Under One Roof, San Francisco: A Store That Saves

Back in 1991, a group of friends joined with some San Francisco service agencies to help individuals with AIDS/HIV. The collective created a 6-week holiday store—what we would call a "pop-up” shop today—and opened inside the space housing The Names Project, the organization responsible for the creation and execution of the AIDS Memorial Quilt. The store was named Under One Roof, and after two years of success they decided to keep the store open year-round.

Since opening, Under One Roof has donated upwards of $4 million to the AIDS and HIV community, and last year alone they paid out $30,000. So with those successes in mind, we spoke with UOR board member Jennifer Kutz to hear about the store’s history and see what’s happening in 2012.

What is the biggest change you’ve seen in the fight against AIDS since UOR opened?
There have been many changes. Some are heartening, others are disturbing. Many of those infected with the virus are living long lives, albeit on a huge amount of medication, but the infection rate is still staggering. Many see it as a chronic illness, something to be managed. [But] as those who are living with it will tell you, it is not always easy, smooth, simple or without side effects.

As a refresher, can you give us some statistics on HIV/AIDS?
•33.3 million people are living with HIV/AIDS, of which 7.5% are children under 15 years of age

•Women account for just over half of all adults living with HIV/AIDS

•1.8 million people die from AIDS each year

•HIV/AIDS is a “disease of young people,” with 40% of the new infections each year occurring among people ages 15 to 24

•There are over 7,000 new infections every day
—97% of these are in low and middle income countries
—About 1,000 of these are in children under 15 years of age
—About 6,000 of these are adults, aged 15 or older
—Of those 6,000: 51% are women and 41% young people (ages 15 – 24)

•Sub-Saharan Africa is the region most affected
—It’s home to 68% of all people living with HIV worldwide
—91% of all new infections [in sub-Saharan Africa are] among children
—In sub-Saharan Africa the epidemic has orphaned more than 14 million children

How has UOR changed in its 20+ years of operation?
We have gone from being a hands-on, small, grass-roots group, to running a business that is open 363 days a year. We have a larger store than ever before and derive revenue from three streams: purchased merchandise, donated merchandise and artist-consigned merchandise.

Under One Roof is unique in its ability to convert new donated merchandise into dollars for HIV services, and generate retail income by providing a store venue in which to do it. The store is staffed by volunteers, some of whom have been with us for ten years or longer.

Talk about UOR’s place within the San Francisco community?
While we have lost founding members, board members and volunteers to the disease, we have also seen the incredible generosity and support of the community: time, money and resources of every stripe. We share volunteers with many of our partner agencies.

Another key service Under One Roof provides is the ability for people contemplating reentry to the work force to essentially “try it out” with no risk.

Let us know what plans UOR has for 2012?
We will have our bi-annual post San Francisco International Gift Fair sale. We partner with Urban Expositions (a gift show manager) and Moscone Recycling to accept donations from the trade show exhibitors, which we then sell at a big event off-site. We have been doing this for almost twenty years.

We partner with our agencies to provide event space for their organizations. We also have a February event up our sleeve that is not confirmed, so we can't tell you much about it yet, but we think it will be fabulous!

Tell us something people don't know about UOR
To bring it all full-circle, when Gay.net was a start-up in the mid-1990s, its founder (Andy Cramer) was the first to bring Under One Roof into the modern age of the internet! Gay.net provided our very first internet “hook-up”— email accounts and ecommerce capabilities. It was very important then because, for example, if you were LGBT in a small town in the heartland, there were very few opportunities for news, information and merchandise that was relevant to you and supported a meaningful cause.

INFO
518A Castro Street
San Francisco, CA 94114
415-503-2300

www.facebook.com/underoneroof

HOURS
Mon, Tues, Wed: 10AM - 8PM
Thurs, Fri, Sat: 10AM - 9PM
Sun: 11AM - 7PM

Images: Google

You down with G.F.B.? Yeah, you know me!
G.F.B. stands for Gay Friendly Business. It can be any type of destination, from restaurant to clothing store, day spa to gym—any place that an LGBT traveler might want to visit on a trip. It can be gay or straight-owned as long as it’s known to be a place where gays are welcome. If you want to suggest a G.F.B., e-mail us.