Housing Works: Fighting High on Diversity

Housing Works has one noble fight: to fight homelessness and AIDS. It was put up in 1990 by four members of the legendary AIDS activist group ACT UP—Keith Cylar, Charles King, Eric Sawyer, and Virginia Shubert in order to serve New York City's thousands of homeless people - men, women and children living with HIV and AIDS. 

Why the name Housing Works? The founders believed that stable housing could help people afflicted with HIV live healthy, fulfilling lives, while preventing the further spread of the disease. Thus, it has since been fulfilling its mission through its 3 pillars of:

Advocacy - fighting for funding and legislation to make sure all people living with HIV/AIDS have access to quality housing, healthcare, HIV prevention information and other life-sustaining services, as well as legal protections from stigma and discrimination; 

Services - These include, among others, stable housing, healthcare, meals and nutritional counseling, mental health and substance use treatment, job training, and legal assistance;

Entrepreneurial Businesses -  The concept is to be self-sustaining; thus Housing Works' social enterprise allows them to earn money to support their efforts and provide employment opportunities to the community in addition to fundraising.

Housing Works shares its commitment to diversity with DiversityWorking, hence it has partnered with it in their search for qualified, dedicated individuals who thrive in a vibrant, celebratory and diverse work environment, and love to make a difference in the lives of others. Housing Works indeed provides plenty of opportunities for that, in addition to other great benefits it offers. 

Aside from employment, Housing Works also provides opportunities for volunteerism.

Truly, a healing community, to date Housing Works has provided lifelong services to more 20,000 homeless and low-income New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS since its founding.