Montana and the Dakotas Get $1.3 Million to Help HIV Victims Rent Homes

A joint effort among agencies in Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota to assist low-income HIV patients in the three states will result in $1.3 million to help them pay their rent, officials say. The states jointly applied for the three-year federal Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant.

The money is part of a HUD project for people with HIV called "Tri-State Housing Environments for Living Positively." The grant is expected to help about 70 Montanans a year, said Jim Nolan, head of Intergovernmental Service for the Montana Department of Health and Human Services. Nolan said his office will divide the grant between the Missoula AIDS Council and the Billings AIDS Council. Nancy Mullah, spokesperson for the Missoula AIDS Council, said people who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS and are living on fixed incomes would qualify for a monthly voucher to help pay rent. The majority of the aid currently set aside to help people with HIV in Montana already goes toward their rent, she said.

The application from Montana, North Dakota and South Dakota was among 18 from across the country vying for $6 million in federal assistance. Only three grants were approved. According to a news release, those three were singled out because they focused on new programs in rural areas that don't qualify for federal block grant money.

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