San Francisco AIDS Emergency Fund reopens

San Francisco's AIDS Emergency Fund, a program that provides financial assistance to low-income city residents with HIV/AIDS, announced on October 1 that a cap on client access enacted in January has been removed and that clients can now reapply for financial assistance, according to the Bay Area Reporter. Applicants must be HIV-positive, be considered disabled, and have a monthly income under $1,900 to qualify for up to $500 in AEF assistance. To offset funding losses, the agency had capped access at the beginning of the year, denying financial assistance to previous clients who had received grants in any two consecutive years since January 1997. The restrictions were made to help offset a loss of nearly $900,000 in funding and a 2002 deficit of $635,000. Roughly 900 clients were affected by the restrictions. "I am now delighted and relieved that because of our recent fund-raising successes, internal belt tightening, and additional federal funds received from the Ryan White CARE Act, we will now be able to serve many of these clients disabled by HIV who face emergency financial need whom we would not have been able to help otherwise," said Jeff Braff, president of AEF's board of directors.