I hate writing this review because it's so sad. I am 59, have had HIV since 2005, am troubled by a number of issues including 1) Sutter Health (Bay Area's octopus healthcare hospital chain) having changed my ADAP/OAHIPP enrollment person from an R.N., one of two, who acted like a warm social worker to an obnoxious guy (replaced both of them) who would not even answer what his background is, presumably as part of cost cutting. That is my immediate problem but I also have questions about 2) evaluating my own dis/ability or not (I'm self-employed but struggling), and 3) concerns over certain cognitive "crossed wires" I've been noticing, which I can't tell whether are normal symptoms of aging or something worse and invisible to others because I am bright, so if I've lost a few marbles I still seem to have plenty. :) One more piece of background for why I find this painful to post is that my longtime companion is a stalwart of the SFAF AIDS Life Cycle (fundraising bicycle ride, couple thousand riders, six days, SF to LA every June - huge undertaking.) So, needing an hour with a social worker, I called the SFAF intake line, and exactly the same as when I first caught HIV, and badly needed some help, but bizarrely (given that this IS San Francisco) could not find any (I'm not the usual social service agency client), my call today wanting time with a social worker to make sense out of what steps I should consider or take was useless. When I called today there was *no* suggestion of being able to see me, only an immediate effort (after I'd survived an incredibly abrupt receptionist) to shuttle me off to Positive Resource Center, which is a well-regarded local specialized nonprofit organization designed to help people sort out and get disability benefits (I don't think I am ready to throw in the towel on working, but would benefit from an hour of counsel about those options)...AND other available services and help which is why I started with SFAF instead of PRC to begin with. Over two decades, SFAF has absorbed nearly all of the other local AIDS Inc. nonprofits, under the theory that they deliver the services comprehensively. Not so far as I can determine as a client in need of a little bit of qualified counsel. I am just as alone as ever. This strikes me as a Red Cross-like hollowed out dominant agency which gets by simply based on size and history. One offsetting comment is that perhaps 12-15 years ago I had occasion professionally to provide service to SFAF in the context of legal/tax exemption refinements, and I found the management team to be extraordinarily competent and responsive. Just not when I needed actual help.
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- EIN 94-2927405
- feedback@sfaf.org
- 415-487-3000
- 995 Market St. San Francisco CA 94103 USA
- www.sfaf.org
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Nonprofit Overview
Causes: AIDS, AIDS Research, Civil Rights, Health
Mission: The San Francisco AIDS Foundation provides leadership to prevent new HIV infections. Linking community experience with science, the Foundation develops ground-breaking prevention programs and bold policy initiatives to promote health and create sustainable progress against HIV. Established in 1982, the Foundation refuses to accept that HIV transmission is inevitable.
Geographic areas served: San Francisco Bay Area
Programs: Community based health and prevention services:the foundation's community-based health and prevention services include magnet, the african-american prevention initiative, latino programs, positive force and bridgemen. Magnet, sfaf's health clinic for gay men in the castro, completed 41,948 std testing encounters, 5,055 std treatment encounters, and 11,089 hiv testing and counseling encounters. The african-american prevention initiative (comprised of the black brothers esteem and dreaam programs) provided over 400 african-american clients with 1,724 hours of targeted prevention services, including drop-in support groups, workshops, and events. Latino programs served more than 150 people with on-going skills-building process groups and health workshops. Positive force and bridgemen programs provided 924 hours of prevention case management and workshops, making 2,056 client contacts in 2014-15. The foundation's newest community-based program, 50-plus, served more than 150 clients in 2014-15. Care coordination for hiv-positive clients included case management and financial benefits assistance, and two "centers of excellence" (coes): black health and cchamp (chronic care hiv/aids multidisciplinary program). The case management/financial benefits team provided 4,548 hours of client advocacy, financial benefits counseling, care coordination and case management to 695 people living with hiv. The black health coe provided 3,680 hours of case management and peer advocacy services to more than 150 hiv-positive african americans, while cchamp provided 2,825 hours to over 150 gay men, transwomen, and injection drug users.
substance health services:substance health services include syringe access services and the stonewall project. Syringe access services completed 31,627 direct client contacts with idus distributing a total of over 2. 4 million syringes during 1,579 syringe access session hours. The stonewall project provided 11,018 hours of prevention and treatment services, including support groups, individual counseling, workshops, and events.
housing services:sfaf's rental subsidies program provided housing assistance to 405 unduplicated clients during the fiscal year through three long-term subsidy programs (partial, shallow, and full rental subsidies). The three programs provided a total of 134,503 nights of rental assistance during this period.
advocacy and education:beta blog:the foundation maintains beta blog to reach a broad audience with timely and diverse hiv prevention and treatment news and educational resources. Articles and posts are published 3 to 5 times per week, ranging from analyses of scientific breakthroughs to columns from regular contributors about safer-sex practices. The blog received more than 200,000 page views and 100,000 unique visitors. Also, the foundation published four print and electronic issues of hiv resource, our newsletter connecting readers with hiv-related clinical trials and free medical care in the san francisco bay area. Communications:the foundation has a comprehensive marketing and communications plan in place to raise awareness about all program and policy initiatives. Specific activities in 2014/2015 included: using the foundation's website, with more than 3,600 unique visitors daily, to publish original news articles, highlight client services, promote fundraising events, explain policy initiatives, and share press releases and official foundation statements related to developments in science, research, and politics. The foundation published 12 issues of its monthly e-newsletter called status. Status is distributed to a mailing list of more than 35,000 subscribers, and all the articles are posted on the foundation website, sfaf. Org. Status includes news articles, feature stories about clients and staff members, and information about foundation events. Status also provides detailed information about programs, services, and increases aids awareness. The foundation's facebook page has grown to 37,100 followers. It is one of the most active and engaged online communities for an aids service organization. Sfaf also maintains an active twitter feed. We utilize these social sites to promote hiv awareness, highlight our work, and encourage involvement with the foundation. Major special events, such as aids/lifecycle were promoted nationally and locally in broadcast, print, and electronic media. The foundation is also routinely called upon by journalists as one of the most respected hiv/aids organizations in the world.