Refuting Myths on San Francisco Service Providers

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In recent months, local media and some politicians have been promoting the myth that nonprofits receiving grants from the City of San Francisco are mismanaged, bloated, inefficient, and “mired in scandal.” Sadly, this myth—and it is a myth—is taking hold in the public conscience.

That’s why San Francisco Community Health Center and the other 25 member organizations of the HIV/AIDS Provider Network (HAPN) are taking the unprecedented step of reaching out to all our supporters to set the record straight.

First, we want to stress that we embrace organizational and financial transparency; we welcome oversight from our partners in the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, the Department of Health, the Department of Disability and Aging Services, the Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, and others; and we are proud to report exactly how we spend every single city grant dollar. We are committed to fiscal responsibility and being responsible stewards of public funds, and we resent being lumped in with a few bad actors who clearly do not share these values.

The truth is that we provide exceptional services to residents of San Francisco effectively, efficiently, and are subject to extensive city oversight. These are facts those promoting this myth choose to ignore.

Here’s what we’ve accomplished in addressing HIV/AIDS in San Franciso. Even though our city has one of the highest proportion of residents living with HIV and one of the highest percentages of residents at risk for contracting the virus, the rate of new infections among LGBTQ residents here is dramatically lower than any other major city in the nation. Three-quarters (75%) of San Franciscans with HIV have suppressed their viral loads to the point where the virus cannot be transmitted, a much, much higher percentage than every other city in the country other than Seattle. More than nine in ten of those recently diagnosed with HIV are connected to care—that’s 12 percentage points higher than anywhere else. Preventing one HIV infection avoids $229,800 in medical costs alone; our collective efforts have prevented thousands of infections.

Moreover, all of this extraordinary progress has been accomplished with exceptional efficiency, even as city support over the years has not kept up with rising costs in any way, shape, or form. Contrary to the picture portrayed in the media, we are all working on shoestring budgets, no one could even imagine renting a fancy beachfront homes for a retreat or even holding a retreat that isn’t dirt cheap, and each day presents new challenges in retaining/recruiting staff due to the low salaries and meagre benefits we are able to offer (they are 20-50% lower than those afforded city employees doing similar work).

Finally, even though our city grants don’t begin to cover our overhead and administrative costs, we submit tons of data to our funders—most often on a monthly basis—showing exactly how we have spent our grant dollars, including the number of clients served, the hours involved, and specific services provided. If there are any discrepancies or we fall behind on our deliverables, we don’t get paid until every cent is accounted for or we submit a detailed corrective plan for moving forward. In addition, the city agencies from which we receive funds conduct formal, exhaustive performance reviews every two to three years and almost all of us retain an outside firm to conduct an annual audit of our finances, accounting practices, and internal controls. We surely don’t need even more burdensome reporting requirements.

So, dear friend of San Francisco Community Health Center, thank you for your support of our work. We hope it makes  you proud!