Apartments Open to AIDS Virus Sufferers

More than two dozen residents are beginning the New Year in a new home--Hagan Place--the first apartment building in Orange County built specifically for people disabled by the AIDS virus.

“They’re in and they’re happy,” said the manager of the 25-unit apartment building, which is located at the edge of the downtown business district.

“Some had been displaced for a while because they were unable to work and had lost their homes,” said the manager, who didn’t want to be identified. “They’re very grateful now to be able to be living independently again.”

After a series of delays in getting the building open, residents began moving in by early November.

By Christmas, the relief of finally being settled had actually improved some residents’ physical health, the manager said.

“They seem to be blossoming and rallying,” he said. “Stress, for people with HIV, is one of the things that contributes to their physical illnesses. The fact that they have a place now has relieved” that stress.

For some residents, the stress was compounded by delays in getting Hagan Place open, said tenant Thomas Nylund, who stayed with friends while waiting for the new apartment building to open.

“It feels good not to be up in the air,” Nylund said. “It feels good to have a place I can afford and not having to worry about whether I’m going to run out of money by the end of the month.”

The $3.2-million housing project was financed largely by a U.S. Housing and Urban Development grant and was promoted by Affordable Housing Project of Orange County Inc., a nonprofit organization.

Residents, whose names were selected during a lottery, pay about $250 per month to live in the tiny, one-bedroom apartments.

AIDS support groups and a local community clinic have been offering information to tenants, and volunteers have been arranging ride-sharing, the manager said.

“I must say, there’s an awful lot of love in this community,” he said.