AUSTIN, Texas — Project Transitions, a nonprofit dedicated to serving people with HIV and AIDS by providing supportive housing and hospice, is expanding.
Right now, the organization houses its clients with HIV at two locations. Both are transitional housing programs for people living with HIV and AIDS – and Cynthia Herrera, the executive director of Project Transitions, said many of the clients were experiencing homelessness or were once on the verge of it before living in their housing.
"There's so many complications related to HIV, and there's no way for anyone to be on their medications in a stable way without stable housing," Herrera said. “We want to make sure that people have the opportunity to have housing to give them the opportunity to get wherever it is that they want to go on their journey.”
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The organization's Roosevelt Gardens property currently has 22 units and will soon nearly double to 40 units. They're hoping construction on that addition will start by April 2020.
The organization also plans to build a new supportive housing complex, Burnet Place, which will include 61 units and a telehealth center, where residents can have easy access to health services. That complex is expected to be completed by 2020.
The organization's Highland Terrace property will stay the same, with eight transitional housing units.
Herrera said the City of Austin is pitching in on funding for the projects and that they are the first organization to sign contracts under the Affordability Unlocked resolution.
According to AIDSVu – which gets its data from local and State departments, which is then processed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – there were approximately 6,063 people in the Austin metro area living with HIV as of 2017.
Herrera said hundreds of those people are experiencing homelessness or on the verge of it, and it's those people Project Transitions usually takes in for housing.
She also said Travis County is one of the 48 counties in the U.S. that is contributing to half of the new HIV infections nationwide.
One of the residents at a Project Transitions property, Ruby Jones, told KVUE this expansion is much needed.
"It's really a wonderful thing," Jones said. "It's greatly needed right now, greatly needed."
Jones has been HIV-positive for more than 20 years and has lived at one of the properties for nearly a decade. She said Project Transitions has helped her greatly.
“I want them to feel and enjoy and live in the place that I have lived in and see what I’ve seen that they can do for you," Jones said. “It's going to be even better now and then they can offer more."
On Saturday, Dec 7., Project Transitions will host a holiday fundraiser called Snow Ball. For more information, visit the organization's website.
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