AIDS Outreach Center has been awarded $2,500,000 by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to implement a new project called “Housing First” in Tarrant County.
AOC learned of the award on Friday, June 28. “AIDS Outreach Center is truly excited and honored to receive this meaningful housing award at a time when addressing homelessness and housing stability for displaced people living with HIV is so important yet so challenging,” said AOC Executive Director Kelly Allen Gray. “This opportunity serves as a significant milestone for AOC as we continue our efforts towards ending the HIV epidemic in Tarrant County and North Texas.
This award supports our vision that HIV stops with us.” An AOC press release announcing the grant noted that as a Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS — HOPWA — program, AOC’s Housing First initiative will contribute to the efforts of the National AIDS Strategy and the End the HIV Epidemic program and will serve as a Special Projects of National Significance Grant Model for HOPWA.
The award to AOC was one of 11 awards totaling $26 million in Housing Interventions to End the HIV Epidemic program funding.