Texas: Housing for Moms With HIV Stirs Fears

Bexar County officials tried to calm fears at a town hall meeting April 27 after questions arose about a nearly completed eight-unit transitional housing complex for single mothers with HIV/AIDS. The units are across the street from Stephen F. Austin Elementary School in the Five Points neighborhood.

"It was something we weren't expecting," resident Jose Batista said at the meeting. "Especially in front of the school."

One concern is that children could be infected if they were bitten by another child, said Jose Castillo, executive director of Bexar County Housing and Human Services (HHS). Castillo said that although that is possible, it is extremely unlikely. "We understand the concerns of parents," he said. "I'm a parent, too."

HHS is administering the federal funds for the housing project, and Alternative Housing Corp. (AHC) is the developer. Echoing Castillo's position, AHC President Rod Radle said there never has been a reported case in South Texas of a child giving HIV to another child by biting.

But Batista said that did not make him feel any better. "There's no cure," he said. "The causes [given by health officials] are always changing. As adults, we get scared when we don't know what's going on. But kids don't even know [what to be scared of]."

Radle said his agency has had more than a dozen meetings with local neighborhood associations and, until the meeting, the project had met no opposition. Vacant land was chosen for the project because it was near bus transportation and caregivers. "We're trying to help homeless people get back to work, get back into the community," he said.

Back to other news for May 6, 2004