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.
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. SFAF has received part of its funding from the annual AIDS Walk SF, which has raised over $80 million for SFAF since the first AIDS Walk in 1987. SFAF additionally funds other local and international HIV/AIDS organizations with proceeds from the walk. AIDS Walk SF severed ties with SFAF after the 2013 walk. SFAF advocates for reducing stigma associated with HIV/AIDS and treatments for it. Congressperson Nancy Pelosi gave tribute to SFAF in October 2004, praising then-executive director Pat Christen. SFAF will open a wellness center in the Castro District in 2015. The 50-Plus Network, developed by Jeff Leiphart, PhD, and Noah Briones, MFT, and currently managed by Vince Crisostomo, offers a growing number of opportunities for older gay men in the San Francisco area to improve health and well-being, connect with peers, and give back to their community.