Today, over 9,000 people in Minnesota are living with HIV/AIDS. Fifty percent of them will be homeless or have a housing crisis during the course of their lifetimes. Clare Housing has a closed waiting list of around 350+ people in need of a home. The latest estimates are that there are around 1,000 people living with HIV total in Minnesota tonight who are either homeless or unstably housed. In our own community, the need for safe, affordable HIV-specific housing is real and urgent.
Clare Housing operates 275 units of stable and affordable housing and has developed three resident-focused supportive housing options to meet residents where they’re at in terms of their health and independent living skills.
Community-Based Care Homes
These homes are staffed 24/7, each serving four residents who are HIV positive, significantly disabled, and often in need of reliable care and support to live outside of a nursing home.
Staff provides rehabilitation support to those needing to stabilize their health before returning to independent living and long-term care to those disabled by HIV. In addition, we provide end-of-life care when needed. Clare Housing’s 24-hour care assists those who must be supervised because of dementia and mental health problems, physical frailty, inability to take prescribed medications and prepare adequate nutrition.
Supportive Housing
Clare Housing provides affordable housing, and supportive services to extremely low-income residents who have experienced homelessness, long-term homelessness or are at risk of homelessness at five supportive housing sites.
Individuals enrolled in the Home Care program receive supportive services, such as, nursing care, medication administration, hands-on assistance with activities of daily living, and help with building independent living skills.
Scattered Site Housing Program
Our Scattered Site Housing Program enables us to partner with, and provide rental units within other market-rate and nonprofit housing developments across the 7-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. This program allows us to provide more housing, without the costly investment of building more housing ourselves. Individuals and families receiving rental assistance who are living with HIV can find affordable housing through this program, as well as ongoing personalized support from our Scattered Site housing staff members.
This program houses the majority of our families with children, and many residents have previously experienced long-term homelessness. The program is designed to assist residents in maintaining permanent housing and successfully coping with significant life challenges, including the unique barriers to home, health, and hope that can result from living with HIV.
How to become a resident?
Clare Housing maintains several specific waiting lists for our three supportive housing programs. Submitting a formal application for each program is required, and we recommend that prospective residents work with their HIV case manager or social worker for assistance in filling out these applications.
The waiting list is open based on availability in each program. Prospective residents can contact Amber Poppe, intake coordinator, at 612-236-9515 ext. 570 or amber.poppe@clarehousing.org.