Sky-high real-estate prices increasingly leave many HIVers out in the cold. Subsidized housing options for people with HIV and limited income offer a warm alternative.

HOPWA GRANTS help PWAs on a tight budget. But the 75-city program is drastically underfunded and has long wait lists. “We see movement only when people get evicted or pass away,” Angel Vargas, Hyacinth’s HOPWA coordinator, told us.

HOUSING-CHOICE VOUCHERS (formerly Section 8) also serve people with disability or limited income. Again, demand far exceeds funding, and long lines see movement only for brief application periods advertised in local newspapers.

The HUD website (www.hud.gov) offers user-friendly info on HOPWA, housing-choice vouchers and other subsidies; public housing agencies; and general renting and buying. Find a local housing-counseling agency at www.hud.gov/offices/ hsg/sfh/hcc/hccprof14.cfm, call 800.569.4287 or enlist an ASO (AIDS service organization) case manager (www.thebody.com/hotlines/other.html).