Home

Saint Francis Foundation Announces Additional $1.32 Million in Community Grants

via Business Wire

In wake of federal funding cuts, Foundation steps forward to ensure equitable access to essential healthcare services

The Saint Francis Foundation, an independent grant-making charitable foundation, has announced an additional $1.32 million in community grants to local nonprofits providing vital healthcare services to diverse and underserved communities in San Francisco. This new funding brings the Foundation’s community grants total to $8.8 million to date.

“Our community partners are on the front lines in removing barriers to care, assessing social determinants of health, and improving patient access and outcomes,” said Saint Francis Foundation President Kate Smith. “With the current political climate resulting in reductions to vital healthcare services, our community partners have sprung into action to identify gaps in maintaining their essential programming. Through the generosity and insights of our dedicated donors, the Foundation is in a unique position to help offset the impact of these federal actions.”

The following grants will support direct patient care services and capital improvements to benefit San Francisco’s most vulnerable residents. The grantees are:

Larkin Street Youth Services ($325,000 for homeless youth)

As the City’s largest nonprofit provider for young people experiencing homelessness and other systemic health challenges, Larkin Street Youth Services addresses the social crises and chronic mental and physical health issues for more than 1,800 young people each year. This latest Foundation funding will support Larkin Street’s comprehensive shelter program (operating more than 500 beds across 16+ sites), housing, and innovative workforce development and education programs for homeless youth.

San Francisco Community Health Center ($325,000 for street medicine and trauma-informed care)

With a mission to transform lives by advancing health, wellness, and equality, San Francisco Community Health Center attends to the health and wellness of diverse communities through comprehensive medical, dental, and mental health services. This grant will sustain and strengthen SFCHC’s proven street medicine model, which improves quality and health outcomes for more than 200 unhoused Tenderloin residents by delivering low-barrier, trauma-informed care directly where they live.

Hyde Street Community Services ($250,000 for intense case management)

Hyde Street Community Services provides comprehensive psychiatric, medical, substance abuse and case management services to more than 600 San Francisco residents each year. This Foundation funding will support the HSCS intense case management program, which provides direct interventions to address housing, psych medications and chronic trauma for people living in the Tenderloin.

Maitri – Compassionate Care ($225,000 for services for low-income transgender patients)

From its beginnings in the Castro as a respite for HIV-AIDS patients, Maitri has grown to provide 24x7 wrap-around services to low-income transgender and gender diverse patients who are recovering from gender-affirmation procedures. A long-time funder, the Foundation is supporting the expansion of the Maitri Affirmation Center, the leading program in San Francisco providing low-income transgender patients with access to nursing care, shelter, food, social programs, and mental health services.

Lyon-Martin Community Health Services ($150,000 for expansion of LGBTQ+ services)

For nearly 50 years, Lyon-Martin Community Health Services has been a vital lifeline for compassionate and trauma-informed medical and mental healthcare services for the LGBTQ+ community. This most recent Foundation grant will support Lyon-Martin’s expansion into its new 17,000-square-foot facility that will enable it to serve 1,000 more patients annually. In 2024, Lyon-Martin completed more than 12,000 appointments and facilitated 549 gender-affirming care referrals.

Additional Foundation grants to Curry Senior Center and Sequoia Living are funding integrated mental health services for underserved older adults.

“The Saint Francis Foundation has always supported and celebrated diversity, equity, and inclusion,” said Smith. “Today, as cuts to federal funding threaten access to care for thousands of underserved residents, we are meeting these challenges with respect, empathy and relentless persistence. Advancing the work of these community organizations has never been more urgent or important.”

About Saint Francis Foundation

As it has for almost half a century, the Saint Francis Foundation is committed to filling the gap in the delivery of high-quality, equitable and affordable healthcare in San Francisco. Building on its legacy as one of the Bay Area’s most respected independent charitable foundations, the Foundation continues to fund innovative patient care and staff training programs at UCSF Health Saint Francis Hospital and provides grants to a growing number of nonprofit community partners who ensure compassionate care for patients and families beyond the hospital environment. Since its founding in 1979, the Saint Francis Foundation has contributed more than $128 million to further community healthcare access and outcomes. For more information, please visit saintfrancisfoundation.org.

Our community partners are on the front lines in removing barriers to care, assessing social determinants of health, and improving patient access and outcomes.

Contacts