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Project-Based Housing
The HOPWA project-based
housing assistance program offers low-income persons with AIDS the opportunity
to occupy efficiencies, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, or three-bedroom housing units
that are operated by community-based agencies or low income housing developers
under the City of Miami HOPWA contract. Applicants should take note that any
rental subsidy assistance that may be attached to one of these project-based
units remains with the unit, not the tenant, in the event that the tenant later
vacates, or is evicted from, a HOPWA project-based unit.
Project-based
housing units are located on Miami Beach and in
central Miami-Dade County.
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Form of Assistance
The project-based housing
assistance program provides eligible households with ongoing rental assistance,
subject to continued eligibility and the availability of HOPWA funds. Program
participants must pay a portion of the rent, usually 30% of their monthly
adjusted household income. The HOPWA program pays the difference. Program
assistance is attached to the project-based unit and will, at all times, remain
with the unit. Participants’ income eligibility must be recertified annually and
the rental units must pass re-inspection each year.
Who is Eligible?
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Applicant must have received a medical diagnosis of AIDS, as defined by the
Centers for Disease Control (“CDC”). In the case of a family unit applying for
HOPWA assistance, one (1) or more of the family members (regardless of age) must
have AIDS.
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Applicant’s income, or in the case of a family, the family’s income, must not
exceed 80% of the medium income for the Miami-Dade EMSA. In calculating income,
the HOPWA counts the income of all family members.
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Applicant may apply as an individual or as a family. A family is a household
composed of two (2) or more related persons with at least one person diagnosed
with AIDS. Persons in a family may be related by ties of blood, marriage, or
other legal sanctions or deemed to be important to the care or well-being of the
household member with AIDS.
Application Process
Project Based housing is privately managed; therefore, the application process
is performed by the building’s management staff with the direct supervision of
the City of Miami to ensure a fair process.
The opening of the application period is advertised periodically in a general
circulation newspaper with citywide coverage at least 15 days prior to the
acceptance of applications. Once the application period expires, all
applications are entered in an electronic spreadsheet. This information is then
used to generate a random lottery which determines the order of the waiting
list. Once the waiting list is established, all applicants are informed, in
writing, of their waiting list number. Receiving a waiting list number does not
directly qualify the applicant for the program.
Clients who encounter, or believe that they have encountered, discrimination on
the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, age, national
origin, familial status, or disability shall be referred to fair housing and/or
legal counseling offered by local organizations such as H.O.P.E., Inc., H.E.L.P.,
Inc. and Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. |
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