San Antonio AIDS housing project stirs fears

Residents of a San Antonio neighborhood in which an eight-unit housing facility for HIV-positive single mothers is being built are expressing fears that the complex could lead to HIV infections among neighborhood children, the San Antonio Express-News reports. "It was something we weren't expecting," neighborhood resident Jose Batista said at a town hall meeting called by Bexar County health officials to address the concerns. Parents are fearful that HIV-positive children could infect their children with HIV by biting them, although the health officials assured those concerned that no such case of HIV transmission has ever been recorded in Texas. The concerned parents also were upset that the housing facility was being built across the street from an elementary school. The housing project is being funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and coordinated by Alternative Housing Corp. AHC president Rod Radle says the project had met no opposition in more than a dozen local neighborhood association meetings until the most recent town hall discussion. He says the project, located on vacant land near bus transportation and caregivers, will continue. "We're trying to help homeless people get back to work, get back into the community," he said.