PRESIDENT CLINTON'S HUD BUDGET BOOSTS HOUSING ASSISTANCE TO PEOPLE WITH AIDS AND THEIR FAMILIES BY 10 PERCENT

WASHINGTON -- President Clinton's proposed budget for the Department of Housing and Urban Development seeks $21 million in additional funds - a 10 percent increase - for a program to provide housing assistance to people with AIDS and their families.

The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS program would receive $225 million under the President's budget. The funding would provide assistance to people living in 41,500 housing units and would provide related services to 75,000 people.

Housing Secretary Andrew Cuomo said the funding increase is needed because of growing number of AIDS cases. The Centers for Disease Control reported 69,101 new cases of AIDS in 1996 alone. Along with this, medical advances are enabling people with AIDS to live longer, creating a greater need for housing assistance.

Many people with AIDS need housing assistance because the high costs of treating their disease impose a severe financial hardship. In addition, when the disease leaves people too ill to work they need help to pay their housing costs.

"Without help from HUD, many people with AIDS and their families who have been impoverished by this terrible disease could be forced into homelessness," Cuomo said. "This would be intolerable."

HUD also assists people with HIV and AIDS through enforcement of the Fair Housing Act, which outlaws housing discrimination against a person because of real or perceived disability. People who believe they have been harmed by housing discrimination can file complaints with HUD, in both English and Spanish, by calling 1-800-669-9777 toll-free.