Maine: Peabody Center Gets HUD Grant for Housing

The Frannie Peabody Center in Portland, Maine, is one of seven programs across the country that will share $8 million in federal grants recently awarded to provide housing to clients with HIV. The other programs are in Alabama, Hawaii, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York, and Pennsylvania.

The US Department of Housing and Urban Development funding will make available both shelter and support services to "harder-to-house" clients. The Peabody Center will receive $1.05 million to support low-income HIV-positive residents of Cumberland County who have a history of substance abuse, mental illness or incarceration. Services include emergency funds for food and payment of utility bills.

The funding to the Peabody Center represents a $60,000 increase over the most recent grant, which was awarded in 2006.

"It means that the folks that we have already housed will be able to breathe a sigh of relief in these economic times and know that their rent's going to be paid for another three years," said Patricia Capouch, the center's executive director.

The Peabody Center served 85 people in 2008, including 27 who needed year-round housing support and another 27 who were given short-term housing assistance. The Center has a waiting list of 14 people.

Capouch noted that housing assistance provides a significant boost to the health of a person with HIV. Clients are able to maintain treatment regimens more easily without having to worry about the risk of homelessness, she said.

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