California: Project Is Home for AIDS Patients

Three years in the making, Alvarez Court, a 19-unit affordable housing apartment complex for people with HIV/AIDS in Pinole, Calif., held its grand opening Thursday. The apartments feature bright yellow-and-gold facades, patios on some units and wheelchair accessibility. For Patricia Price, who is HIV-positive and has heart disease and diabetes, and her husband, who also has HIV, their new apartment is a promise of better days. She moved into the their apartment in June. The most thrilling aspect of the move is that her 17-year-old daughter and 15-year-old son, who have been in foster care since 1988, can now live with her.

Alvarez Court was built by Resources for Community Development (RCD), a Berkeley nonprofit housing organization. The project was funded by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, Pinole's Redevelopment Agency, and grants from the county's Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS.

Affordable housing units like Alvarez Court often draw the scorn of neighbors, said Helen Buie, who became an AIDS activist after her adopted son died of the disease in 1986. Buie, a member of the now-disbanded HIV/AIDS ministry at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, said representatives from her group and RCD reached out to nearby residents and assuaged their fears. During the city public hearing process, some people argued there were no incidences of the disease in Pinole, although statistics proved there were.

"People have myths that they have about affordable housing, that it's going to decrease property values or bring crime and other things to the neighborhood," said Judy Sparks, program specialist for RCD. "We go into neighborhoods and show them that this is not the case," Sparks said.

Mayor Maria Alegria said RCD did a good job of addressing community concerns, and she said the process led to further education on AIDS and people with special needs. "That is what is really exciting about projects like this," said Alegria. "This is an opportunity to educate the neighborhood," she said.

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