Safe Start: A Harm Reduction Program

About this program: The Safe Start program provides permanent, scattered-site housing and supportive services to homeless individuals dually or triply diagnosed with HIV, substance addiction, and/or mental illness. It is one of the only permanent, scattered-site housing programs for HIV-positive substance users utilizing the "harm reduction" method in the Chicago metropolitan area.

Harm reduction is a service strategy that begins by accepting clients where they are in relation to substance use, and actively involves them in determining what steps they can take to improve their lives. Harm reduction case managers engage clients in a non-judgmental manner and work with them to reduce the risk of HIV transmission and harm caused by substance use, and if desired by the client, become clean and sober. This innovative method has proven successful in helping an extremely vulnerable, hard-to-reach population to stabilize their lives and move forward to independence with dignity.

Safe Start currently consists of 22 scattered-site studio and sone-bedroom apartments and two two-bedroom apartments on the north and south sides of Chicago.

Why this service is important: It has been estimated that as many as 15,000 people in Chicago are homeless on any given night. Of that number, approximately 38% suffer from a substance abuse problem, 20-25% suffer from a mental illness, and 8% are HIV positive†. Despite these disturbing statistics, there are significant service gaps for homeless people and/or for people with HIV/AIDS in providing much needed services to those struggling with multiple diagnoses.

Eligibility: To be eligible for the program, participants must have a documented history of homelessness, be disabled due to HIV, and must also have a history of substance use or mental illness. Participants must also demonstrate an ability to live as independently as possible within a private, residential setting.

How to access the service: For more information about the program or to request a program application, contact Fred Maclin, Safe Start coordinator at Christian Community Health Center at (773) 233-4100 or Michael Hurley, Housing Opportunities Coordinator at BEHIV at (847) 475-0232.

If there are no available units within the program, new referrals will be placed on a waiting list until a vacancy arises.

Partner agencies: Christian Community Health Center (CCHC) and Better Existence with HIV (BEHIV) provide the services, support, and management for 12 of the Safe Start units. CCHC coordinates services for apartments located in Kenwood, and Roseland. BEHIV coordinates services for apartments are located in Edgewater and in Rogers Park. The remaining 10 units are managed by…?

Background: Safe Start was launched in 1996 as a response to the lack of cooperation and planning among housing, HIV/AIDS, mental health, and substance use service providers. The AIDS Foundation of Chicago (AFC) collaborated with former partner agency Community Supportive Living Systems and BEHIV to create the multi-faceted housing program, which has become a successful example of a hybrid model capable of meeting the needs of a complex, at-risk population.

AFC received the first grant for Safe Start in 1995 from the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Supportive Housing Program. The program is currently funded by HUD and AFC, and receives supplementary housing units from the Heartland Alliance.

AFC handles all grant applications and renewals for Safe Start and coordinates reporting for both programs, ensuring standardized program quality and procedures.

More information: Please contact Arturo Bendixen at the AIDS Foundation of Chicago at (312) 922-2322 or visit the following websites:

• www.harmreduction.org
• www.anypositivechange.org

†Chicago Coalition for the Homeless website, Homelessness: Causes and Facts.