what you want from reaching out before you do it: “What is your goal?  What do you expect to get out of telling someone, and what could go wrong?” The answers to these questions will often help you figure out the best way to go about finding those that can help.
• If you’re worried about the stigma associated with reaching out, its possible to get around it by finding information online that can help you discretely access the services you need.

When Jon was referred to Fife House, he handed in his application to live in the building along with a personal letter so that those reading it would see him as  “a human being in desperate need and in risk of slipping through the cracks.”  Jon’s story shows that reaching out to those that can help can make the difference between a night in the Mission and one in what Jon calls his “forever home.”