
Treatment GuideJust DiagnosedSex & DatingAfrican AmericanStigmaAsk the HIV DocPrEP En EspañolNewsVoicesPrint IssueVideoOut 100
CONTACTCAREER OPPORTUNITIESADVERTISE WITH USPRIVACY POLICYPRIVACY PREFERENCESTERMS OF USELEGAL NOTICE
© 2025 Pride Publishing Inc.
All Rights reserved
All Rights reserved
Scroll To Top
By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Derrick Mitchell was once drug-addicted and homeless, barely getting by on the streets of New York City. At a syringe exchange, he was introduced to New York's HIV/AIDS Services Administration (HASA), a public program that connects low-income HIVers with medications, health services, job programs, food stamps, and housing. Mitchell wouldn't start utilizing the program until after a drug-related arrest, but he's thankful he did'he's now sober, healthy, and has his own apartment. 'I was able to have a place to live that was clean and safe and afforded me the time to sit back and assess what I was doing with my life,' Mitchell says. 'All that came from contact with HASA and my HASA worker.' The HASA program, as valuable as it is, is under attack by New York City bureaucrats, specifically Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who wants to prune the agency's staff in an effort to balance the budget. Bloomberg's proposal included the elimination of one third of HASA's case managers; he unsuccessfully proposed the same cuts last year. HASA is just one of dozens of AIDS programs that have become vulnerable in these days of government penny-pinching. But a reprieve for New York's low-income HIV population has come from a federal judge who stopped the city from slicing HASA's payrolls. Judge Cheryl Pollak ruled in April that Bloomberg's proposal must be taken off the table. Attorneys for the HIV Law Project and Housing Works, a group that works to keep low-income people with HIV from living on the street, have been fighting for years to keep HASA from being winnowed away. But the organizations have law on their side. After Mayor Rudy Giuliani slashed HASA funding Housing Works filed suit in 1995. Finally, in 2001, a court ruled that the agency's reduced staff was failing their clients, violating the Americans with Disabilities Act, and creating 'devastating consequences.' A federal court order was issued that demanded the agency maintain adequate case managers, specifically a ratio of 34 clients to one manager. After he was elected mayor in November 2001, Bloomberg appealed the court order to the Supreme Court, but the judges refused to hear the case and the order stood. Likely anticipating legal challenges to the order, New York's progressive-leaning city council passed a law that essentially said the same thing as the order'HASA must have enough case managers to uphold a 34-1 ratio. Bloomberg's more recent assaults on HASA started last year, when his budget proposal called for a chop of 246 case managers. Housing Works and the HIV Law Project filed suit and the cuts were withdrawn. This year's budget again called for slashing HASA's case managers, this time by 254. Housing Works went to court to stop the latest budget from going forward and were successful'the judge called the mayor's budget proposal 'illegal,' prompting applause in the Brooklyn courtroom. 'Our folks live with wasting, dementia, neuropathy, immobility,' says Armen Merjian, a senior staff attorney for Housing Works. Of the need for HASA, Merjian says, 'It's very difficult to go to 15 different disease-ridden waiting rooms to wait for different benefits; it's difficult to fill out paperwork.' Even though 'we're living in this starve-the-beast-and-break-the-social-contract age,' Merjian says he and Housing Works will continue fighting for low-income people with HIV.
From our Sponsors
Most Popular
Lexi Love comes out as HIV+ after Trump deletes federal resources
January 23 2025 11:23 AM
Grindr is reminding us why jockstraps are so sexy and iconic
May 02 2025 5:36 PM
BREAKING NEWS: Trump admin moves to end federal HIV prevention programs
March 18 2025 6:10 PM
Trump's orders prompt CDC to erase HIV resources
January 31 2025 5:29 PM
Celebrating Black History Month with our annual African American issue
February 01 2025 3:28 PM
Tyler TerMeer vows to continue to fight for health care for all
January 28 2025 3:00 PM
Discover the power of Wellness in your life
March 26 2025 12:41 PM
Plus: Featured Video
Latest Stories
Dancer. Healer. Survivor. DéShaun Armbrister is all of the above
July 02 2025 8:23 PM
BREAKING: Supreme Court rules to save free access to preventive care, including PrEP
June 27 2025 10:32 AM
1985: the year the AIDS crisis finally broke through the silence
June 26 2025 11:24 AM
VIDEO: A man living with HIV discusses his journey to fatherhood
June 10 2025 4:58 PM
Trump admin guts $258 million in funding for HIV vaccine research
June 03 2025 3:47 PM
HRC holds 'die-in' to protest Trump health care cuts
April 28 2025 2:11 PM
Two right-wing Supreme Court justices signal they may uphold access to PrEP and more
April 21 2025 4:10 PM
500,000 Children at Risk: PEPFAR Funding Crisis
April 08 2025 3:51 PM
Broadway's best raise over $1 million for LGBTQ+ and HIV causes
April 03 2025 7:15 PM
The Talk Season 5 premieres this spring with HIV guidance for the newly diagnosed
March 26 2025 1:00 PM
Season 4 of The Switch on resilience & radical self-love returns this spring
March 26 2025 12:20 PM
Jess King is here to help you live your happiest, healthiest life yet
March 24 2025 4:35 PM
Gerald Garth is keeping people of color happy and healthy through trying times
March 11 2025 3:38 PM
Plus nominated for 2025 GLAAD Media Award
January 22 2025 12:42 PM
A camp for HIV-positive kids is for sale. Here's why its founder is celebrating
January 02 2025 12:21 PM
This long-term HIV survivor says testosterone therapy helped save his life.
December 16 2024 8:00 PM
'RuPaul's Drag Race' star Trinity K Bonet quietly comes out trans
December 15 2024 6:27 PM
Ricky Martin delivers showstopping performance for 2024 World AIDS Day
December 05 2024 12:08 PM
AIDS Memorial Quilt displayed at White House for the first time
December 02 2024 1:21 PM