Homeless with HIV called hidden crisis

Wallace Immen, The Globe and Mail, December 01, 2001

Living with HIV or AIDS is a hidden crisis within Canada's homelessness problem, said a task force that launched a campaign to build housing in Toronto yesterday.

"It's bad enough to be living without shelter. It's much worse if you are living on the street and trying to manage a treatment regimen," said Ruthann Tucker, executive director of Fife House, a Toronto supportive-housing group for people with AIDS. In such a facility, staff such as nurses and social workers are available to assist patients.

There are no reliable estimates of the spread of HIV in street people because people who feel marginalized are reluctant to be identified as ill, Ms. Tucker said in an announcement linked to today's World AIDS Day.

In the past year, Fife outreach workers have operated a confidential program offering help for HIV-positive people using shelters, she said.

About 120 homeless people responded.

Many of them had not seen a doctor or had difficulty getting treatment because they live on the streets.

After conducting a study using a city grant, the Fife House task force will approach city, provincial and federal agencies to find $7.7-million to build or renovate 75 units of housing.

"We have twice the number of people with HIV and AIDS in Canada that we did in 1990, but government commitments have remained stagnant," said Jay Koornstra, executive director of Bruce House, a supportive-housing program in Ottawa.

© The Globe and Mail 2001