Sex Worker Clinic Moves Into New Home

After a month of renovations, packing, and moving, St. James Infirmary, San Francisco's health care organization for sex workers, cut the ribbon on its new Tenderloin clinic Monday, March 14.

St. James shares the space, located at 234 Eddy Street, with the Transgender Gender Variant and Intersex Justice Project.

"Our new facility is bigger and brighter and will accommodate more people and programming than our old home," St. James Executive Director Stephany Joy Ashley told the Bay Area Reporter. "That it's also next to a park, near other allied organizations, and in the middle of a neighborhood with such a long history of LGBT and sex worker activism is wonderful. The Tenderloin is rich with community, and we are excited to be a part of the neighborhood."

In addition to primary medical care, the peer-based organization also offers HIV testing and prevention services, including PrEP; sexually transmitted disease testing and treatment; transgender hormone therapy; mental health care; harm reduction services, including needle exchange and naloxone; case management; support groups; food and clothing; and other assistance to people of all genders involved in the sex trade and their families. All services are free and confidential.
St. James linkage-to-care navigator Juba Kalamka stands in a room at the new clinic. Photo: Liz Highleyman

"Our HIV services team has been collaborating closely with Glide and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation to create better prevention and harm reduction narratives," St. James linkage-to-care navigator Juba Kalamka told the B.A.R. , referring to services offered by Glide United Methodist Church. "I'm particularly excited about our cooperation with SFAF on PrEP and providing access to people who are interested in exploring its possibilities as an HIV prevention regimen."

St. James, which serves around 4,000 clients, operates on an annual budget of approximately $750,000 and has a staff of 17 and about 25 volunteers, Ashley said. TGI Justice Project, which works with transgender people involved in the criminal justice system, has a budget "well under $200,000," Executive Director Janetta Johnson previously told the B.A.R.

The infirmary - named after pioneering sex worker activist Margo St. James - started in 1999 at San Francisco City Clinic on 7th Street and opened its own clinic at 1372 Mission Street in March 2004.

Last summer the landlord and property owner, Mercy Housing California, said it was selling the building and St James would have to leave that space, located near the Twitter headquarters in a rapidly gentrifying neighborhood South of Market. A buyer for 1372 Mission and two adjacent buildings has not been publicly named.

The San Francisco Department of Public Health helped St. James secure the Tenderloin space, which was formerly the Housing and Urban Health Clinic. The agency also worked with the city's Nonprofit Displacement Mitigation Program, which helps cover rent for nonprofits forced to move to more expensive spaces.

"We are incredibly lucky to be staying in San Francisco, and very grateful to DPH for their help in keeping us here," Ashley said.

The new space, measuring 3,000 square feet, features a reception area, staff offices, counseling rooms, two medical exam rooms, and a laboratory on the ground floor, with TGI Justice Project occupying the second floor.

St. James raised more than $35,000 through a crowd-funding campaign to fund the renovation and move, with an anonymous donor matching the first $25,000. Much of the work on the building was done for free by a pro bono architect, a local painters union, and the clinic staff and volunteers. Artists from Precita Eyes created a new mural in the reception area. The walls are festooned with sex workers rights posters from different eras.

"We are thrilled about our new clinic space as it demonstrates our viability and growing independence," St. James medical director Dr. Pratima Gupta told the B.A.R. "The fact that we were able to move and open our doors with only a slight break in our services is evidence that we are able to hustle and support our community to ensure that it stays healthy."

St. James Infirmary is located at 234 Eddy Street, near Taylor. Therapy and case management drop-in hours are noon to 2 p.m. Monday through Thursday, clinic drop-in hours are 6 to 9 p.m. on Wednesday, or call (415) 554-9634 to schedule an appointment.