Housing opens for those with HIV/AIDS
Published in the Home News Tribune 6/17/04
By REVA McEACHERN
STAFF WRITER
EDISON: Imani means faith in Swahili, and that's just what it took to bring the vision of Imani Park Transitional Housing to reality.
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| Imani Park Transitional Housing is now a reality. |
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Imani Park Transitional Housing opened yesterday after years of negotiation with community partners, service providers and funding agencies, as well as numerous construction delays. The facility will provide housing and support services to homeless individuals and families with at least one member living with HIV/AIDS.
Representatives from all the community partners gathered to celebrate the opening of Imani Park. They talked about the hurdles they've encountered during a tumultuous eight-year process that began with the loss of a $2.1 million grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, then a renegotiated $400,000 grant, and the acquisition of land from the Army as a result of the Base Closure Redevelopment Act.
"We've always had a vision," said Andrea Krich, executive director of Middlesex Interfaith Partners with the Homeless (MIPH). "We've always had a dream, and this is the beginning of a new chapter."
Imani Park has 16 furnished apartments -- four one-bedrooms, eight two-bedrooms and four three-bedrooms. The facility provides offices, classrooms, a medical room, a therapy room, a conference room and community room.
Kelley Williams, a representative of Catholic Charities Diocese of Metuchen, said "we've been anxiously awaiting this opening. Every so often we get a homeless person with HIV/AIDS and now we have this great resource to which they can be referred. Transitional housing is one step up to independence and self-sufficiency." Other service providers include Hyacinth AIDS Foundation and Raritan Bay Medical Center.
MIPH broke ground in September of 2002 on Imani Park. But according to Krich, due to the incessant rain, construction was postponed until the following April. Yesterday, however, there wasn't a rain-filled cloud in the sky to impede upon the unveiling of the newly completed housing facilities on a 9-acre tract at 60 Joyce Kilmer Road, adjacent to the Livingston Campus of Rutgers University.
Planning for the project began in 1996, and took "eight long, grueling, frustrating years of trying to obtain funding and complete construction," Krich said.
However, the project isn't truly complete until the residents move in sometime next week. "When the residents move in, Imani Park will become the element of faith that it stands for," said the Rev. Dr. Jeffrey Eaton, in whose name the community room was dedicated.
"This program is very unique," said Eaton. "The number of beds for individuals with HIV/AIDS is paltry. It's difficult to find municipalities that will accept such programs. And it's very difficult to get programs like this into the center of communities."
The location of Imani Park is somewhat remote.
"We're going to have to bus residents for hospital visits or to buy groceries, but hopefully the location will also have therapeutic value," he said.
According to HUD, people living with HIV/AIDS are at a higher risk of losing their housing due to compounding factors, such as increased medical costs or impaired ability to maintain employment due to AIDS-related illnesses. One-third to one-half of people with AIDS in the nation are either homeless or in imminent danger of losing their homes, statistics show.
Stable housing is the cornerstone of HIV/AIDS treatments, say the service providers. Recent studies confirm that people living with HIV/AIDS must have stable housing to access comprehensive health care and adhere to complex HIV/AIDS drug therapies.
According to Krich, Imani Park will "provide clients with a roof over their head and the security of knowing they have a roof over their head. Having housing will keep the clients stable enough so that other service providers can work with them."
"Our mission is to end homelessness, and to that extent we are 100 percent successful," Krich said. Another aim of MIPH is to promote wellness.
According to Krich, "most important to anyone are food, shelter and health care. Since we provide our clients with shelter, the task of receiving health care on a consistent basis becomes easier for them."
Hyacinth AIDS Foundation has partnered with MIPH and the Imani Park Transitional Housing Project to provide a spirituality group, information about treatment options as well as assistance with such issues as how to partner better with doctors.
The wellness community at Hyacinth is addressing issues like loss of control, loss of hope and unwanted aloneness. Its goal is to help people reduce stress and have a more active involvement in staying healthy, said Ericka Deglau, director of program development and research at Hyacinth.
The Visiting Nurse Association, Jewish Family and Vocational Services of Middlesex County, Eric B. Chandler Health Clinic and the Ryan White sponsored-HIV Planning Council of Middlesex, Somerset and Hunterdon Counties also will be providing services in job training, case management, support groups, health education, parenting, computer literacy and other services.
In addition, Imani Park Transitional Housing Program will provide free medical screenings and substance-abuse services. The purpose is to help stabilize the families and individuals in the program.
The clients will have residency at Imani Park for the length of their program, which lasts from 18 to 24 months, culminating in a graduation, when along with a certificate they will receive a federal housing voucher that they can then use to obtain permanent housing.
Referrals were obtained from local service providers such as Raritan Bay Medical Center and Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital for potential clients. Each client then went through a screening and interview process to see if his or her background and future goals correlated with the aim of the program.
MIPH is still accepting referrals and applications.
In addition to HUD, funding was provided by the state Department of Community Affairs, New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and the Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital Health Initiative.
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