After five years of helping San Franciscans with HIV/AIDS secure stable housing, the nonprofit agency AIDS Housing Alliance/SF is looking for assistance itself. According to Brian Basinger, AHASF's founder and director, the group is anticipating major cuts in the funding it has been receiving from the city.
Basinger noted that the Department of Public Health is facing millions of dollars in cuts, and money it gave AHASF for five of the group's 10 single-occupancy hotel rooms will not appear in the department's 2008-09 fiscal budget. That leaves AHASF needing to cover $50,000 for five of the rooms.
In addition, the Mayor's Office of Housing, which is facing a cut in federal community block grants - has recommended cutting AHASF's contract from $35,000 to $25,000. If the cut is made, Basinger said his group will have to give "serious consideration" to the number of staff it can retain, which could in turn affect the level of service AHASF provides.
AHASF also receives $50,000 from the Mayor's Office of Community Development: That funding is expected to remain stable, said a city spokesperson.
AHASF's annual budget is $225,000, said Basinger. Everyone who works there, including Basinger, makes $10 an hour. "I challenge anyone to find another agency that pays the executive director $670 a month," he said.
From July 2007 to February 2008, AHASF served 307 unduplicated clients and housed 102 people at the hotel, where people can stay up to 28 days. "We turn people away every week for our hotel program, which is not what we like to do," said Basinger. "We need more hotel rooms, not less."
05/01/08
CALIFORNIA: AIDS Housing Alliance Faces Cuts
Source: Bay Area Reporter :: Seth Hemmelgarn; Courtesy of the CDC National Center for HIV, STD, and TB Prevention