Fox House to close

Joseph Ramos lived in the Fox House for about six months last year. He described the building as "a gift from God."\n"It was a beautiful place," he said. "It was a good idea, but it was like a zoo."\nA recovery residence for people living with HIV and AIDS, the Fox House will be shut down by the Center of Behavioral Health, its property manager, when its five-year lease ends in December. The house is widely known to have suffered from financial and management woes since opening in 1996. \n"It appears the nature of the epidemic has changed somewhat," said David Carrico, director of clinical services for the Center of Behavioral Health. "The demand for this type of housing is not needed right now. (Closure of houses for people with AIDS) is a phenomenom across the country.\n"The other reason is that (Fox House) was never adequately funded or staffed," Carrico said. "There were a variety of reasons for that, but if it was going to be a program, there needed to be staffing attached to it, as well as some funding source."\nCarrico said when the house was created by grant money from Housing for People with AIDS in 1996, no operational funds were attached. Plagued by several residents who failed to pay rent and without grant money to support it, he said its closure was inevitable.\n"We submitted a successful grant to AIDServe Indiana, the funding body for these kinds of programs in this state," Carrico said. "That was a program that just went out of business. Before we got any money from that grant, they closed. We never did receive anything."\nThe decision to close the facility upset Ramos. He feels the house, named after AIDS victim Thomas H. Fox, is a positive and essential attribute to the care of HIV and AIDS patients in Indiana.\n"Once you come out of the hospital and have HIV, you need a place to regroup so you can get your mind right," Ramos said. "The reason these people weren't paying rent is because there was drug activity in the Fox House, there was drinking in the Fox House. It was good for Indiana -- but we didn't screen the people going in."\nRamos cited a number of factors in the house's failure, including lack of supervision, funds and resources.\n"What we're doing is cutting our own throat," Ramos said. "In reality, there are people who really need a place like the Fox House. But (Positive Link) didn't strong-arm. They didn't screen. They didn't talk to these people, to find out if they were addicts, if they were ex-cons, to see if they had a mental condition. You have to screen people -- even if they're HIV positive. We're going to lose these grants, in every program, in every state."\nRamos also cited the lack of supervision or acknowledgement of the different types of people who have to deal with AIDS.\n"You have to separate the problem," Ramos said. "If you are gay, you have counseling with a gay person who can deal with that. If you just came out of jail, deal with a person on that level. Separate the issues -- it would work. Unfortunately, there's not enough people to go around."\nCarrico said the decision to close the home has been in place since earlier this year.\n"We made the decision that we would no longer continue as the property manager," Carrico said. "No other group or entity has come forth to continue as the property manager. We've gone through many community meetings about this issue. Since that was the case, the owner (of the building) is applying for a waiver to use the house for other purposes."\nCarrico said two residents are presently living in Fox House, and the facility will potentially accept candidates through the expiration of its lease.\nRobert Fox, father of Thomas H. Fox, said while he and his wife were only involved with the Fox House on a volunteer level, they're devastated to see the house close.\n"We're sorry, of course, to see it come to this kind of a close. We've been pretty close to the situation," Fox said. "But we have had no connection to this house, other than as volunteers."\n"There probably won't be another program like the Fox House," Ramos said. "They think it's a loss, a waste of time. But it was a good thought"