San Francisco supervisors hear report urging $3.8M backfill, 500 new subsidies and housing reforms for people with HIV/AIDS

The San Francisco Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee on a special hearing considered recommendations from a Department of Public Health (DPH) convened HIV/AIDS housing work group aimed at preventing housing loss for people living with HIV and AIDS as federal funding shifts.

DPH presenter Mark Trotz told the committee the work group’s top priority is “to prevent the loss of housing for nearly 500 people living with HIV and AIDS, in care-subsidized units” and said that would require “$3,800,000 worth of funding that we really need to find to keep 500 existing people in their housing.” The report, developed by a 24-member group, breaks recommendations into tiers: immediate steps to backfill funding and stabilize housing, mid-term steps to improve access, and longer-term ideas including a community land trust and employment supports.

Why it matters: Trotz and multiple community witnesses said federal changes to the Ryan White/CARE Act and the Health Resources and Services…