The HIV component of our work is “relatively simple,” says the SHARP Foundation Executive Director Floyd Visser. He explains that there are several other factors that make managing the disease difficult for SHARP’s residential clients, such as aging, co-infection with diseases like Hepatitis C, mental health, neurological issues, physical disability, and addiction.

The SHARP Foundation is a Calgary-based non-profit charitable organization with a mandate to provide a ‘wholistic’ (medical, physical, psychosocial and spiritual aspects) continuum of care to people living with HIV or AIDS. They run three facilities — Beswick House, Scott House and Project 2011 — for people with HIV/AIDS in Calgary, which are currently home to 18 tenants. The houses are exactly that – single-family houses converted to accommodate several tenants in a home setting. Apart from meal support, the tenants also benefit from on-site medical care, psychosocial support, life skills training and mentorship.

The Foundation is currently working to expand its reach with the construction of a new facility on the north side of Calgary’s downtown core. Independence House will be the first of its kind in Alberta: a state of the art, LEED-certified residence for HIV-positive individuals. Visser hopes that the building will help to address stigma for his clients.

“We’d like to create an environment where people are identified for living in an amazing building, not for living with HIV.”

The new building, which will finish construction in the Fall of 2011, has been planned with the input of SHARP’s clients, the community and a design competition including several Calgary-based architects. It will include townhouses, apartments, community room and client support space.

Having worked to provide housing for people living with HIV/AIDS for more than 6 years, Visser has noticed several issues that are particularly relevant as we enter the second decade of the 21st Century.

More clients are coming to the SHARP Foundation for end of life care as a result of remaining undiagnosed until later stages of the disease. This late diagnosis makes it more challenging to manage the disease. At late stages, clients may be facing issues including dementia. However, several SHARP Foundation residents have come to Beswick House at the end stages of the disease, but years later are still living and are healthier than they’ve been in a long time.

Aging within the HIV-positive population is another issue that Visser notes will become a more pressing concern in the future. He explains that periods of transition are when PHAs are especially vulnerable to loss of housing and declining health. Some examples of transition periods include time of diagnosis, moving to a new city, loss of partners or family, declining health, or retirement. With the aging of people with HIV/AIDS, retirement is a new challenge. While a HIV-positive diagnosis is no longer a death sentence, many PHAs never expected to reach retirement age and so have never planned for it financially. The high cost of living with HIV/AIDS resulting from medications, periods of illness, good nutrition and costs of therapy are often obstacles to saving and preparing for the future. The pressures of a loss of income at this stage of transition can increase the risk of housing instability and declining health.

Visser suggests that AIDS Service Organizations and housing providers need to pay special attention to the relatively new challenge presented by retirement among people living with HIV/AIDS to ensure that the transition does not lead to a point of crisis for individuals. He notes that early interventions are able to prevent crisis. On the transition to retirement he says, “if you have someone living successfully in an apartment, and suddenly lose their income … you don’t want to move them, you want to give them a subsidy” so they can stay where they are. The challenge for service providers in the face of retiring PHAs is to help them access financial planning services and supports that allow them to maintain their current lifestyles, and avoid crisis.