The 52-year-old man has lived almost half his life with HIV and was now on the verge of becoming homeless in the middle of the COVID pandemic.He had been living in a shelter for six months, but he had reached his time limit and was told he had to leave.He had been on a waiting list for two years to get a federal housing subsidy that would allow him to get his own apartment. Although he thought he was close to getting the subsidy, the process was moving agonizingly slow and he was running out of time.Despite his bleak circumstances, he prided himself on being self-sufficient. He did everything he could to secure the housing subsidy he needed. As time went on he began to feel his case had been lost in the shuffle as agencies adjusted to working remotely in the time of COVID.By April he was at wit’s end and contacted us pleading for help in expediting the matter.Our housing attorney hit the gas and made multiple calls to multiple agencies trying to clear the logjam.Getting this subsidy is never an easy process and involves piles of paperwork. The coronavirus shutdown exacerbated the situation.Relying on her experience and relationships with these agencies, our housing attorney pushed them to focus on this case. One hurdle was getting the apartment inspected as required by federal regulations, but inspections were delayed because of COVID. She pushed the client’s housing counselor and the property manager to get the apartment on the inspection schedule.Once the apartment passed inspection, our housing attorney was able to complete the process for the subsidy to be granted. After a long stretch of difficult experiences, the man moved into his own apartment in May and was elated to finally find safety and security.
