San Francisco AIDS Foundation

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) is a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing services for people with HIV/AIDS, with a mission to end the AIDS epidemic in the United States. They were founded in 1982, at the beginning of the AIDS epidemic. SFAF is one of the largest and oldest community-based AIDS service organizations in the United States. SFAF has an 87.67% overall rating, and a 97% accountability & transparency rating, at Charity Navigator. History The SFAF was established in April 1982 as the Kaposi's Sarcoma Research and Education Foundation, by Cleve Jones, Marcus Conant, Frank Jacobson, and Richard Keller. They reorganized as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation in 1984. The SFAF was originally an all volunteer group led by physicians and gay community leaders. It began by providing a hotline service originally called the Kaposi Sarcoma or KS hotline that was later renamed along with the organization. The Hotline was intended to serve as a source of accurate information about the AIDS epidemic. It was initially available in Northern California but the organization's growth would see it expand nationwide. By 1995, the SFAF reported receiving more than 10,000 calls every month on their Northern California AIDS Hotline. By October 1982 the foundation officially began working with the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Through collaboration the SFAF was able to provide public services meant to educate people about AIDS. By November the foundation was working with the California Department of Health Services to provide the same services to other areas of California. The SFAF conducted a large advertising campaign, placing messages on public transportation, popular newspapers, and strategically placed advertisements in venues and media popular with the gay community. The foundation also worked with journalists to increase awareness and understanding of the epidemic. The media produced by the SFAF focused on risk reduction and safe sex. In particular the Foundation emphasized the use of condoms during anal intercourse for gay men, and cautioned against activities that shared bodily fluid. By 1983 the foundation had reached the point where they could establish a social services department that could offer emergency services to those affected by AIDS and related issues.