Our Mission
Our Vision
San Francisco AIDS Foundation envisions a future where health justice is achieved for all people living with or at risk for HIV. Ultimately, we strive for a day when: race is not a barrier to health and wellness; substance use is not stigmatized; HIV status does not determine quality of life; and HIV transmission is eliminated.
Our Mission
San Francisco AIDS Foundation promotes health, wellness, and social justice for communities most impacted by HIV, through sexual health and substance use services, advocacy, and community partnerships.
Our Values
Being the organization we need to achieve our mission requires that every aspect of our work is rooted in these core values.
Justice: We strive for diversity, equity, and inclusion of communities most impacted by HIV in our programs and across all levels of the organization. We are committed to recognizing, interrupting, and addressing oppression.
Dignity: We recognize that all people have dignity and have the right to be respected; no one’s choices should be judged. We work to destigmatize sex, sexuality, gender identity and expression, substance use, and disability. We believe in consent and autonomy for all bodies. We encourage everyone to define their own needs and make their own choices, and support them to build self-efficacy.
Courage: We are bold and brave in our choice and promotion of new or controversial ideas that
advance our mission through our services and programs. We are not afraid of failure and understand that learning from our experience always makes us stronger. Our work is often difficult, but we care for ourselves and each other so we can endure.
Leadership: We advance public health best practices and contribute to the latest science in the field of public health. We work tirelessly to change laws and policies that inhibit the health and wellness of people living with or at risk for HIV. We lead with humility, collaborating and sharing ideas to both learn from others and support their growth.
Excellence: We provide outstanding support for staff and highest quality services to clients, through integrated service models, continuous evaluation and improvement of programs, strong strategic partnerships, responsible stewardship of resources, and regular examination and enhancement of workplace culture and capacity.
Our Core Strategies
We use three mutually-reinforcing core strategies to create the greatest positive change in our communities. We focus on:
- Providing integrated sexual health and substance use services;
- Advocacy, which includes policy and system-fix work, public education, capacity-building and research; and,
- Strengthening and building community partnerships.
Who we serve
San Francisco AIDS Foundation provides services, community, and spaces for people of all ages, races, ethnicities, immigration status, HIV status, and gender identity. Our priority communities are people living with HIV; gay, bisexual, and queer men; transgender and gender non-binary people; and people who inject drugs. Within these communities, we further prioritize people of color, people experiencing homelessness and unstable housing, people over age 50, people living with hepatitis C, people who use substances, and people with mental health care needs.
We recognize that these communities are not mutually exclusive nor is this list exhaustive, as there are many intersections in our identities and experiences. For example, people with disabilities, undocumented immigrants, and people for whom English is not a native language intersect with every priority community.
