Why We Ask About Your Health at a Housing Appointment

When you sit down for a housing appointment with AHA, you might be expecting questions about your income, your housing history, or whether you’ve been recently evicted. But you may not expect the conversation to shift toward your health–mental, physical, or otherwise.

And yet, it does.

That’s because for us, housing isn’t separate from health. It never has been.

Whether or not someone has a safe place to live directly affects how they manage chronic conditions, access care, or recover from physical or emotional trauma. And in the same way, someone’s health deeply influences their ability to secure and maintain stable housing.

We ask about your health not because we’re nosy or looking to disqualify you. We ask because it helps us support you more effectively, and it helps us treat you as a whole person, not just a list of housing needs.

Housing Is a Health Intervention

It’s no exaggeration to say that housing can be life-saving. A lack of stable shelter makes it harder to recover from surgery, regulate medications, manage mental health, or receive consistent treatment for chronic conditions. Without a safe and stable place to stay, even getting a good night’s sleep or storing medication becomes difficult.

When we ask about your health, it’s because we understand housing as more than shelter. It’s the foundation that allows people to access healthcare, attend appointments, eat nutritious food, and feel safe enough to heal. If we don’t know what’s going on with your health, we risk helping you into a housing situation that might not meet your actual needs.

We want to set you up for long-term success, not just check a box that says you’re housed.

Health-related questions allow us to understand barriers that aren’t always visible. For example:

• If someone has mobility challenges, we need to make sure their housing has elevators or ground-floor access.

• If someone struggles with sensory processing issues, PTSD, or anxiety, they may need a quieter space or housing away from large crowds or high-stimulation environments.

• If someone is undergoing cancer treatment or living with a serious illness, they may need to live close to medical providers, access reliable transportation, or have access to electricity for medical equipment.

Without this information, it would be easy to place someone in housing that looks good on paper but ultimately doesn’t work for them.

Our goal is to help secure housing that works for you.

Coordinating with Wraparound Services

As a community-based organization, AHA does more than help people find housing. We also help clients get connected to the services and support systems that will help them stay housed.

That includes things like:

• Health insurance enrollment

• Referrals to primary care or mental health services

• Help applying for in-home supportive services or mobility devices

• Nutritional support or food assistance programs

• Ongoing case management

By understanding your health situation, we can proactively connect you to programs that help you in other ways. This not only supports your personal well-being, but it reduces the chances of a future housing crisis.

We also want to acknowledge that talking about health, especially in the context of a housing appointment, can feel uncomfortable. If you’ve experienced discrimination or judgment in healthcare settings, it’s understandable that these questions might feel invasive or unsafe.

That’s why our team approaches these conversations with care, compassion, and confidentiality. We’re not here to penalize anyone for being sick, struggling, or navigating a hard season of life. Our goal is to listen, not to judge. The information you share helps us make more informed referrals and create a support plan that centers your reality, not assumptions.

Health Is a Key to Long-Term Housing Stability

Here’s the reality: many people don’t lose housing because of a single event. Often, it’s a combination of health problems, missed work, unaffordable rent, stress, and system gaps. And on the flip side, when someone’s health starts improving, it’s often because they’ve secured housing that meets their needs.

Housing and health are so tightly connected that we can’t support one without addressing the other. When we ask about your health, it’s because we want to break that cycle. We want to offer support that actually sticks. 

We know it can be hard to open up about your personal health history, especially if you're not used to being treated with dignity in systems that feel impersonal or overwhelming. At AHA, we aim to earn your trust. That means being upfront: your health challenges won’t make us turn you away. They make us fight harder for you.

So if your case manager asks how you’re sleeping, whether you’re in pain, or whether you’ve been to the doctor recently, it’s not because they’re prying. It’s because they care. And because this information can open doors to services, support, and stability.

At AHA, we see the full picture. And we’re here to support all of you, not just the part that needs a place to stay.