Protecting the housing people already have just makes sense from both a moral and an economic perspective. People with HIV/AIDS need to be safe in their homes so they can devote their energies to stabilizing their health and gaining some semblance of a life. The Journal of AIDS has reported that PWA's experiencing unstable housing have a 15% greater 5-year death rate than those with stable housing. There's no way around it. Homelessness = Death for people with AIDS.Taking vulnerable people's homes away from them for the pursuit of profit is despicable.

Long-time tenants who are now disabled, lose their homes and don't have the income to find replacement housing are left no choice but to create increased demand on an already overburdened and underfunded public housing system. Taking vulnerable people's homes away from them for the pursuit of profit costs everyone money. We can't let these speculators -- many of whom are not San Franciscans -- continue to destroy the lives of the people we care about, and then foot us with the bill. Politicians who allow evicting people with AIDS to continue are not exercising their proper diligence over the public treasury and should be held accountable.

Unfortunately, PWA's, along with seniors and other disabled and catastrophically-ill tenants, are the main targets for eviction by speculators who are taking these people's homes to 'flip' for profit. In fact, over 70% of the nearly 1,000 TIC/Ellis Act eviction this year are targeting these vulnerable populations, with the overwhelming majority being in District 8 -- the Castro. We're talking over 1,000 people -- seniors, disabled and people with AIDS -- being put out on the street in San Francisco each year.

With this type of  'let them eat cake' mentality by the ruling and elected class, it would not be a surprise if the people rose up in protest. Quick, where's my guillotine.

We provide educational tools and advocacy for members to help them stand up for their rights and protect their homes.