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Housing Services for People With HIV and Their Household Members

The NYC Health Department receives and administers two federally funded housing programs to meet the needs of New Yorkers with HIV and their household members: Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program and Ryan White Part A Housing program.

Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program

The HOPWA program provides housing assistance and supportive services to eligible people with HIV and their household members who live in the New York Eligible Metropolitan Statistical Area (NY EMSA), which includes New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley (Tri-County) Region of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties. Additionally, those seeking HOPWA services must qualify as low income, defined as at or below 80% of the area median income by family size (changes annually).

The goals of the HOPWA program are to:

  • Reduce homelessness
  • Increase housing stability
  • Increase access to health care and supportive services that will help improve health outcomes for people with HIV and their household members

To learn more about program eligibility requirements and available services, contact the program agency directly. The contact information for these agencies can be found in the NY EMSA HOPWA Program Referral Directory. For additional information, visit HOPWA Frequently Asked Questions.

HOPWA Housing Options

Permanent Supportive Housing 

Programs identify, secure, and provide long-term housing subsidies and supportive services to eligible people with HIV and their household members, including those who are homeless, at risk of eviction, or unstably housed. These programs are provided through congregate facilities or scattered-site apartments. Both options require tenants to participate in certain activities related to their individual service plan and encourage them to seek additional supportive services with their housing provider.

  • Congregate Facility Housing (also known as single site housing) houses tenants in a designated building and provides on-site supportive services.
  • Scattered-Site Housing houses tenants in apartment units located throughout the community. In scattered-site apartments, on-site supportive services are limited to home visits.
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Program Sites

Rental Assistance

Programs provide start-up rental assistance, short-term rental assistance, and long-term rental assistance to eligible people with HIV. Rental assistance services are only available to people with HIV who are homeless or at serious risk of homelessness and who meet the medical and financial eligibility criteria for the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) program but who are otherwise not eligible due to administrative reasons. Those living in emergency, transitional, or permanent supportive housing are ineligible for rental assistance through this program.

  • Start-up rental assistance assists eligible people with HIV in establishing residence in a permanent housing unit by providing housing subsidies, with eligible expenses including first month’s rent, security deposit (at a maximum of one month’s rent), and broker’s fees, if applicable (also at a maximum of one month’s rent per household).
  • Short-term rental assistance provides housing subsidies to prevent an eligible person with HIV residing in permanent housing in the private rental housing market from becoming homeless. This service is limited to those at serious risk of eviction and homelessness, with a maximum of 21 weeks of rental assistance, mortgage, or utility payments in a 52-week period.
  • Long-term rental assistance provides housing subsidies to assist eligible people with HIV in establishing and maintaining long-term, permanent housing in the private rental housing market. Housing subsidies may be ongoing as long as the household continues to meet eligibility criteria and funding is available.

Program Sites

Tenant Based Rental Assistance

Tenant Based Rental Assistance is a long-term housing subsidy program in the Lower Hudson Valley region. The program supports people with HIV and their household members by paying a portion of their rental cost so they can live independently without additional support.

Program Sites

Visit the NYC HIV Housing Services Directory to find a local HOPWA provider in your area.

Ryan White Part A Housing Program

The NYC Health Department receives federal Ryan White Part A funding to provide services to people with HIV in the New York Eligible Metropolitan Area (NY EMA), which includes New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley (Tri-County) region of Westchester, Rockland, and Putnam counties.

The Ryan White Part A program funds medical and supportive services, including three housing programs in the NY EMA: short-term housing, housing placement assistance, and short-term rental assistance. Programs collaborate with each client to develop an individualized housing plan to promote stable, long-term living situations, such as through transition to the HOPWA program.

Housing programs have income and residency requirements as part of program enrollment. To learn more about all program eligibility requirements, please contact a program agency directly. Please also contact the agency before visiting or referring people to the program. A complete list of Ryan White Part A funded services and locations in the NY EMA can be found here.

Short-Term Housing

Emergency housing assistance aims to move people with HIV and their household members into transitional or permanent housing within 90 days. The goal of transitional housing is to move people with HIV and their household members into permanent housing within two years. Short-term housing programs intend to assist certain priority populations based on age, housing status, immigration status, co-occurring illnesses, and other criteria.

Services include:

  • Emergency, short-term, and permanent housing placement
  • Tenant advocacy
  • Individual and group supportive counseling
  • Life skills training
  • Appointment accompaniment
  • Referrals and linkage to medical and supportive services

Program Sites

Housing Placement Assistance

Identifies and secures permanent housing for people with HIV and their household members. Programs intend to assist certain priority populations based on age, housing status, immigration status, co-occurring illnesses, and other criteria.

Services include:

  • Short-term and permanent housing placement
  • Apartment inspections
  • Tenant advocacy
  • Referrals and linkage to medical and supportive services

Program Sites

Short-Term Rental Assistance

Provides direct rental payments to landlords for people with HIV and their household members to secure or maintain stable housing. To be eligible for services, people with HIV must meet the HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA) program medical and financial eligibility criteria but be ineligible for HASA due to administrative reasons.

Services include:

  • Rent payment to landlords
  • Apartment inspection
  • Tenant advocacy
  • Referrals and linkage to medical and supportive services

Program Sites

NYC

Lower Hudson Valley Region

Additional Resources

You may be able to get other housing services from the HIV/AIDS Service Administration (HASA), a program of the New York City Human Resources Administration (HRA) ACCESS. Some of the services provided from HRA/HASA ACCESS include:

  • Emergency Housing
  • Transitional Housing
  • Permanent Supportive Housing
  • Rental Assistance
  • Housing Placement Assistance
  • Rental Arrears (“One-shot deal”)

Supportive Housing Tenant Notice of Rights

Local Law 15 of 2022

NYC Administrative Code § 21-149, also known as Local Law 15 of 2022 requires supportive housing providers in contract with the NYC Health Department and other City agencies to provide supportive housing tenants and prospective supportive housing tenants, a tenant’s notice of rights at the time of the interview, when the tenant first occupies a unit, at each lease or program agreement renewal, and upon request. Supportive housing providers must read the notice of rights to the tenant if the tenant is known to have difficulty reading. City agencies administering supportive housing programs must ensure the notice is available in English and designated citywide languages.

Local Law 15 of 2022 does not add new rights; it informs supportive housing tenants and prospective supportive housing tenants of their existing rights.

Supportive Housing Tenant’s Notice of Rights Template (PDF)
Other Languages: Español | Русский | 繁體中文 | 简体中文 Kreyòl ayisyen | 한국어 | বাংলা | Italiano | Polski | العربية | Français | ײִדיש | اردو

City agencies administering supportive housing programs must investigate complaints they receive of a supportive housing provider’s failure to provide the notice of rights when required. If an agency determines that a complaint is substantiated, the agency must issue a summons against the supportive housing provider. Agencies must post on their websites all substantiated complaints, responses, and violations. Information posted must include:

  • the identity of the supportive housing provider,
  • the date the complaint was submitted,
  • the date that the investigation was completed,
  • the results of the complaint,
  • and the number of penalties assessed, if any, for one year.

If the supportive housing provider is found to have not provided the notice of rights, they are liable for a civil penalty of $250 for each summons issued for each substantiated complaint. The supportive housing provider may avoid assessment of the $250 summons penalty (“cure”) by providing the notice of rights to the tenant or prospective tenant within 14 days of the date of the summons. Except for the payment of the $250 penalty, an agency’s acceptance of proof of a “cure” is still an admission of liability for all purposes and the information associated with the substantiated complaint will continue to be posted on the agency’s website for one year.

Confidentiality is very important and the identity of the person registering the complaint is never made public. Supportive housing tenants and prospective supportive housing tenants experiencing difficulty obtaining a notice of rights from their case manager or housing service provider should contact 311 or email housingservices@health.nyc.gov to file a complaint. For more information, email housingservices@health.nyc.gov.

More Information

The NYC City Council also provides funding to deliver three additional Client Engagement Services that are provided in the five boroughs of NYC. For more information about these resources, please contact housingservices@health.nyc.gov.

NYC Resources:

New York State Resources:

Federal Resources: