Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2003. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
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San Francisco Examiner - December 19, 2003
Sabrina Crawford, of The Examiner Staff, scrawford@examiner.com
But while remembering those loved and lost is an important part of what happens at Edison, the heart of the San Mateo County AIDS Program, there's also an ongoing serious mission to attend to -- taking good care of the living.
"Everyone who comes in here gets a hug," says longtime volunteer Rose Olsen, who patients affectionately call "Mama Rose."
Wearing a blue chef's apron and slicing tomatoes for the free afternoon lunch served here by volunteers four days a week, Olsen says, "Many people come here every day. Everything is here for them -- their medical services and counseling -- and having lunch helps encourage them to keep those medical appointments."
The San Mateo County AIDS Program, which operates the comprehensive clinic inside the San Mateo Medical Center, is the primary provider of services for individuals living with HIV and AIDS in the county, and the sole provider of those services for the uninsured. The AIDS program is also the major force behind local HIV testing, counseling, and prevention programs.
"We serve about 500 people a year," says John Conley, deputy director of Public Health. "We provide everything from free HIV testing to state-of-the-art drug treatment to mental health services," Conley says. "We also work with a lot of local organizations to provide other important social services like substance abuse rehabilitation, housing assistance and dental services."
Since 1981, 2,000 AIDS cases have been reported in San Mateo County, but the public health department estimates there are up to 3,500 people infected with HIV, the virus that causes AIDS.
While the AIDS program's medical services are funded in large part by federal funds from the Ryan White Act, some of the other, equally important services they provide -- like regular lunches, holiday feasts and gift-giving -- are not. For those, they rely on local donations. "There are some basics you can't get with food stamps, like toiletries and clean underwear."
A few minutes before lunch, a bearded man leaning heavily on a cane wanders in from the area where patients wait to see their doctors and is greeted with warm recognition. "Best food in town here," he says. "I come every day."
And it's no small compliment considering the all-volunteer cooking staff works in a tiny, tight space with an old microwave and cast-off groceries cobbled together from local temples and churches and Second Harvest Food Bank.
"Most of the people we serve here are very low income," says Ginny Warnes, the volunteer coordinator. "Most of them make less than $24,000 a year. Some are homeless too."
The Examiner Holiday Drive
The Examiner will feature one of the following charities in each edition of the paper during our annual Holiday Drive. Donors may send checks to any of the following charities, at the addresses listed below.
CALL Primrose Center, 139 Primrose Road, Burlingame, CA 94010, (650)342-2255
Community Overcoming Relationship Abuse, P.O. Box 5090, San Mateo, CA 94402, (650)652-0800, ext. 107
Daly City Emergency Food Pantry, P.O. Box 280, Daly City, CA 94014, (650)994-5150
North Peninsula Neighborhood Services Ctr., 600 Linden Ave., South San Francisco, CA 94080, (650)583-3373
Samaritan House, 1515 South Claremont Street, San Mateo, CA 94402, (650)347-3648
San Mateo County AIDS Program, 225 37th Avenue, San Mateo, CA 94403, (650)573-2588
Second Harvest Food Bank, 1051 Bing Street, San Carlos, CA 94070, (650)610-0800
Shelter Network, 1450 Chapin Avenue 2nd floor, Burlingame, CA 94010, (650)685-5850
Sojourn to the Past, 110 Desoto Way, San Bruno, CA 94066, (650)873-5816
Women's Recovery Association, 1450 Chapin Avenue, Burlingame, CA 94010, (650)348-6603
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