On Friday, April 3, the Trump administration released its Fiscal Year 2027 discretionary budget. In budgeting, it’s often said that you “shouldn’t tell me where your priorities are. Show me where you spend your money and I’ll tell you what they are.”  In his FY2027 proposed budget, President Trump has shown yet again that his administration isn’t prioritizing ending the HIV epidemic. Moreover, the President’s proposed budget shows that he doesn’t value the most marginalized in our communities – including people impacted by HIV and homelessness.  If enacted as proposed, the President’s budget would dismantle our public health systems and social safety net, increase the number of new HIV diagnoses and homelessness, and leave our communities broken and hopeless.   

The President’s FY27 proposed budget is a disastrous retread of last year’s spending priorities that were rebuked by Congressional Democrats and Republicans alike. This year’s budget once again proposes to create a new department–Administration for Healthy America—while restructuring the functions of the Ryan White program and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative’s (EHE), among others. Listed below are some of the most glaring cuts from the President’s FY27 Budget: 

• Elimination of the Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) program ($529 million) 
• Elimination of all $755.6 million of CDC’s core HIV prevention funding
• Elimination of Part F of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, which includes the AIDS Education & Training Centers responsible for public health workforce development around HIV and other infectious diseases, as well as the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Dental Program, and the Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) ($74 million)
• Eliminates all Minority AIDS Initiative funding ($56 million) 
• Cuts to the National Institutes of Health, including $1.8 billion in cuts to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases ($5 million) 

And if these harmful proposed cuts weren’t enough, the Trump administration also decided to name AIDS Foundation Chicago in its FY27 budget as “a far-left nonprofit” organization that “peddle[s] divisive, woke identity politics” and has “embedded discriminatory racial equity principles in its hiring process.”  AIDS Foundation Chicago stands firm in our values, rooted in community, and resolved to meaningfully address the syndemics of HIV and homelessness. AFC has followed all relevant laws in our hiring practices and will continue to do so. This rhetoric from the Trump administration is a smokescreen to distract from their efforts to slash social safety net programs that benefit all of us in order to give tax breaks to billionaires, fund the disappearing of our immigrant neighbors through ICE, and pay for their war in Iran.  

Supporting the health and well-being of people living with HIV and prudent public health investments like HOPWA and Ryan White have enjoyed bipartisan support for decades, and just last year the Republican-controlled Congress increased HOPWA funding.  That’s because research has demonstrated time and again that stable housing improves the health of individuals and communities. The federal government’s own data shows that people in the HOPWA program have better health outcomes than their low-income peers, making the HOPWA program an essential tool in the fight to end the HIV epidemic.   

As a non-partisan 501 (c) 3 nonprofit working to improve quality of life for people living with and vulnerable to HIV and homelessness, AFC will continue our federal advocacy to fight back against these proposed cuts.  No budget or executive order will stop that. EVER.  

Without question, President Trump’s proposed FY27 budget will lead to more HIV transmissions, preventable deaths, increased homelessness, and will gut our decades-long investments to end the HIV epidemic. As we have done for over forty years, AFC is proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with the communities disproportionately impacted by HIV and homelessness to push back on these disastrous proposed budget cuts. Later this year, we will commemorate the 45^th anniversary of the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. And just like in those days, we can’t do this work alone! We need you to stand up and fight back! We’ll get through this as we’ve always done – TOGETHER! 

The Trump administration recently canceled over $100 million in public health, STI and HIV prevention grant funding to Illinois as political retribution.  AIDS Foundation Chicago calls upon our community to demand the Trump administration reinstate these funds. We are thankful to the Illinois Attorney General’s office for filing suit and standing up to Trump’s latest attack on the HIV sector and LGBTQ, Black, and Latine Illinoisians.  We are also thankful to the Democratic members of the Illinois Congressional Delegation who have signed onto a letter to the Trump administration opposing the cuts.  

The number of people newly diagnosed with HIV in Chicago is increasing.  Now is not the time to cut HIV prevention and treatment funds. Cutting funding for prevention means people won’t get tested, won’t learn about or start PrEP, and won’t be able to protect themselves against HIV.  It costs more to treat a person living with HIV than it does to prevent HIV – so we know these grant cancellations are not about saving money, despite what the administration may say.   

Defunding HIV prevention, research, surveillance and basic public health does not impact all communities equally. It is a disinvestment in LGBTQ+, Black, and Latine communities, and a continuation of this administration’s racist, homophobic and transphobic agenda. 

HIV and STIs, like all viruses, know no borders. Canceling public health grants for political retribution is ignorant and dangerous. Trump must be stopped – he is putting all our health at risk. 

The U.S. House of Representatives today voted on a 217-214 margin to approve the spending package that was passed by the Senate last week. Thanks to the advocacy of countless Illinoisans who engaged with us on this work, we were able to fight back a whopping $2 billion in proposed cuts to HIV programs, including the full elimination of Ryan White Part C, D, and F, HIV prevention at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Ending the HIV Epidemic, the Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA) program, and more. The final package retains funding levels from last year for nearly all HIV programs, with a $4 million cut to the Minority AIDS Initiative (MAI). House Republicans had proposed cutting the MAI by half.  

In addition, we were able to secure a much-needed increase of $24 million for the HOPWA program, the only federal housing program dedicated for people living with HIV. Members of the Illinois Congressional delegation including Representatives Mike Quigley (IL-05), Delia Ramirez (IL-03) and Nikki Budzinski (IL-13) elevated HOPWA as a top funding priority for this appropriations cycle, and we thank them for their leadership. 

While funding for HIV and housing services is secured through September 30, 2026, Congress must now work to finalize FY26 funding for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). Given the terror that ICE and Border Patrol have inflicted on Illinoisans, our midwestern neighbors in Minnesota, and across the country, AFC calls on Congress to vote NO to increase funding for DHS without meaningful guardrails to reign in their abuse. We urge Congress to move quickly on this, so that we may turn our focus to funding for the next cycle as the Trump administration prepares to issue its FY27 budget proposal. 

Last year, the President proposed dismantling the HIV and housing safety net. We would not have been able to protect these vital programs without community engagement. We urge you to take action by joining our Mobile Action Network to stay up to date on the latest advocacy opportunities and to have your voice heard: AIDS Foundation Chicago | Action Center. 

The short-term funding bill approved last year to end the longest government shutdown in U.S. history expires on Saturday, January 31, 2026, at midnight. After the senseless killing of Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, MN, on Saturday, January 24, 2026, a funding package that was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives and which was expected to pass in the U.S. Senate was derailed. The package includes billions of dollars for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and Democratic Senators refuse to provide additional funding to DHS without meaningful guardrails to reign in ICE’s violence. We are now barreling towards a second, partial government shutdown which will impact lifesaving services that people living with and vulnerable to HIV depend on to remain healthy and housed. 

AIDS Foundation Chicago calls on Congress to: 

• Decouple funding for DHS from the funding package 

• Immediately pass funding for other key government departments, including for Labor, Health and Human Services which preserves funding for HIV services, and Labor, Housing and Urban Development, which includes a $24 million increase to the Housing Opportunities for Persons with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA) program 

• Oppose any amendments that may be introduced as the package is renegotiated that may harm the communities we serve 

• Vote NO on additional funding for DHS without necessary guardrails to reign in the dangerous and unconstitutional tactics ICE and Border Patrol have used to terrorize our communities 

ICE and Border Patrol have wrought havoc and destroyed lives in Chicago and other U.S. cities. Apart from the killing of Alex Pretti, DHS agents killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis earlier this month, just blocks away from where Alex was killed. Last year, on September 12, 2025, DHS agents shot and killed Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez in Franklin Park, IL, and on October 4, 2025, an agent shot Miramar Martinez five times during Operation Midway Blitz in Chicago, an attack she survived. Over the course of 2025, 32 people died in ICE custody, with at least one death ruled a homicide. This lawlessness has no place in the U.S., and we demand accountability. 

AFC urges Illinoisans to contact their representatives in Congress to demand full funding for HIV and housing programs and to reign in ICE by participating in AIDS United’s action alert, or by calling your members of Congress directly: Tell Congress: No HIV Funding Cuts – AIDS United. 

Alex Pretti was a health care provider who dedicated his life to helping others.  His killing at the hands of ICE is symbolic of the threat ICE poses to the freedom and health of all Americans.  Minneapolis is experiencing a tragic escalation of what we have lived through in Chicago. Many immigrants and citizens here, there, and across the country, including people living with HIV, are terrified to go to the doctor for fear that they will be snatched off the street or worse.  ICE and its deadly occupation of our cities and harassment of our Latine, Black, and immigrant communities will worsen health outcomes for people living with and vulnerable to HIV and other chronic conditions. 32 people are documented to have died in ICE custody in 2025, and nearly all were Black, Latine or other people of color.   

We call on the Trump administration to immediately stop terrorizing communities.  Congress must take action to hold the Department of Homeland Security accountable by stopping all funding for militarized immigration enforcement.   

Learn more and take action: 

IL IMMIGRATION INFO | Know Your Rights 

Stand With Minnesota 

Tell your senators to rein in ICE NOW | Indivisible Guide 

The Center for Housing & Health (CHH) thanks the City of Chicago for its $6 million contribution to the Flexible Housing Pool (FHP) in its Fiscal Year 2026 budget. This funding will sustain rental subsidies and services for neighbors experiencing homelessness at a time when people are under attack from housing policy changes from the Trump administration. We applaud the City’s ongoing leadership with the Flexible Housing Pool.   

While this $6 million in funding is short of our ask of $8.6 million, we know that it was a difficult budget year, which ended in profound disagreements between Mayor Johnson and members of City Council. However, in the face of increased rental and housing costs and increasing numbers of Chicagoans experiencing homelessness, the City of Chicago – the Flexible Housing Pool’s largest funder – showed its alignment to fund the Flexible Housing Pool and we are committed to working with the City of Chicago in the future.  

The Flexible Housing Pool is a collaborative effort between the City of Chicago, Cook County, and other entities which started in 2018. Since then, the Flexible Housing Pool has:   

• Saved public crisis systems over $1.4M
• Decreased utilization of emergency rooms and hospitalizations by 33% while connecting people to stable housing and supportive services
• Helped keep people out of jail
• Improved individual health outcomes
• Created affordable housing units throughout Cook County

The Flexible Housing Pool has kept people housed, healthy, and alive. This is a program that works and is worth investing in. We believe that the City of Chicago and its leadership are committed to protecting all Chicagoans, and we look forward to working with City Council and our Aldermanic allies, the Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS), and the Johnson administration to find an end to homelessness in our city. 

Update – January 5, 2026: On Dec. 19, 2025, AFC was relieved to learn that a Rhode Island federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in the case National Alliance to End Homelessness et al. v. HUD. The injunction temporarily blocks HUD from implementing what the plaintiffs call “unlawful and unreasonable restrictions that seek to shift funding away from proven solutions to homelessness.” Fortunately, this means the proposed changes will not be implemented immediately as HUD had proposed.

However, HUD stated they still intend to move forward with damaging policy changes when they are legally able to do so. Additionally, federal contracts and funding are needed immediately to prevent destabilizing interruptions to housing for formerly homeless people who are now enrolled in HUD-funded programs. AFC will continue work with our local and national partners to urge Congress to direct HUD to immediately issue contracts aligned with current program guidelines and protect evidence-based solutions to homelessness.

As many as 4,000 Chicagoans, 7,500 Illinoisians, and 170,000 people across the country will lose their housing and be at risk of becoming homeless due to a policy change impacting permanent housing funding from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Continuum of Care (CoC) program. Starting as soon as January 2026, 279 housing units for people living with HIV in Chicago will lose funding due to the change. This housing is administered by AIDS Foundation Chicago (AFC), Chicago House, and Housing Opportunities for Women.  Residents are being notified and the organizations are scrambling to do whatever they can to assist clients to prevent them from returning to homelessness.  The organizations will also need to terminate up to 30 jobs as a result of losing this funding.   

The rule change is already disrupting the housing sector across the city, state and country, and over 20 state attorneys general, including Illinois’, have filed suit to stop it.  Another lawsuit was filed by the National Alliance to End Homelessness and national housing advocacy organizations, and federal advocacy efforts are underway. HUD temporarily withdrew the policy change on December 8 to make modifications before a judicial hearing but has stated they intend to release the application again with the same priorities.  Despite the temporary recission, Illinois CoC participants are moving forward with preparations for the policy to take effect, making plans to terminate subsidies for thousands of participants, contacting tenants and landlords, and planning layoffs of staff across the housing sector.  Admissions to CoC housing programs across the city of Chicago have been frozen, meaning people experiencing homelessness will be competing for limited space in emergency shelters and sleeping outside during Chicago’s snowiest winter in decades. 

“This is really an emergency for Chicago’s affordable housing and public health in our city,” said John Peller, President and CEO of AFC.  “The city, state, and national response to the HIV epidemic requires stable housing for people living with HIV. Experiencing homelessness makes people up to 16 times more vulnerable to HIV transmission and other chronic health conditions.  This change is going to make our communities sicker and destabilize thousands of people and families.”  

The HUD policy change would represent a significant loss of funding for Chicago’s housing sector from the HUD Continuum of Care program. It came at the direction of the Trump administration and was published outside of the routine funding review cycle. It represents a reversal of over a decade of HUD policy, which had previously prioritized what is known as Permanent Supportive Housing. Instead, HUD will now cap funding for Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) programs at 30% of all funds released.  It is estimated that 60% of homeless housing programs in Illinois employ a PSH approach, an evidence-based model for addressing homelessness that seeks to stabilize participants by offering housing first, then providing wraparound services such as case management, behavioral health care, and substance use treatment.  Starting in 2026, HUD will instead prioritize funding for time-limited, transitional housing programs that require mandatory mental health and substance use treatment for entry. HUD will also incentivize localities to criminalize homelessness by awarding funds to communities that do so, and Chicago is not expected to receive those discretionary funds as city law does not recognize homelessness as a crime.  

“Permanent supportive housing works, period, and we have decades of research backing that up,” said Peter Toepfer, Executive Director of the Center for Housing and Health. “What this change will do is take housing opportunities away from the people who need it most, and force vulnerable people onto the street and into hospitals, nursing homes and jails.  Studies show that Permanent Supportive Housing programs cost less than the cost to shelter, hospitalize, and incarcerate people who are homeless. Time limits, incarceration, and substance use treatment prerequisites will be a disaster for solving the homelessness crisis.” 

Since the early 1990s, housing programs for people living with HIV have been recognized as essential tools in the work to end the HIV epidemic, starting with bipartisan support of the landmark Ryan White and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) programs. Having stable housing allows people living with HIV to be healthier by enabling medication adherence, personal safety, and the stability needed to keep in contact with case managers and make regular medical appointments. Through these early HIV housing programs, the idea that housing first could improve health outcomes gained ground before becoming the favored approach by HUD prior to this rule change.  

Grants will begin to expire in January 2026 for some housing programs, but the decision to award funds for programs that are able to change to transitional housing models will not be made until May 2026, leaving many organizations with a funding gap that could be difficult or impossible to bridge. In addition, people currently housed in permanent supportive housing who are impacted by this policy change will not qualify to move into the HUD proposed time-limited transitional housing, meaning stably housed Illinoisans with disabilities and chronic health conditions will return to homelessness as a result.  

Legal challenges to the rule change and advocacy efforts are expected to continue.  Regardless of their outcome, clients of housing programs, employees in the housing sector, and state and local budgets are bracing for impact. 

The Center for Housing & Health (CHH) applauds Cook County, led by President Toni Preckwinkle, for their commitment to fund the Flexible Housing Pool at $3.2 million within Cook County Health’s budget for Fiscal Year 2026. At a time when people experiencing homelessness are being criminalized and the programs and subsidies that have kept people housed and healthy are under attack by the Trump regime, we are grateful for the partnership, dialogue, and ongoing support that Cook County has offered the Flexible Housing Pool.  

The Flexible Housing Pool is a collaborative effort between Cook County, the City of Chicago, and other entities which started in 2018. Cook County has been at the table with CHH since the beginning, when this program was just an idea: to end homelessness among people cycling through public crisis systems by establishing a partnership between cross-sector stakeholders. Since then, the Flexible Housing Pool has:  

• created affordable housing units and related supportive services throughout Cook County;  
• saved public crisis systems over $1.4M;  
• helped keep people out of jail;  
• improved individual health outcomes; and 
• decreased utilization of emergency services and hospitalizations by connecting people to stable housing and supportive services. 

Since 2018, and thanks to tremendous support and leadership from Cook County, FHP has kept people housed, healthy and alive. We look forward to continuing this partnership with the County to ensure that all its residents are able to thrive.