San Francisco Community Health Center

San Francisco Community Health Center's (SFCHC) Behavioral Health programs are inclusive of our long-standing services for people living with HIV. SFCHC leads all HIV services for the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco, particularly for those who are marginally housed or homeless. These programs include TACE (Tenderloin Area HIV Center of Excellence), which is a daily drop-in program that provides wrap-around support, nutritious meals, clothing, computer/internet access, art classes, and social support for individuals living with HIV; our mobile medical team that works with those living on the streets who have been diagnosed with HIV; and our long-standing program that supports Asians/Pacific Islanders living with HIV. SFCHC partners with the San Francisco Department of Public Health on all of these programs. Most recently, SFCHC expanded its HIV intensive case management services and its street outreach efforts. SFCHC's Community Programs have been operating for the entire 30+ year history, providing community building, outreach, health education, and comprehensive HIV prevention and testing services for all communities in San Francisco at high risk, with a focus on gay men of color and the transgender community. These programs include organizing community events, facilitating support groups and retreats, running drop-in programs, providing case management, conducting street and bar/club outreach, offering onsite and mobile HIV testing, and supporting the uptake of PrEP, particularly among Asian/Pacific Islander gay men and transgender women of all races and ethnicities. SFCHC operates Trans Thrive, our 4-day per week drop-in center for the transgender community, providing clients with food, clothing, computer access, art classes, and social support while also providing a direct referral to health care through our Wellness Clinic. SFCHC has been a federally qualified health center since 2015, providing culturally competent high quality primary and behavioral health care to low-income residents, the LGBTQ community, transgender individuals in particular, immigrants and refugees, and communities of color, with a special focus on the homeless community in the Tenderloin neighborhood of San Francisco. Prior to this, SFCHC operated a free medical clinic since 2010. SFCHC operates a satellite clinic at 1800 Market Street within the San Francisco LGBT Center. At both locations, SFCHC has expanded its substance use disorder services in response to the city's epidemic of substance use and mental illness. SFCHC expanded its street outreach and medicine efforts to directly respond to San Francisco's crisis of homelessness. In 2020, SFCHC launched dental services in direct response to the needs our existing patients, the community at large, and the homeless community in particular.