LIFE program gets results, studies sayby Roger Brigham

Jeffrey Leiphart, Ph.D., center, with staff
and interns from Shanti's LIFE
Institute. Photo: Rick Gerharter

Two recent extensive national and state studies have affirmed what Learning Immune Function Enhancement program administrators felt anecdotally: the program works.


"The studies showed positive outcomes in all areas, especially in medication adherence, psychological functioning, and reduced substance abuse," said Jeffrey Leiphart, Ph.D., director of Shanti's LIFE Institute. "We were really surprised at that. It never occurred to us we would get such a big outcome on that."
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Arbitrator clears Shanti's name AIDS charity wins $711,000 from former auditorsby Kathleen Sullivan

Shanti Project, an AIDS services provider that got into trouble with The City in 1993 over its billing practices, is hailing an arbitrator's decision as a complete vindication of the organization.
Arbitrator Jeffery Martin has ordered Antonini Professional Corp. of San Francisco, Shanti's former auditors, to pay the nonprofit group $711,850 in damages, including $449,748 to repay a debt incurred to The City in the 1991-92 fiscal year.

Paul Vander Waerdt, director of development and marketing for the 15-year-old Shanti, applauded the award Monday.

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A class reunion in a city of angelsby Rob Morse

THE SHANTI Project is looking for a few good volunteers. Shanti is always looking for people to provide companionship and support for those with AIDS.

Now Shanti is looking for everyone who ever worked as a volunteer, as part of a reunion and fund-raiser on Saturday, May 30.

That's about 4,000 people who worked with HIV patients during the plague years from 1981 to the present. If you're one of those volunteers, or you just want to have fun with interesting people, see the bottom of this column.

Jean-Louis Huot, a purchasing agent at University Arts in Palo Alto and Shanti volunteer for 12 years, describes Shanti as "a congregation of saints."

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Shanti Wins Big Judgment Accounting firm to pay AIDS agency $712,000by Henry K. Lee

Shanti Project, one of San Francisco's oldest AIDS housing services, has won a $712,000 judgment against its former auditors, allowing the agency to repay a nearly half-million dollar debt to the city, officials said yesterday.

The arbitration award represents a "complete vindication" for Shanti, whose financial controls came into question after an audit showed that the agency billed the city $450,000 for unauthorized expenses, said spokesman Paul Vander Waerdt.

"This clears Shanti's name and shows that the responsibility for the debt to the city was that of the accounting firm, which had conducted itself negligently," he said.

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S.F. AIDS groups to join forces Shanti to absorb embattled Tenderloin agencyby Lisa M. Krieger, Examiner Medical Writer

The Tenderloin-based organization AIDS Indigent Direct Services, a counseling and support program that was beset by management and financial problems, will be absorbed by the Shanti Project.

The decision this week by a city planning council represents a move toward consolidation of taxpayer-supported AIDS groups in San Francisco as federal funding becomes less certain.

After an Examiner investigation, city officials found in 1993 that A.I.D.S. had used thousands of dollars in clients' funds to cover payroll expenses. The City put the organization on probation until it could correct problems.

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