SFAF's Strut Center Opens At Last

The San Francisco AIDS Foundation's new Strut health and wellness center opened its doors at 470 Castro Street Monday after a long delay, and hosted an opening celebration and ribbon-cutting ceremony Tuesday, January 5.

"We're here to encourage and support a new era of care in the HIV/AIDS world that is focused on the whole individual - holistic health and wellness, not just sickness and disease," said former SFAF CEO Neil Giuliano, who flew up from Tempe, Arizona for the occasion. "The model of care taking place at Strut will be replicated around the country and most likely around the world, just like the San Francisco model of care has been for 30 years."

Gay District 8 Supervisor Scott Wiener, who identified himself as both a neighbor and a client of Strut, recalled that he moved to the Castro in 1997 when protease inhibitors were a new thing and the city was just starting to turn the corner on the HIV epidemic.

"For so many years it was all about playing defense against HIV and to try and survive as a community. But gradually over the past 20 years we've been turning that around so that we're on offense and in a position to defeat this epidemic," he said. "Getting to Zero is such an important effort to visualize a new day when we no longer have any new HIV infections or HIV deaths. We're going to get there, and Strut is going to be a key part of that, because we've come to recognize that it's not just about HIV, it's about overall wellness and making sure people have access in one place to all of their health and wellness needs."

He was referring to the city's Getting to Zero initiative to drastically reduce the number of HIV infections by 2020.

Four years in the making, the new building will house the foundation's services geared toward gay, bisexual, and trans men, including sexual health services (formerly Magnet), substance use services (formerly the Stonewall Project), Positive Force, the Elizabeth Taylor 50-Plus Network for men age 50 and older, the DREAAM Project for young African-American men, and the Bridgemen volunteer program.

"It's an entirely new model - a one-stop shop," SFAF social marketing manager Lyndal Cairns told the Bay Area Reporter. "Even when going from one site to another there's a disconnect. We want to take that disconnect out and make it as easy as possible for people to maintain their health."

Strut's sexual health services - which include the popular PrEP program - opened for business in its new location January 4. To date the program has helped more than 600 men access PrEP and figure out how to pay for it.

"When I arrived at 9:30 yesterday there was already a line," sexual health services director Steve Gibson told the B.A.R. "About 50 percent of our daily clients come for PrEP, and our combination of clinical services and benefits counseling is key."

Strut's other programs, including those for gay men already diagnosed with HIV, are scheduled to move into the new building mid-month. SFAF will continue to offer additional services and see other client groups at its 1035 Market Street location.

"Having HIV is a lifelong process and people need support along the way," said Julie Lifshay, SFAF's director of health navigation services, whose focus is helping people with HIV remain in - or get back into - care. "We're here to help people wherever they are in their process and whatever their life needs are that keep them from focusing on their health."

The Castro Street building features 14,700 square feet of space on three floors. Facilities include six medical exam rooms - up from two at the old Magnet location on 18th Street - a pharmacy, rooms for private counseling and support groups, and open spaces that will host art exhibits and other community events.

The new space will enable the foundation to expand case management services by 25 percent, mental health counseling by 25 percent, substance use and harm reduction counseling by 50 percent, and HIV and sexually transmitted infections screening by up to 40 percent, according to an SFAF news release.

The project is funded by SFAF's Campaign for Health and Wellness, which aims to raise $15 million to cover the costs of building renovation and expansion of services, which are offered for free. Giuliano said the campaign has "about a million or so" left to raise.

The building's planned opening was pushed back several times, first due to construction delays and more recently in order to obtain approval from the city's fire department and the California Department of Public Health.

"I think I'm not alone when I say I started to think this day would never come," said Strut Executive Director Tim Patriarca. "But I'm truly excited we're open and the community is now able to experience a new approach to supporting their health. The staff and volunteers have created really something special here - the care-focused atmosphere is unlike any other health care setting anywhere."