AIDS Financial Services

Many of the people living with HIV/AIDS in San Francisco are homeless or marginally homeless; and many have substance abuse or mental health issues that make it difficult to maintain stable housing. Our program provides this community of vulnerable people with money management and representative payee services that help them regain the financial stability necessary to find and maintain adequate housing.

AFS’ Money Management and Representative Payee program focuses on one aspect of the intensive services needed to create a stable living environment—financial management. To accomplish this, AFS:

• Provides the money management and representative payee services that ensure its clients’ rent will be paid both promptly and accurately.
• Establishes relationships with landlords who, because of a guaranteed rent payment, will open an impossibly small housing market to clients whose previous difficulty managing their money made obtaining and maintaining housing  nearly impossible.
• Provides support to clients to help them manage prudently whatever remaining funds they have after their rent is paid.

The program values and beliefs of the AFS program include: non-judgmental service; a culturally competent approach regarding gender, mental health, substance use, or other issues; client trust in workers; transparency of the process of providing services; accessibility of the program; a safe and inviting environment; and a customer service approach.