Housing Opportunities for People with HIV/AIDS (HOPWA)

What is Housing Opportunities for People with HIV/AIDS or HOPWA? 

The Office of HIV/AIDS Housing in US Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Office of Community Planning and Development (CPD) instituted The Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (or HOWPA) program and was established in 1990.  Created in the AIDS Housing Opportunities Act, a part of the Cranston-Gonzales National Affordable Housing Act; the main purpose of this program is to provide housing assistance and related supportive services for low-income persons living with HIV and their families.

It also facilitates community efforts to develop comprehensive strategies to address HIV housing need and assists communities to create housing strategies to prevent these individuals from becoming homeless or unstably housed.  With improvements in drug therapies and medical care reducing the number of deaths, people are living longer with HIV; therefore, there is an increasing demand for essential supportive services, including housing.

The State of Nevada Office of  HIV can geographically proivde services in the following counities: Washoe, Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Mineral, Churchill, Pershing, Humboldt, Lander, Eureka, White Pine, Nye and Elko. Historically, due to project sponsor interest, services have been centered in nothern Nevada, specifically, Washoe and Carson City. In 2026, the Office of HIV was able to begin providing services to residents in Nye, specifically, the City of Pahrump.

Services for Clark County, including Henderson, are provided by the City of Las Vegas exclusively. Please refer to their page related to HOPWA, as well their current provider list. 

To learn more about service delivery and eligiblity for HOPWA through the Office of HIV, please refer to this link.