Sonoma Becomes Newest L.I.F.E. Site

Face to Face

Five agencies have come together to bring L.I.F.E. to Sonoma County, California. L.I.F.E. is a 13-week HIV self-management program designed to help people living with HIV improve their health. The network of five Sonoma AIDS service organizations is comprised of Santa Rosa Community Health Centers, Face to Face, Peers for Positive Change, West County Health Centers, and Food for Thought. The network will provide two L.I.F.E. workshops per year. Workshops will rotate between campuses in Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Guerneville/Russian River, and Forestville. The first workshop begins on September 7th, and runs on Wednesdays until the beginning of December. To learn more about L.I.F.E. in Sonoma or sign up for L.I.F.E., email Myra Mayesh or call her at (707) 874-2273 x2215.

Program Updates - Spring 2011

Volunteer Services

From March 11th-13th, we conducted our first Peer Support Training of 2011. During the weekend, 25 new Peer Support Volunteers were trained to provide practical and emotional support to our HIV Services and Lifelines clients. Our upcoming Peer Support Volunteer Training will be held August 13-15th plus the evening of August 18th.

Volunteer Services is currently looking for volunteers to help out with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence Bingo on Saturday, April 9 and Saturday, May 14, from 4-8pm. Shanti is a beneficiary of the Sister’s Bingo, and volunteers are needed to help in the main room and in the snack bar. For more information, please visit www.shanti.org or contact Megan O’Brien at (415) 674-4708.

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Black Voices of Queer Cinema: Celebration. Struggle. Realness.

Thursday, March 10
7:30pm
San Francisco LGBT Community Center

This collection of powerful shorts brings together snap filled classics of new queer cinema, binary bashing slam poetry, Pam Grier diva-worship, timely contemporary teen struggles, and critically-acclaimed award winning films. Join us as we highlight some of the best in queer black cinema and stay for the lively post-screening discussion!

Co-presented by Black Coalition on AIDS, Nia Collective, San Francisco Black Film Festival, and Shanti.

For more information go to www.frameline.org.

National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day March Candlelight Vigil Monday, February 7th

• Starting Time and Location:
  The Steps of City Hall at Polk Street, 5:00 pm
• Program Location:
  African-American Arts and Cultural Center, 762 Fulton Street, 6:00 pm
• Special Keynote Speaker:
  Bishop Yvette Flunder, City of Refuge, United Church of Christ

Shanti's Programs are Highlighted in "The Western Addition "

At Shanti, Volunteers 'Heal' By Simply Being There
Thu, 30 Dec 2010

By David Goodman

In the early 1980s, when the spread of HIV/AIDS was primarily among gay men and was quickly becoming an epidemic, Dr. Charles Garfield – faculty member at the University of California, San Francisco – wanted to respond to the disease in an unorthodox way: Train volunteers to provide emotional support to suffering individuals.

However, when Garfield began to research volunteer-based organizations in the hope of finding inspiration, he found that nobody had yet written on the subject. So he did what anyone deeply dedicated to a cause might do: He wrote the book himself, and in the process founded Shanti – the first known organization to focus upon serving the emotional needs of HIV/AIDS patients.

Shanti – meaning “inner peace” or “tranquility” in Sanskrit – quickly became ground central for the HIV community and today, more than 1,000 people take advantage of Shanti’s services – which include a drop-in service and a peer support volunteer program – the Learning Immune Function Enhancement Program – L.I.F.E.– which focuses on health and wellness.

To read the entire article, please visit The Western Edition

Executive Director, Kaushik Roy Speaking at the 36th Annual Benefit — Introduction by Jan Yanehiro

The Shanti Project Works With AIDS and Breast Cancer Patientsby Laura Mason, Assistant Editor at 7 X 7

Reprinted with permission from Laura Mason original article

Shanti Project extends a hand to the most vulnerable people in our society. Started by Dr. Charlie Garfield in 1974, Shanti was the first organization in the country to work directly with AIDS patients, and has become an international model for similar work in 600 organizations. They facilitated the first-ever international training on how to work with people with AIDS at the request of the French, British and Belgian governments in 1982. We talked with Executive Director Kaushik Roy about the trailblazing ways Shanti's staff and 250 volunteers help those in need every day.

A Shanti volunteer with her matched Shanti client.

How did you get involved?

When I was in college at Cal in the late 90s, I heard a public service announcement on late night radio about this place called the Shanti Project. It was talking about volunteering and working one on one with a person who had AIDS and giving them emotional and practical support because there may not have been anyone else in their life who could do that for them. I was just so struck by that message. The first thing I did was call up Shanti to volunteer. I showed up and was just totally blown away by the experience. I saw that Shanti had some of the most dedicated, passionate people. They were doing such incredible work, and doing work for people who not only had medical challenges, but they really were all alone.

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