The mission of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) is to hasten the end of the AIDS epidemic and its impact on society. It has served as a major resource center for educating the public in order to prevent the transmission of HIV, helping all individuals make informed choices about AIDS-related concerns, and protecting the human rights of those affected by HIV. It has provided necessary client services for those in San Francisco affected by HIV, and assisted other organizations in achieving related goals.

The SFAF was organized in April of 1982 as the Kaposi's Sarcoma Research and Education Foundation (KSREF) by a group of community leaders and physicians. Initially it was a volunteer-operated, single telephone, information and referral hotline stationed in a tiny back room at 520 Castro. By the fall of 1982 it had moved into a small suite at 512 Castro and was becoming nationally recognized for its up-to-date information about AIDS. It obtained its first contracts for educational services with the San Francisco Department of Public Health (SFDPH) and the state of California in late 1982 and early 1983.

As its reputation grew, an attempt was made to expand into a national organization and the KSREF was reorganized as the AIDS/KS Foundation, Inc (AKF), with Phil Conway as National Director. Other chapters formed in Sacramento, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Rick Crane, the first AKF Director (initially a volunteer position), continued as Director of the San Francisco chapter. When the national organization faltered, the three chapters split off. The San Francisco chapter, which had moved to 51 10th street in October of 1983, reorganized as the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF) early in 1984. Crane left that year and Jim Ferrels was hired. Ferrels left in 1985 and Tim Wolfred replaced him as Executive Director, following another move, to 333 Valencia.

Wolfred managed SFAF over the next five years as the agency and its programs grew rapidly. In 1987 the Valencia office was overflowing, and administrative offices were moved to 25 Van Ness. A funding crisis in 1989 instigated an extensive and demoralizing cutback in staff and programs. After guiding SFAF through this troubled period, Wolfred stepped down. Pat Christen, who began as an assistant in the education department and later moved up to Director of Public Policy, was chosen as Executive Director to replace Wolfred. In 1990 the rest of the SFAF offices were moved from Valencia to 25 Van Ness Street where the agency continued to occupy several suites. In 1993 executive offices, along with fiscal, personnel, policy, development, and campaigns, moved into additional space on Market Street, and then relocated in 1995 to 10 UN Plaza. By late 1995 the entire agency had moved to that address.

Client services have included health counseling, support groups, housing, client advocacy and referrals. Special focus services exist or have existed for women, people of color, and non-English speaking people. The first head of Client Services was Steve Pratt, who started in 1983 and left the following year. He was succeeded by Tristano Palermino for the years 1984-1986, followed by Hank Tavera from 1986 through 1989. Tavera was co-chair of the Third World AIDS Advisory Task Force during much of this same period. In 1990 Michael Lee replaced Tavera as Client Services Director. Catherine Maier was coordinator of Women's Services during the later 1980s and early 1990s.

The AIDS Food Bank, organized in 1983 as a separate project, was administered by Cary Norsworthy. In 1984 Norsworthy also organized a Thanksgiving Dinner for PWAs at the Valencia Rose, a gay-owned cabaret. This became an annual event, with SFAF producing it under Norsworthy's guidance for several years. The Food Bank (Client Services) continued to serve a needy population for several years. In the restructuring of 1989, SFAF administration decided to eliminate the Food Bank as an SFAF unit. In 1990 it began to operate as an interim joint venture of the AIDS Foundation and Project Open Hand. Since July of 1991 it has been administered by Project Open Hand, which retains records from 1983 on.

The Education department was initially headed by Mitch Bart, who moved into another position and was replaced by Lyn Paleo. Paleo headed the department for the next several years, with Chuck Frutchey as a long-time staff member. Early on, Paleo ran the Northern California Program (often referred to as NorCal), traveling throughout the region to give workshops and encourage the development of AIDS services at the local level. As more agencies opened, the need for the Northern California outreach diminished, and this project ended in 1987. Paleo left SFAF about 1988, and Frutchey was named Director of Education, a position he retained until his retirement in 1994. Among all his other duties, Frutchey was the unofficial historian of the Foundation. He repeatedly rescued and protected records from throughout SFAF, and it is because of Frutchey that many of the records in this collection survived.

Three main strategies have been used to promote education by SFAF. The AIDS Hotline was a de facto operation from the day the telephone was connected in the Castro office in 1983. Over time its services have been used by hundreds of thousands of callers, a remarkable feat for a completely volunteer-staffed service. Various proposals have been made over time to organize non-English language hotline services. Of these, only a Filipino Hotline was ever developed.

Another strategy employed by the Education Department was community outreach through forums, workshops, and other events. The final strategy employed individual educational campaigns which either highlighted a particular message, or targeted a specific group, or both. One of the tactics for developing campaigns, especially those targeting specific groups, was the use of focus groups composed of members of the targeted groups. The focus groups serve as temporary advisory bodies which review proposed campaign images and text. Products have included posters, pamphlets, videotapes, a coloring book, and other materials. Though these materials were originally distributed and/or sold directly by SFAF, in the early 1990s a switch was made, giving exclusive distribution rights to a group called Impact AIDS. The Education Department has also sponsored two newsletters, BETA (a technical journal focusing on AIDS treatments), and Positive News (a general educational newsletter).

The Media Services office has operated since the early days as well. A Public Policy office was added during the mid-1980s. Media Services eventually was subsumed under Public Policy. This office is the advocacy arm of SFAF, which performs research and development for the local, state, and federal government and private sectors, lobbies legislative bodies, holds occasional forums, issues press releases, and responds to media requests.