San Francisco AIDS groups face $2 million in funding cuts

More than $2 million in funding for San Francisco HIV/AIDS services paid for by the city's general fund will be cut from the city's budget under a new proposal by mayor Willie Brown, reports the Bay Area Reporter. The funding cuts would affect the San Francisco AIDS Foundation's HIV/AIDS information hotline, back-to-work programs at the Positive Resource Center, the AIDS Health Project's counseling programs, and volunteer programs at Shanti. More than $400,000 would be cut from grants to Shanti, forcing the organization to lay off five employees who coordinate the organization's volunteer programs, according to Shanti executive director Hywel Sims. The AIDS Health Project would lose $383,000 in funding, while the Positive Resource Center would face a $140,000 funding cut. The cuts are part of an overall $20 million budget reduction package at the city's Department of Public Health.