Carson, Damien center highlight federal housing investment INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Damien Center, Indiana’s oldest and largest AIDS service organization, leaders on Tuesday said new federal funding will help them continue a program that maintains supportive housing for those most in need. U .S. André Carson, D-Indiana, announced he has secured $850,000 in funding for the Damien Center’s master lease program. Through the program, the center takes out leases for affordable housing in its name and then places people who are unable to get housing on their own. Damien Center CEO Alan Witchey said the program helps people living with HIV but is not limited to them. The program funds permanent supportive housing, which combines housing with other services a person might need, such as mental health services. “Indianapolis has one of the highest eviction rates in the country,” he said. “Each one of those evictions, it can happen because somebody loses their job, because they get sick, and it will spiral very quickly, and that makes it very hard to rehouse people.” Witchey said the center inspects all of the housing it uses before it places anyone and sends case managers to check on program participants regularly. Carson said he secured the funding as part of a larger $13 million budget line item for housing. “It was a no-brainer for us. Even in the midst of a very tightly constrained budetary matters with the Trump administration and being in the minority, we were able to squeeze $13 million out of the Trump administration and make it work,” he said. Witchey said the funding will cover 30 housing units for five years. ...read more read less