Letter from the Director
Believe Them the First Time.
“When someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time.” This incredible quote from Maya Angelou is often interpreted as how others might display their character through actions and behavior. So, it was only fitting that when the Alliance Health Project turned 40 years strong in 2024, we launched the campaign “Defying Odds Since 1984" embodying our resilience, commitment, and unwavering dedication to supporting the mental health and wellness of the LGBTQ+ and HIV-affected communities.
For 40 years, AHP has consistently shown San Francisco and the nation how we take action to provide care for our communities. AHP has demonstrated our values through many parallels of duality. To be both vulnerable and resilient, to find strength in the struggle, to care deeply in the face of uncertainty, and, when folks were dying of HIV/AIDS– to lean in, not lean out. If the “first time” represents the beginning of the AIDS crisis, AHP has shown our character in this bold and beautiful way, and we are not stopping there. The same compassionate care that brought us here will help us to forge new paths – to better amplify the voices of our BIPOC, trans, and gender-diverse communities, to fight HIV and mental health-related stigma, and to empower the next generations of frontline staff in the fight for equity and inclusivity for our communities.
We were proud to celebrate many milestones in 2024. We opened our doors to the community to celebrate our 40th anniversary. Art lovers outbid each other at our 28th annual Art for AIDS gala hosted at the UCSF Pritzker building. Staff connected at an engaging all-staff retreat in the beautiful Mount Sutro forest along with several other staff engagement and wellness initiatives. Partnerships, both new and familiar, were elevated among our fellow nonprofit organizations in the Mission and Castro neighborhoods. At the services center in 2024, we provided affirming and empathic case management, psychotherapy, and substance use services to nearly 1,300 clients and trained five outstanding interns through our clinical traineeship. Our passionate Sexual Health Services team served 4,500 clients, including the provision of HIV and sexual health testing and distribution of life-saving Narcan and harm reduction kits. Our mighty Provider Training Education team facilitated 50 educational workshops on topics that included “Creating a Trans-Inclusive and Affirming Workplace” and “Welcoming and Serving Your LGBTQ+ Clients.” And our esteemed research team continued their pioneering research on advancing LGBTQ+ health.
We had wonderful engagement from our Community Advisory Board (CAB) and welcomed six outstanding new members. With valued consultation from several CAB members and feedback from our client community, AHP launched a comprehensive strategic plan. From this thoughtful dialogue emerged four themes, or pillars, that AHP will focus on in 2025:
1) Financial Wellness
2) Organizational Wellness
3) Relational Wellness: Connection and Engagement
4) Committed Action on Equity and Inclusivity
These pillars of focus will help AHP to transparently navigate the challenges and joys that 2025 will bring – together. Many federal actions have been initiated that do not align with AHP’s core values and mission. We continually affirm and reaffirm our commitment to and advocacy for the HIV and LGBTQ+ communities, emphasizing advocacy for our trans, gender-expansive, and non-binary communities. We align with San Francisco’s designation as a sanctuary city in providing access to AHP services for the undocumented community and for those seeking refuge, and we amplify our ongoing equity, inclusion, and antiracism/anti-oppression initiatives.
Thank you for letting AHP show you who we are. Thank you for believing our actions and behaviors the first time, and every time since then. Thank you for showing us who you – our supporters and donors – are with your support for AHP and our client communities. Thank you for defying the odds with us for the past 40 years and joining us, in community, for this year’s theme of “Resist with Joy, Persist with Purpose.” We’re here, we’re queer (and allies!), and we’re ready for the next 40 years.
In gratitude,
William Hua, PhD
Director, UCSF Alliance Health Project