Jane and Todd Present on Augusta Home

About to start construction: an innovative model for aging in place with HIV

Augusta Home is not your typical gut renovation. It’s a pilot project for an Aging-in-Place care model for people with HIV/AIDS developed by local nonprofit Chicago House, and it is receiving national attention from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and other housing, social service, and medical organizations across the country.

In 2024, Chicago House was selected as one of just 13 national grantees through HUD’s highly competitive Special Projects of National Significance (SPNS) funding opportunity. Thanks to that funding, Chicago House has partnered with WJW to redesign and renovate a three-story residential building in Chicago's West Town neighborhood to provide housing tailored to the needs of those living with HIV.

Today, more than half of all people living with HIV in the United States are over the age of 50. For those with chronic health conditions such as HIV, it is common to experience “accelerated aging,” where age-related conditions emerge earlier than expected due to the long-term effects of a chronically inflamed immune system.

Chicago House recently hosted HUD HOPWA (Housing Opportunities for Persons With AIDS) HINT (Housing Interventions to End the HIV Epidemic Program) grantees, Office of HIV Housing staff, and local HUD CPD representatives for a special event at their North Lawndale campus. Jane and Todd presented WJW's work on the renovation of Augusta Home, which will serve as a national pilot site for housing designed specifically for older adults living with HIV. Our work on this project began with participatory design workshops through which WJW engaged stakeholders, including partner organizations, community members, Chicago House staff, and experts in the field. These workshops helped us to identify the design principles that should inform the design of this and other projects providing housing for older adults living with HIV. Chicago House shared the early results from their innovative Aging in Place stratified housing model. Todd and Jane discussed the design principles employed for the Aging-in-Place care model and discussed how this approach can support older adults living with HIV.

Augusta Home is expected to open in late 2027; stay tuned for more updates!