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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
APPALACHIAN LEARNING INITIATIVE ANNOUNCES NATIONAL HOPWA DIRECTORY
MORGANTOWN, W. Va., November 29, 2022—The Appalachian Learning Initiative (APPLI, pronounced like "apply") has announced the development of a national directory for the Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA) program, the only federal housing assistance program dedicated exclusively to the needs of Persons Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA).
The HOPWA Directory is a first-of-its-kind, patient-centric online national directory that will provide users with information about HOPWA services, eligibility criteria, application processes, contact information, waitlists, and grievance processes. The HOPWA Directory will also feature reporting about the HOPWA program and information about additional services for PLWHA.
“One of the most important factors for PLWHA is stable housing,” said Founder and Executive Director, Marcus J. Hopkins. “Research has found that people with stable housing have better health outcomes and are more likely to achieve viral suppression. The HOPWA program was designed with these benefits in mind, and the HOPWA Directory aims to help PLWHA access those services.”
The HOPWA program recently celebrated its 20th Anniversary after its creation in 1992 under the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act to address the critical housing needs of lower-income Americans living with HIV and their families and serves over 50,000 households per year.
“As a person living with HIV/AIDS since 2005, I am intimately familiar with the barriers we face when trying to find information about assistance programs,” continued Hopkins. “The majority of information available on state websites about the HOPWA program has been geared toward providers of the program. The HOPWA Directory hopes to improve that by providing dynamic and accurate patient-centered information.”
The HOPWA Directory is being developed in collaboration with the Community Access National Network, the ADAP Advocacy Association, and Plus, Inc., and will launch to the public in late-2023.
The Appalachian Learning Initiative is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in November 2021 that focuses on researching, reporting on, advocating for, and building solutions to address issues related to adult literacy, numeracy, health literacy, and equitable access to services in the 13-state, 423-county Appalachian Region. APPLI is based in Morgantown, WV, and can be reached at info@appli.org for more information.
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