Program Updates - Fall 2011

Volunteer Services
Our next Peer Support Volunteer Training is scheduled for November 4-6 and the evening of the November 9. For more information, please visit www.shanti.org or contact Volunteer Services at 415-674-4712.

L.I.F.E.
Cycle 30 of the L.I.F.E.® (Learning Immune Function Enhancement) Health Workshop (LHW) will graduate Tuesday, September 6th. Cycle 5 of Latino L.I.F.E. at Mission Neighborhood Health Center’s Clinica Esperanza graduated May 30th.

L.I.F.E. Experience has moved to Wednesdays at the Eureka Valley Recreation Center (100 Collingwood Street). L.I.F.E. Experience is a free social gathering for gay/bisexual HIV+ men and their friends/partners that provides an opportunity to meet other men and couples and explore topics that are important to the HIV+ community in a Poz-centric, supportive, and friendly environment.

L.I.F.E. has an ongoing low-impact Yoga for HIV-Positive Health class on Tuesday afternoons at Notre Dame Plaza (347 Dolores Street).

The L.I.F.E. Goes On (LGO) Project, which consists of graduates of the L.I.F.E. Health Workshop Program engaging in altruistic activities that give back to the community, is doing a volunteer clean-up/maintenance program at the National AIDS Memorial Grove in Golden Gate Park that takes place on the third Saturday of every month through October.

The L.I.F.E. Hepatitis C Survivors support group is going strong with fourteen active members. This group is a closed support group for clients co-infected with HCV and HIV.

The 6th annual Healing Water Wilderness Adventures/Shanti weekend took place August 20th and 21st. The Healing Waters/Shanti weekend is a yearly camping and white water rafting trip on California’s American River for Shanti’s L.I.F.E. clients.

The 4th annual L.I.F.E. Alumni Reunion party will be Sunday, August 28th, at the Castro Street Country Club (4058 18th Street btw Castro & Hartford), and is co-sponsored by the LGO Project and MOM’s Pharmacy.

L.I.F.E. co-sponsored the HIV Pavilion at this year’s San Francisco Pride Celebration with STOP AIDS Project’s Positive Force on June 26th. The HIV Pavilion traditionally provides a space for rest and relaxation for the HIV+ community during Pride.

Still Around: 30 Years of AIDS – 15 Stories of Hope (a feature-length compilation of 15 short films about HIV/AIDS generated by the HIV Story Project ─ a nonprofit media initiative that originated with Shanti’s LGO Project almost three years ago) had its West Coast premiere at Frameline35: The San Francisco International LGBT Film Festival on June 24th. The screening was co-presented by Shanti, BAY Positives, AIDS Housing Alliance SF, and the AIDS Emergency Fund.


HIV Services
Wednesday Haircuts 10:30am-12:00pm (alternates weeks, please call for details)

Thursday SPCA Therapy Dogs 11:00am-12:00pm (First two weeks of the month)

Shanti's Breast Cancer Program (LifeLines)
The 10 Year Anniversary Event at the Hotel Kabuki for Shanti’s Breast Cancer Program was a huge success! We would like to thank everyone who attended, donated and volunteered with special thanks to the event’s Advisory Committee. Guests enjoyed a delicious chocolate tasting sponsored by CoCoBella Chocolate, raffle prizes and live music performances by the Bock & Orr Jazz Duo and the incomparable Ms. Connie Champagne, along with inspirational words from former client, Ms. Maria Leone. The sold-out event netted over $10,000 for the program.

The Event Advisory Committee is currently recruiting members for our Spring 2012 event. Please contact Program Director, Maria Caprio directly (415) 674-4780 or eMail if you are interested in being a part of this fabulous event.

We are also proud to announce that the San Francisco Department of Public Health and its Breast & Cervical Cancer Services Unit has renewed the program’s collaborative contract through 2016. This contract is unique to Shanti, officially linking our vital services directly to San Francisco’s most underserved breast cancer patients.