Gilad Edelman Photo
HIV/AIDS patients found a reason to clap and cheer Tuesday night — a zoning decision that will allow them to keep a roof over their heads.
A group of patients broke into the applause in the basement of 200 Orange St. as the Board of Zoning Appeals approved a request by Leeway House, a nursing home and residential care center for people with HIV/AIDS, most of whom are homeless.
The request sounded inconsequential to the casual listener: permission to expand a nonconforming use by building a walkway between two neighboring buildings.
But as executive director Heather Aaron (at right in photo alongside Leeway board vice-chair Howard Reitman) explained, the consequences for some of the residents are major. State law limits who can be housed in a “skilled” care facility; Leeway bought the neighboring property to create a “step-down” facility where some residents who no longer qualify for “skilled” care can live. If Leeway hadn’t gotten approval for the connecting passageway, Aaron said, those patients would have been forced to leave, which would mean ending up back on the street.
That would undermine Leeway’s core mission, which is to prevent homelessness and rehospitalization among the population it serves. The former contributes to the latter, as homelessness makes a person 60 times more likely to go to the emergency room, said Aaron.
The Leeway facility in question is housed on Albert Street, a short road off State Street near the Hamden border.
The board’s approval was met with cheers, applause, and hugs exchanged among the dozen or so residents, family members and caretakers who came to support the application. The seemingly small decision will have a big impact on their lives.
“This is their home,” Aaron said.