Guest Opinion: Preparing for the storm, preserving our mission

In moments like this, I think about the legacy of this city. I think about what it means to lead in San Francisco—a city that showed the world how to fight for people living with HIV when no one else would.

And I think about who’s watching us now. Still counting on us to get it right. Still looking to San Francisco to set the pace for the nation in health justice, LGBTQ+ liberation, and compassionate care.

That’s why I want to speak plainly to you- our community, our partners, our longtime readers of the Bay Area Reporter - about the steps San Francisco AIDS Foundation is taking to protect our future.

This month, SFAF began a strategic restructure of the agency in response to a projected $5.71 million deficit in the upcoming fiscal year. Unfortunately, this includes a targeted reduction in workforce, affecting 34 vacant and filled positions across all levels of the organization. Nineteen SFAF staff members had their positions eliminated, including three from our executive team.

It’s one of the most difficult decisions we’ve made in recent memory. It’s never easy to make
decisions about staff layoffs.

But it’s also one of the most important. Because this isn’t about shrinking—we are recalibrating.

We’re weatherproofing our mission in a time of intensifying political and financial threats to
LGBTQ+ lives, harm reduction services, and HIV-related prevention and care. We know that
other community organizations and nonprofits are doing the same.

We’ve preserved all our fully funded programs, and made every effort to protect frontline care and eliminate administrative redundancy. We prioritized preserving and strengthening our core programming such as clinical care, behavioral health, housing support services, harm reduction, and support for communities most impacted by the epidemic. We’ve consolidated siloed teams into more integrated service models, and we’ve elevated frontline staff—many of them people of color and queer—into leadership roles that reflect the communities we serve. Our goal is to make sure that the clients we serve experience no change in service delivery and community care.

And we did it all guided by a clear principle: protect the frontlines and invest in the future.

I want to acknowledge the pain of this transition - especially for the staff members who have
given so much of themselves to this work. Their contributions have shaped SFAF, and we are
deeply grateful. Their impact is woven into our legacy.

But what we cannot afford to do is wait until we’re in crisis to act. We’ve seen too many
organizations hollowed out by delay and inaction. We’ve seen how political tides can erase
decades of progress if we’re not ready.

So, we acted—decisively and with care. We acted because we believe San Francisco still has
something to teach the world about how to lead through adversity.

This is personal to me—not just as CEO, but as someone who came into this work as a young
Black, queer person living with HIV. I carry this mission in my bones. And I carry the stories of those who fought before me—those we’ve lost and those still fighting today.

To the B.A.R. readers who have walked with us over the years - through Pride celebrations and moments of protest, through heartbreak and healing - I say this: SFAF isn’t backing down.

We are sharpening our focus. We are protecting what matters most. And we are doubling down on the promise of health justice for all.

We’ve been here before. And every time, we’ve come through stronger.

This time will be no different. Thank you for supporting SFAF and the communities we serve for decades and into the future.

Tyler TerMeer, Ph.D., has served as CEO of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation since February 2022.