“Stanley” — a senior living with HIV/AIDS and suffering from additional physical ailments and cognitive issues — came to ALRP when his landlord sought to evict him, alleging that Stanley’s hygiene was a breach of his lease. Stanley struggled to clean himself and his home on his own and, as a result, lived in less than healthy conditions.
“Barbara” sought ALRP’s assistance when the Social Security Administration (SSA) unreasonably found her to be at fault for Supplemental Security Income (SSI) overpayments. Barbara started receiving her SSI payments years ago because of her HIV/AIDS-related disabilities and her diagnosis of breast cancer. When she returned to work, she immediately reported her work information to the SSA. However, the SSA failed to adjust her SSI payments accordingly, resulting in Barbara’s overpayment. Even though Barbara did what she was supposed to do, she was found to be at fault for causing the SSI overpayment, all while she was undergoing intensive radiation therapy.
“Peter” was served with an eviction lawsuit after he was unable to pay his rent due to a job loss stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic. A former substitute teacher in San Francisco, Peter faced the loss of his 17-year tenancy after losing his job and having no income to pay for his rent.
Project Open Hand, ALRP’s esteemed sister agency, bestowed their Ruth Brinker Visionary Award to our own Bill Hirsh at the 30th annual Hand To Hand celebration on December 9, 2022.
Ruth Brinker was a remarkable person who founded Project Open Hand to serve meals for people living with HIV. Project Open Hand now serves 2,500 daily meals with love and their service model has been replicated multiple times with over 150 similar groups all over the world.
Visionary Leaders Ruth Brinker and Bill Hirsh
Bill Hirsh notes, “I am deeply honored and humbled to receive Ruth’s namesake award.
Just as ALRP began with a group of volunteer attorneys responding to the AIDS crisis, Ruth Brinker mobilized an army of volunteers to provide healthy meals to sustain people who were often too weak to cook for themselves or even leave their home to get food.
I am so proud to receive this award and lead an organization that reflects the values of San Francisco and Ruth Brinker.”
