November 2003

Project New Hope Profiled

Project New Hope (PNH), the affordable housing initiative founded in 1990 by the Bishop’s Commission on AIDS Ministry of the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles at the urging of commission member Jack Plimpton, long-time NEAC member and former director, was featured in the Sunday Los Angeles Times on October 26th. “Never in my dreams did I think I’d be living in such a wonderful place,” said one of the tenants. PNH’s chief financial officer, Renee Ordeneaux, said, “On average our clients’ income is $671 a month. The average rent in Los Angeles for a one-bedroom is $1,000 a month. It’s a problem.” Half the people who receive housing from PNH were previously homeless. About 40% of the clients served by PNH are Latino.

Gunther Freehill, with the Los Angeles County Office of AIDS Programs and Policy,” said, “Housing is critical so people can live stable lives and consume HIV medical services. Some of the HIV medications require refrigeration. That’s really tough to do when you don’t have a home.”

PNH operates 179 units in the area and is building a 25-unit complex in South Los Angeles. It also offers 20 beds in transitional housing and 22 beds with 24-hour staffing for residents unable to live on their own. Since 1993 PNH has also operated New Hope Business Services, the first vocational service program on the West Coast for people living with HIV/AIDS; it has remote learning sites in the apartment complexes it manages.