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A.H. OF MONROE COUNTY, INC.

Annual Report 2021 January 1, 2021 - December 31, 2021

Message from the Executive Director

HOUSING

Crisis upon crisis seems to have been heaped upon our Nation in the last two years but, on a local level, I don’t think anything surpasses the escalating lack of affordable housing in our City and the Keys. The flight from Key West has only been exacerbated by the pandemic, exposing how fragile the relationship is between paycheck and rent or house payment. How do you quarantine in place when there is no stable place? Recent affordable housing stock, like the Quarry Apartments on Big Coppitt Key, the 280-unit Wreckers Cay and the 104-unit College Road project are all going to be vehicle-dependent. For most people, after housing, transportation is their second biggest expense. Getting from here to there suddenly grows more complicated and not as affordable. So what’s affordable? No more than 30 to 40 percent of your income should be used to rent or for a mortgage. In 2021 we saw, then moved upon, a unique opportunity with the parcel of land known as The 3.2 in Bahama Village, given by the Navy to the City expressly for affordable housing. Some called our initiative “Mission drift” -- that AH has floated afar from its HIV/AIDS directive. But having a Mission doesn’t mean you abdicate your broader community conscience. You expand upon it, assisting friends and neighbors, as we did in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma and the first wave of COVID-19. The Lofts at Bahama Village will be a community for people in our service and public sectors and, significantly, those displaced from Bahama Village due to hardship. The benefits will be many, and not always you’d expect. It preserves a legacy…families who want to continue raising their children in Bahama Village. It reinforces the local vibe that engages tourists, who crave authentic, real places. It subtracts the dependence on a car (or just having one car per-household).

Our community can now request information for The Lofts at our website: www.AHMonroe.org. It’s not an actual application or a certification of eligibility, but a simple Inquiry that precedes the release of the final application. Responses will help us further assess and refine what is most needed in the project. Bear in mind we, the developer and other construction components have a lot of our own shovelwork to do before an actual shovel plunges into the ground. For HEALTH + HOUSING to walk hand-in-hand as partners, there’s a lot of paperwork. With your input, like the successful Referendum permitting this to go forward, we’ll get this done, together.

E. Scott Pridgen, Executive Director, A.H. of Monroe County, Inc.

Message from our Board President I’ll admit it: the Board of Directors was skeptical. When Executive Director Scott Pridgen first proposed the Agency pursue that Bahama Village parcel of land, given to the City by the Navy expressly for affordable housing, known as The 3.2, we collectively wondered why, and then how. It wasn’t so long ago that we finished the complete reinvention -- new construction and expansion -- of Marty’s Place Residential Care Center. Did we really, so soon, want to do this again, folding in potential divisiveness, endless hearings and Town Hall-type gatherings and a public Referendum…all as Key West was still feeling the multiple effects of the pandemic? We were reminded of our Mission, HEALTH + HOUSING, and the mantra of our island: ‘One Human Family’. I, and the Board, publicly commend Scott for his persistence in a vision we quickly came to embrace. To prioritize those who reside in Bahama Village (or had to leave because of hardship, but yearning to return to their memories) and our friends and neighbors struggling to keep a roof over their heads is the goal. You know the rest. By a great margin, the Referendum was approved, and the focus of this year, and next, will be to fulfill the vision outlined by Scott and AH. I take great pride in that, when we say we are going to do something, we do it. As much as it will be transformative, The Lofts at Bahama Village will represent a new foundation in a historical community that defines Key West.

Christopher Elwell President A.H. of Monroe County, Inc.

Message from our CAC Committee Our hope is that we wouldn’t be writing this for a second time, but our Consumer Advisory Committee (CAC) of AH continued its monthly meeting via Microsoft Teams throughout 2021. The CAC is a safe space of comments and concerns. Remaining virtual did not alter our agenda, although we encountered Stephen Aube hurdles with attendees lacking the needed electronic devices or technically-challenged. Who among us hasn’t had a screen freeze or an erratic Internet connection suddenly show us the exit? Still, we managed to communicate with our Executive Director and Management to address the needs of residents of AH-owned or managed housing, plus Agency healthcare clients. One consistent concern was how our Housing

residents fared with COVID safety and compliance. We were gratified to see only a handful of quarantines after exposure. Anxiety and isolation also seemed to dissipate as our country continued to find a way forward with masking, testing, vaccines and boosters. Sensitive to the fact that about 66% of AH clients are over 50 and older (over 50% of those affected by HIV in the USA are also over 50), we welcome discussion about aging and comorbidities, including the toll medications have taken. Our path forward includes increasing CAC’s visibility, membership and participation. We are always seeking motivated individuals to join our advocacy. (Any consumer who attends 3 or more meetings within a 6-month timeframe becomes a voting member.) The CAC is proud to be a key component as neighbors help neighbors have hope and purpose.

Executive Director Scott Pridgen with the 2021 SMART Ride (TSR) check disbursement…a record-breaking $278,522.18, to be used by Medical Case Management to provide services not covered by other grants and resources. This sum would simply NOT have been possible without the stewardship of Donald Dotzauer (pictured below), the captain of the Key West Mile Markers’ team.

AN EPIPHANY Growing up on the rough south side of Chicago, Rick D’Amico, 72, had no inkling what adulthood would bring. “I was shooting crystal meth. I lost a great job of 15 years. I abandoned my wife and kids. And oh yeah, I contracted HIV.” That’s the way Rick talks: unapologetic frankness coupled with incredible gratitude that, for 23 years, he has resided in the AH-owned Harvey House. But back to the Windy City where, on January 15, 1997, it was a frigid fifteen below when he left in a newly-purchased RV stocked with enough drugs to last until Key West, “and then I was going to quit. Narcotics Anonymous (NA) hadn’t worked in Chicago, but I thought warm days and beaches would.” Wrong. So came the moment when Rick chose to take his own life. Hurricane George had damaged the Sugarloaf Key house he rented, destroyed his RV and his HIV was inescapable. His intent was to venture far out and detonate fuel on his sailboat. Then came an epiphany. “I looked at that big ocean and felt the breeze. It was nice. Why blow myself up? Why not live?” Still, he needed a reliable roof over his head, and quick. “When you’re homeless, your only focus is survival. I wanted to thrive.” In one of those there’s-no-such-thing-as-a-coincidence moments, he found himself at the Thursday night Atlantic Shores outdoor movie, sitting alongside a

Medical Case Manager from then-AIDS Help known as ‘Glitter Mary’. “Everyone knew if you’d just hugged her. You’d be covered with glitter,” Rick recalls with a laugh. “By inviting me into the office the next morning to talk about housing, Mary gave me hope. A big ol’ embrace that just about lifted me off of my feet from Pastor (and Medical Case Manager) Arlo Peterson gave me perspective. They both saved my life.” As did the Key West chapter of NA, his sponsor, church and a psychiatrist. He made amends with his children and ex-wife, found a job delivering pizza, cultivated new friends while avoiding anyone using or selling drugs and even had “a relationship or two,” he reveals. “I was and am determined to be a good citizen.” Living anywhere else holds no appeal. “A good friend asked me to consider San Diego. Highways, high-rises, no thanks,” Rick shrugs. “Everyone asks themselves ‘Have I been here too long?” at some point. I have retired in Key West. How many can say that?”

WITH GRATITUDE “Where would I be without AH?” Edward Vosburgh, 59, a Key West Conch who has lived with AIDS since 2000 and resided in the AH-owned Seebol Place for 11 years, contemplates this in thankful silence. That gratitude rolls back to 1996, when he lost both parents, with whom he lived and was very close, within one week’s time. “I couldn’t handle it. I isolated myself. I lost control of my sobriety. And then I ended up in the mangroves.” Which led to arrest, incarceration and a blood draw on July 21, 2000, which revealed his T-cells had dropped below 200, which shifts from an HIV-diagnosis to AIDS. He candidly told the presiding judge, “I am not ready to be out in public. I need more help.” Release to a Marathon recovery house included participation in both 6-month addiction and living with HIV programs. From there, he came into the AH fold as a client. “Did all of that scare the shit out of me? Yes,” but not enough to prevent a single relapse in 2005. Resolutely sober since October 10, 2008, he sought housing on the island on which he grew up from his AH Medical Case Manager, who mentioned that a unit had just come available. His sister, peering through the windows of the vacant apartment, turned to Edward and declared, “You’re going to love this.” He did, and does, citing the Conch-y aesthetic. He’s now the third longest resident of Seebol

HIV Services (Snapshot of 2021) Housing Clients

Gender 1%

15%

35%

84%

65%

# Clients

HIV/AIDS Clients Non-HIV/AIDS Clients

Male 259 Female 48 Transgender 3

Age

# Clients

82 45

HIV/AIDS Status 4%

25% Place, and Edward details the c o n s t a n t improvements made property-wide, including new air-conditioning and water heaters, and describes the cabinetry and double-paned glass of the windows. He enthusiastically recounts how new landscaping with pea rock has improved the front and rear of the property. “Our needs and requests are never ignored. All of the residents have a great rapport with AH management.” Housing has created a safe haven, where “I’m close to several neighbors…one treats me like she’s my mother. I have everything down to a ‘t’,” and proximity to Duval Street and his healthcare providers also gives him “peace of mind. Maintaining my health is very important to me as a disabled person. That’s why I keep tabs on what’s going on around here. I’m not going anywhere,” he announces.

11% 43%

13%

57% 32%

# Clients

20-29 11 30-39 40 40-49 48

15% # Clients

CDC Defined AIDS HIV Positive- Not AIDS

50-59 100 60-69 77 70+ 34

# Clients

177 133

Income 14% 38%

18%

< $12,880 $12,881 - $25,760 $25,761 - $38,640 $38,641- $51,520

# Clients

118 93 55 44

FEDERAL POVERTY LEVEL = $12,880

30%

LEGACY Lakay Barnett, 46, is a 4th generation Conch. She is determined that her daughter Zaylee, 12, will represent the 5th and that she will be raised in a home Lakay owns. “I returned to Key West after college to start a career, work in my community, and raise a family. I remember when we knew our neighbors. People on the street watched out for your kids. Differences in race, sexuality and religious beliefs were respected. That sense of community is vanishing. Homes and land were lost to the military. Everything’s a million dollars. We now have a lot of people who cannot afford to live here,” Lakay notes. “The cost of living, low salaries, inflation…” and her voice trails off. “What can’t be calculated is the strain on teachers, police, firemen, court personnel, and the people who stock our grocery shelves and ring us up. If none of us can afford to live here, who’s going to deliver those services?” So much of her hope, and “for the people who look like me”, are pinned on The Lofts at Bahama Village, the 3.2 acre parcel of Navy land donated to the City expressly for the purpose of affordable housing, both leased and owned. “I especially have to give kudos to our Mayor, Teri Johnston, City Commissioners Clayton Lopez and Sam Kaufman, City Manager Patti McLauchlin, Terrance Lopez, Monroe Holloway, Elisa Levy, Pastor Terri Hill, and to Scott Pridgen at AH,” she says. “In the last 9 months I’ve heard ideas and proposals I haven’t heard in a very long time and we’re seeing actual change: not just the public Referendum for the 3.2, but renovation of Frederick Douglass gym and real debate about the Diesel Plant.” Much of that springs from advocacy, something Lakay knows well. She attended workshops, flyered, participated in streamed Facebook Live discussions and “I even held up VOTE YES! signs on Election Day.” Paired with boots-on-the-ground campaigning was a necessary sense of history. “African-Americans have watched Bahama Village be put on the back

The Lofts at Bahama Village The City needed voters to authorize a 99-year lease of the waterfront land to The Lofts at Bahama Village, the last 3.2 undeveloped acres of Truman Waterfront given to the City 20 years ago expressly for affordable housing, a partnership that includes Vestcor, Toppino, and AH. The Referendum resoundingly gained voter approval in this special election – nearly 70%. The real winner is, of course, Key West, as meetings with the City, DRC, Planning Departments and HARC to refine and finalize the design of the plan. Construction approval is anticipated by December 2022. Completion is planned for April 2024. Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time. We’re just getting started.

burner repeatedly,” Lakay points out. “Too many felt voiceless.” She recalls youth group discussions dating back to 2001, learning about her descendants from historians like Mona C. Clark, Norma Jean Sawyer, her parents, and anecdotes about her community activist family members. She also personally knew of AH’s community commitment. “I had a Summer job with then-AIDS Help working for Ed Seebol and Steve Smith,” she points out. “More non-profits like AH have to work with the City to make affordable housing a reality,” Lakay firmly states. “We’ve given our heart and soul to this island. Home shouldn’t have to be a rental.”

THE ADVOCATE

“Key West is my home. I don’t want to live anywhere else. “ It’s a common local refrain, one that Kevin Paul Taylor, 54, a mailman familiar to the residents of Bahama Village, echoes as he contemplates what comes next in the ongoing battle for Housing Security. “Waiting to apply for an apartment within The Lofts At Bamaha Village,” he observes gravely, “is the only option left to keep me here.” Kevin came from Atlanta Georgia seven years ago and recalls that “budget and availability wasn’t a problem.” Jump-cut: 2021, when, “in my last living situation, the rent increased by 50%. I defy anyone to absorb that.”

What he sees now, as he walks his daily route, are the houses being sold in Bahama Village for excessive amounts, only to “sit empty, occupied for two months out of the year or become vacation rentals” and, more than ever, “being sold and re-sold.“ And that is the fear. Where Kevin lives is now being painted and updated, gestures typically appreciated by a leaseholder, but now, “a lot of restoration and renovation usually means the owner is getting ready to sell. Despite every assurance from a faceless management company that isn’t even local, that’s what lurks in everyone’s mind.” Not only does the inventory diminish but the competition becomes more fierce. Kevin points to the early February closure notice of NAS barracks housing, which could exceed two years, and the availability of housing money for enlisted officers “I respect the military’s service and what they bring to the island, but this has brought even more pressure to the rental market. The working class cannot compete with their access to a housing allowance.” Which is why he volunteered to distribute Referendum flyers and administered a Facebook Page that addressed local concerns and corrected erroneous information. It was all in service of “the secret ingredient” of Key West, Kevin maintains, which is Bahama Village. Yet more needs to be done proactively, not as a belated reaction. “City leaders need to work with the Navy to maximize their land…a taskforce that thinks creatively…that preserves legacy. This community made this island’s culture. People here work hard for their money. They contribute. No one -- especially older, retired folks -- should live in in constant fear of being kicked out into the street,” Kevin states.

Communications/Outreach PR/Marketing, Communications and Prevention/Outreach heighten awareness: awareness of safer sex practices, HIV-testing and other community opportunities for learning. Online Q/As, interventions and counseling are also prevalent via social media (Instagram, Twitter and TikTok) and dating apps like GrindR and SCRUFF. Results are gathered, plans are refined. Some Marketing reaches beyond the Keys, and even Florida, and that is intentional. It is important that AH maintain a presence in the broader picture. We will never have the momentum or influence of New York City, or even Miami; our demographics don’t lend itself to that. But our footprint grows larger as our expertise blossoms.

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Finance Highlights FY 2021 Where Money Comes From

$2,094,286

41%

$1,999,490

39%

14% 4%

$694,352

$180,346

Grants Fundraising Contributions Other Income Rental Properties

$115,668

Where Money Is Spent $266,291

$1,231,691

27%

$2,241,512

50% 15%

Client Services & Education Fundraising Administration Residential Facilities Property Management

$680,543

$87,137

CONTENT AT HOME Loleta Clement, or Leigh, as many better know her, is as feisty at 73 as her red hair. After 25+ years as a Key West resident, she’s seen it all, so the local affordable housing crisis is another reminder of how things have changed. “Rent used to be manageable. Living situations used to be workable, although sharing one bathroom with three women was rough! We have enough grocery stores…where’s a big box store, with fair prices? Not, it’s not the same place I drove into in the early 90’, but what is?! Not me!” she asks, with that husky laugh. After living in Marathon, then the Key West Golf Course, she worked and played in Old Town, where she was a standard at Tuesday ‘Aqua Idol’. “I could walk everywhere when I was in property management and lived on Seminary Street. I didn’t and don’t have a car.” She also came to see that stability and community was just as important as proximity. Her move into AH-owned housing was an offshoot of casual conversations she’d had while on the Board of Directors at Samuel’s House. A friend, Chuck Brown, invited her to a Consumer Advisory Committee a smaller AH-owned property. From there, it was meeting at AH and, after meeting John Guy, Property to the 3rd floor of Poinciana Royale which, she sly Manager, it was a year’s wait for an apartment at observes, “is the best floor! I love everyone here.” And they love her…including the dogs. “I have the treats. You see, my 5 year-old Jack Russell, Deenarose, and I go to the gazebo every morning for coffee at 8:30 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. That’s the routine I keep now. If I need to go somewhere, I ride free on the Monroe County Transit. I couldn’t even tell you the last time I was in a club.” She adds slyly, “Of course, when I see the first sign of gray hair, I head to CVS!”

A.H. of Monroe County, Inc.

www.AHMonroe.org

CURRENT BOARD OF DIRECTORS President Christopher Elwell Vice President Laurie McChesney Treasurer Marcus Varner Secretary Gregory S. Oropeza, Esq. Members Stephen Aube Rebecca Balcer Juan Benitez David Campbell-O’Dell Neil Chamberlain Donna Feldman Jennifer Hughes Jacqueline Luhta John Spottswood III Dawn Thornburgh Executive Director E. Scott Pridgen

A.H. OF MONROE COUNTY, INC.

OFFICES KEY WEST - LOWER KEYS Gordon Rollins Center 1434 Kennedy Drive Poinciana Royale 1341 McCarthy Lane Marty’s Place Residential Care Center 1909 Venetia Street MARATHON - MIDDLE KEYS Ruth Ivins Center 3333 Overseas Hwy. TAVERNIER - UPPER KEYS Roth Building 50 Highpoint Road KEY LARGO - UPPER KEYS First Horizon Bank 99451 Overseas Hwy, Ste 200

STAFF LIST Esneider Gomez Daniel Suarez DeKariss Barnett Giselda Liotta Guillermo Vasquez Jason Hatch Jennifer Suarez Joan Higgs Susan Kent Joe Petrick John Guy Lauren Cuviello Mark Tischler Margie Adair Cooper Mary Tucker Michael Hodge Michelle Norwood Nicholas Cuviello Randy Bickers Rodney Ross

A. H. of Monroe County, Inc. Mission Statement Counseling, Testing, Linkage to Care The object, general purpose and nature of this Corporation shall be to establish and maintain in Monroe County, Florida, a Corporation that will provide case managed health care, food programs, counseling, housing, clinical, and other supportive and volunteer services. Increase affordable housing by acquiring, developing, and maintaining low income housing for persons in need. Conduct health education and linkage to care.