For people with HIV/AIDS, safe, adequate housing is not just a basic necessity—it is critical to their health. Unfortunately, this simple need for a place to call home often goes unmet. As the illness strips HIV-infected individuals of their ability to earn a living, they are often left destitute. Facing hardship, despair and a host of critical health problems, they are unable to care for themselves or their families.

While medication can, in some cases, help stabilize the virus, there is still no cure for this devastating disease. Even when individuals do respond favorably to antiretroviral therapy, such treatment comes with a heavy price: The drugs themselves often cause highly toxic side effects. At the very least, the efficacy of AIDS medication is dependent upon the patient's daily nutritional intake (some medications must be taken with food, some cannot; some must be taken with low-fat foods or fatty foods, and so on). But homeless people have no way to refrigerate medications and have little or no access to clean water and nutritious food. Without a stable place to live, there is little hope of maximizing the health of this highly vulnerable population.

As the epidemic intensifies, an increasing number of individuals and families must confront a devastating diagnosis without benefit of protected housing, health insurance, a support network or the education and life skills they need to fight the disease. Assisting these destitute AIDS-impacted persons is at the heart of The Serra Project's mission.

The Serra Project, founded in 1987, is one of the few providers to meet a continuum-of-care housing priorities for medically indigent persons living with HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles County. Our programs range from assisted living to permanent housing to housing case management and work in concert with each other to minimize the client's risk of homelessness. For group home clients whose health may stabilize, transitioning to independent living is easier because we operate our own permanent supportive housing program. Conversely, if someone becomes too ill to live on their own in permanent housing, a return to 24-hour care at one of our group homes is always possible. Our housing case management services place unstably housed clients with symptomatic HIV and AIDS in all housing programs, not just our own.

Staying ahead of today’s dramatic challenges for non-profits and continuing a history of effective fiscal management, The Serra Project and Aid For AIDS (AFA) completed a merger in February of 2009. AFA, founded in 1983, is a non-profit serving the region by offering direct financial support for housing, nutritional supplements, vitamins and non-prescription medications, and food, in addition to transportation assistance and case management to HIV/AIDS-impacted women, men, children, and families.The merger provides a broader continuum of care for those in Los Angeles County living with HIV/AIDS. Aid For AIDS website - http://www.aidforaids.net.

The Serra Project founders were honored at the 2007 'A Faire of the Heart," celebrating the 20th anniversary. Read more.

Read about our residents Laura, John T. and Joseph

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