Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA)

As of May 26, 2020, we have begun contacting persons from the waitlist in numerical order via U.S. Mail. 

UPDATE - Wait List Lottery Results
Servicing up to applicant #139 in the Waitlist

The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Program was established by the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act of 1990, and revised under the Housing and Community Development Act of 1992. The Federal HOPWA program provides states and localities with resources and incentives to devise long-term comprehensive strategies for meeting the housing needs of low-income persons with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) or related diseases and their families. This program authorizes entitlement grants and competitively awarded grants for housing assistance and services. 

The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) Tenant Based Rental Assistance (TBRA) Program, administered by the City of Miami Department of Housing & Community Development, will accept new applications for its Waitlist via U.S. mail from February 10 through February 21, 2020.

The HOPWA Program provides rental housing assistance to qualifying low-income persons/families who:

  • have a member with a medical AIDS diagnosis, as defined by the CDC;
  • are 80% of the area median income or below, as defined by the income limits issued annually by the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD);
  • live or plan to live in Miami-Dade County;
  • and, meet the documentation requirements of citizenship or immigration status.

 

 

 

 

 

The City of Miami is Local Administrator of HOPWA Funds. Pursuant to federal regulations implementing the AIDS Housing Opportunity Act of 1990, the City of Miami, as the municipality with the largest population, serves as the grantee for HOPWA funds, on behalf of the Miami-Miami Beach-Kendall, FL Metropolitan Division covering Miami-Dade County (Miami-Dade EMD) of the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Miami Beach, FL Metropolitan Statistical Area (EMSA). The HOPWA Program administered by the City of Miami serves all residents of Miami-Dade County. The City works with all levels of government, service providers, consumers and the private sector in developing resources and services, particularly housing and social services for persons living with HIV/AIDS (PWAs). 

Persons who are low-income (80% of median income as established by U.S. HUD) and have received an AIDS diagnosis are eligible for assistance under HOPWA. 

 

The Miami-Dade HIV/AIDS Partnership, through its Housing Committee, serves in an advisory capacity to the City Commission with regard to HOPWA formula grant funds awarded to the City on behalf of the Miami-Dade EMD. Specifically, the City of Miami looks to the Partnership's Housing Committee for community input and advice concerning resource allocation, HOPWA program policies, and coordination of efforts to address housing needs with care and treatment services and activities directed at persons living with HIV/AIDS. The City of Miami is formally represented on the Partnership and its Housing Committee.

 

Local HOPWA funds are directed towards assisting eligible clients with housing designed to prevent homelessness, including emergency short-term rental, mortgage and utility assistance, long-term rental assistance, project-based rental assistance, operating assistance for project-based housing and community residences; and, when funds allow, capital funding for rehabilitation or new construction (new construction limited to singe-room occupancy units and community residences). HOPWA funds also are directed towards housing information, referral and advocacy services. 

Consistent with shifts in U.S. HUD policy and local policy recommended by the Housing Committee of the Miami-Dade HIV/AIDS Partnership and adopted by the City of Miami, HOPWA funds are directed at housing and housing-related services only due to the limited resources available to meet the housing needs of persons living with HIV/AIDS in the Miami-Dade EMD. To ensure that recipients receive necessary supportive services to maintain housing stability, all recipients of HOPWA assistance must receive case management services through coordination with Ryan White-funded programs or other community-based programs. 

 

Fiscal Year Amount of Award
2000 $10,139,000
2001 $10,269,000
2002 $12,482,000
2003 $10,617,000
2004 $10,715,000
2005 $10,351,000
2006 $11,189,000
2007 $11,689,000
2008 $12,370,000
2009 $12,599,526
2010 $12,935,584
2011 $12,498,939
2012 $12,163,466
2013 $11,381,465
2014 $11,348,256
2015 $11,311,866
2016 $11,561,671
2017 $11,672,111
2018 $11,680,308
2019 $11,628,915

 

Limitations on Administrative Costs

Under federal regulations governing HOPWA, administrative costs for the grantee and project sponsors, are not to exceed three percent (3%) of the annual HOPWA allocation to administer the program locally, including the cost of general management, oversight, coordination, program evaluation, and reporting on all HOPWA funded services; and seven percent (7%) for administrative costs incurred as part of the delivery of HOPWA Services.