Author: Seth Abrahamson

Cut your Medicare prescription drug costs with “ExtraHelp”

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

Great news: thanks to the new prescription drug law, the Inflation Reduction Act, in 2024, people with Medicare may qualify for even more savings through the Extra Help program. This program helps some people pay their Medicare drug coverage (Part D) costs, like premiums, deductibles, coinsurance, and other costs. In 2024, the program will expand, and you may qualify.

How does Extra Help lower my costs?
In 2024, everyone who qualifies for Extra Help will pay:
• $0 for your Medicare drug plan premium.
• $0 for your plan deductible.
• A reduced amount for both generic and brand-name drugs.
If you get any level of Extra Help now, and meet the qualifications for next year, you’ll get these cost savings automatically—you don’t need to reapply.

How do I find out if I qualify for Extra Help?
In most cases, you must live in one of the 50 states or the District of Columbia and have income and resources below a certain limit. The income limit is based on your income from the previous year.
• Your annual income must be below $21,870 for an individual, or $29,580 for a married couple in 2023.
• Your resources must be below $16,600 for an individual or $33,240 for a married couple in 2023.
o Resources include money in a checking, savings, or retirement account, stocks, and bonds. Resources don’t include your home, one car, burial plots, up to $1,500 for burial expenses if you’ve put that money aside, furniture, and other household and personal items.

These limits can change each year. Even if you don’t qualify for Extra Help now, you can reapply for Extra Help any time, if your income and resources change.

How do I apply for Extra Help?
Some people qualify automatically, but if you don’t, it’s easy to apply for Extra Help:
• Visit Social Security online at ssa.gov/extrahelp.
• Call Social Security at 1-800-772-1213. TTY users can call 1-800-325-0778.
After you apply, Social Security will review your application and send you a letter to let you know if you qualify for Extra Help. Once you qualify, you can choose a Medicare
Low-income Subsidy Drop-in Article
drug plan. If you qualify for Extra Help and don’t select a plan, Medicare will select a plan for you.

Where can I get more information?
• Visit Social Security at ssa.gov/extrahelp or call 1-800-772-1213 (TTY: 1-800325-0778) if you have questions about the Extra Help program or need help filling out the application.
• Visit Medicare.gov/extrahelp or call 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) to learn about Medicare drug plans, Extra Help, and other ways to lower your prescription drug costs. TTY users can call 1-877-486-2048.

San Francisco residents living with HIV? The Equal Access to Healthcare Program (EAHP) team of advocates at PRC can help; email [email protected] or call (415) 864-4066.

Celebrating our most important asset — our staff!

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

PRC Recognizes May as Staff Appreciation Month

Here at PRC, we help more than 5,000 of San Francisco’s most underserved adults each year go from a place of crisis to stability by giving them the foundation they need to transform their lives for the better. And by “we”, we’re referring to the more than 200 dedicated and hardworking members of our staff
who work tirelessly to ensure each person who walks through our doors has the support they need to thrive.

In 2022, PRC dedicated May as Staff Appreciation Month (SAM) to celebrate our compassionate change-makers with an organization-wide show of gratitude for their dedication and hard work. This year, we celebrated SAM once again.

Staff at each of our locations received weekly deliveries of treats and snacks and inspiring notes thanking them for their service. Our People Experience team (Human Resources) curated trivia challenges and entertaining games with chances to win awesome prizes donated by generous business and community
donors. The activities concluded with an open house that included lunch, games, and the opportunity for staff to socialize and celebrate each other.

To say that we are proud of our staff and the ways they uplift our community is an understatement. Each day they work to keep people housed, ensure they receive the health benefits they need to live a dignified life, provide tools to find meaningful employment and offer mental health and substance addiction supports that accompany recovery. In our humble opinion, the staff at PRC are the cream of the crop, and we can’t thank them enough for dedicating their lives to helping others in need.


Please join us in showing your appreciation for these incredible individuals and their dedication to lifting up everyone in need. San Francisco is a better place because of them and their compassion for their fellow human.

In community,

PRC

Black Leadership Council’s Aftershock Film Screening, Panel Discussion, and a Call to Action

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

We’re elated to share about an incredibly impactful event of which we were a part. On Wednesday, April 12, the Black Leadership Council (BLC), an initiative of PRC, and partners First 5 Alameda County, Alameda Health System and Alameda County Public Health Department’s BElovedBIRTH Black Centering, and the California Black Health Network held a screening of the powerful documentary Aftershock and a post-film Panel Discussion. The event took place at Oakland’s historic Grand Lake Theatre during Black Maternal Health Week, which aims to inspire awareness, activism, and community-building to amplify the voices, perspectives, and lived experiences of Black Moms and birthing people.

This film highlights the devastating inequities that Black birthing women face as they relate to maternal morbidities. More specifically, the film follows the preventable deaths of two young African-American women in New York City, whose bereaved families turn their pain into power and galvanize activists, birth workers, and physicians to reckon with the US maternal health crisis.

The screening was followed by a panel discussion with one of the filmmakers, Tonya Lewis Lee; two of the featured fathers, Omari Maynard and Bruce McIntyre; California Black Health Network Executive Director Rhonda Smith; and Alameda Health System & Alameda County Public Health Department’s BElovedBIRTH Black Centering Director Jyesha Wren. Their contributions to the discussion and the event were invaluable as we learned how they use film, art, innovative programming for Black birthing mothers, and policy reform efforts to find effective solutions that lead to health equity and justice. The panel was moderated by Tasha Henneman, PRC’s Chief of Policy and Government Affairs and Director of the BLC, and Kevin Bremond, First 5 Alameda County Father’s Corps’ Co-Founder and Program Administrator.

We encourage you to watch the film on HULU and then view our panel discussion embedded below.

The event ended with the Black Leadership Council’s call to action:

  • Reclaim the promise of racial justice, equity, and quality health care for ALL!
  • Commit to advancing and funding the work of all those represented and make it endure!
  • Be voices, eyes, ears, and advocates for Black mothers and birthing people!
  • Grow a broader, more resilient base of political support for racial equity beyond the brave leadership of the event’s justice warriors.
  • Become a member of the Black Leadership Council and join them in Sacramento, on June 19, 2023, for their annual advocacy day, “Black in Action.”

Check out our curated photo gallery of the event by clicking the arrow keys to the left and right below.

bethaniehines

“So important was the feeling people walked away with. The film and panel discussion opened a door for birthing people and non-birthing people to recall their own personal experiences or those of others close to them, to reflect on the harsh realities of health inequities that Black women face, and provided education on the historical racism that has shaped the birthing/medical field.”

— Tasha Henneman, Chief of public Policy and Government Affairs, PRC / Director, BLC

Hear from our attendees, who left the event feeling inspired and activated! You can also view all photos from the event taken by Bethanie Hines Photography.

The Black Leadership Council acts as a coalition because when we improve outcomes for our community members hardest hit by inequities, we improve them for all of us.

PRC Brief — Honest feedback from PRC clients

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

As we continue to incorporate our organizational values into everything we do, we’d like to emphasize the importance of honesty, particularly in the realm of integrated legal, social, and behavioral health services. Courage and vulnerability are essential components of honesty and necessary for both clients and providers for meaningful growth to occur. As a provider, our clients rely on us to provide high-quality, honest care that is tailored to meet their individual needs.

Here’s what our clients have had to say:

— Workforce Development Client

— Baker Places Residential Treatment Client

Our dedicated staff works tirelessly to ensure that each client’s needs are met. As part of our overall care and compliance, we routinely request our clients’ honest feedback to ensure our programs are as impactful as can be. Through this feedback, we are continually learning what works and what we can improve upon through changes to our approach and strategies.

We are proud to be able to provide these services and we are grateful to our donors who make this work possible. By focusing on honesty and all our values, we will continue to improve the lives of our clients and create meaningful and lasting change in our community.

PRC

PRC Brief: Black History Month Highlight — Sylvester

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

As Black History Month comes to a close, we’d like to highlight someone with profound significance to PRC. Sylvester, “Queen of Disco”, was known for his gender-bending persona and performances, flamboyant and androgynous appearance, falsetto singing voice, and hit disco singles in the late 1970s and 1980s. An inspiration to countless LGBTQ+ people, Sylvester was a trailblazer within the drag community and always unequivocally himself. You can learn more about Sylvester in this 8-part podcast about Sylvester’s life.

As one of the first public figures to be open that he was dying of AIDS, Sylvester was instrumental in raising awareness of the disease and fundraised to support the cause until his death in 1988. Prior to his passing, Sylvester selected two organizations he received support from during his lifetime — AIDS Emergency Fund (read the history of how this became PRC’s Emergency Financial Assistance program) and Project Open Hand — as the beneficiaries of his estate and future music royalties.

Sylvester attending the Castro’s 1988 Gay Freedom Parade in a wheelchair

We continue to receive financial support thanks to Sylvester’s foresight and are proud to be connected in this meaningful way with such an inspirational figure.

To honor Sylvester’s legacy, PRC named its signature fundraising event after his biggest hit, You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real), and each year we give the Sylvester Community Pillar Award to an individual who embodies the love, joy, individualism, and sheer fabulousness of Sylvester. Past recipients include drag
personality and LGBTQ+ advocate Donna Sachet, Former SF Pride President and LGBTQ+ advocate Gary Virginia, singer and actress Dionne Warwick, and singer-songwriter Patti LaBelle.

Ideas on who we should honor in 2023? Send us your nomination with why you think they should be honored to [email protected]!

We’re hard at work planning the 2023 Mighty Real Gala and look forward to announcing the date soon. In the meantime, save the date for Gary Virginia & Donna Sachet’s Pride Brunch, benefitting PRC, on Saturday, June 24, and enjoy getting Mighty Real!

Sylvester — You Make Me Feel (Mighty Real)

Introducing PRC Brief: Our commitment to you

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

With new leadership and a new year, we wanted to rethink our communications
to you, so we’re launching PRC Brief — shorter, more frequent, and more
engaging bites of content to keep you informed.


We also recently surveyed you, our dedicated supporters, and we heard you.

  • You want to know what’s going on with PRC
  • You want us to be transparent
  • You want to know how we are strengthening the organization

We heard you, and what you had to say aligns perfectly with our organizational

values of:

We commit to you, our clients, and our community to embody these values in everything we do.


Starting with accountability. We are taking significant steps to become more financially sustainable over the long-term. We are making great progress in implementing a plan that maps out several key strategies.

  • Re-negotiating our contracts to make them more fully funded
  • Reducing expenses wherever possible to create a more efficient organization
  • Establishing a federally negotiated indirect rate for our federally funded contracts
  • Restructuring programs to focus on those most central to our core mission and be financially sustainable

As part of the last strategy, we successfully transferred two of our programs — Joe Healy Detox Program and Acceptance Place — to another service provider with as little disruption to clients and staff as possible. Both are up and running and accepting clients.


There is still much more work to do, and we look forward to keeping you informed throughout.

Thank you for taking the time to voice your concerns and share why PRC is so meaningful to you and worth saving. On behalf of the more than 5,000 clients we serve each year, we wholeheartedly agree.

We invite your continued dialogue.

Look out for:

  • 2021/22 Impact Report
  • Save the date for our 2023 events
  • Upcoming campaign for supporters to share PRC’s impact on your life

In community,

PRC

PRC Names Chuan Teng as New CEO

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson


As a valued supporter, we wanted you to be among the first to know: we are
elated to formally announce that PRC’s Board of Directors has appointed Chuan
Teng as the permanent Chief Executive Officer of PRC!

Since September, Chuan has served in this role on an interim basis and
chartered a path to organizational sustainability by strengthening the agency’s
health through creative problem-solving, keeping our mission and values at the
core of all decision-making, and leveraging our partnerships in meaningful ways.


With this in mind, we are optimistic about what 2023 and the future will bring. Stay
tuned for more frequent and informative updates on our progress. We also want
to hear from you! Watch for an upcoming survey requesting your input on our
communications and the PRC donor experience.


Thank you for your commitment to PRC and for being an integral part of our
successes. We look forward to engaging with each and every one of you.

In partnership,

All of us at PRC

Songs of the Season, what a fantastic way to put closure on 2022!

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

On Tuesday, December 6th, and Wednesday, December 7th, the 30th annual Songs of the Season filled Feinstein’s at the Nikko with two magical nights of music, community, and fundraising, all to support PRC’s lifesaving services. This joyful annual event was created 30 years ago by drag personality, producer, singer, hostess extraordinaire, and longtime PRC volunteer Donna Sachet, as one of her many ways to raise funds to support PRC. For the past six years, Songs of the Season has been produced by Donna’s good friend and community stalwart, Billboard recording artist Brian Kent.

Event guests were treated to incredible cabaret-style performances by Charles Jones, Effie Passero, Kenny Nelson, Kippy Marks, and Leanne Borghesi of both traditional and not-so-traditional holiday songs, original musical compositions, and witty comedy, all supported by wildly talented musicians Russel Deason and Roberta Drake. Donna Sachet serenaded the crowd with multiple songs, the reading of a letter from a young child who questioned belief in her existence, and multiple outfit changes to keep the crowd on their toes. Brian Kent entertained the crowd with a Jewish perspective of Christmas, and Sister Roma gave plenty of cheer with her Sisterly version of standup comedy. Overall, the atmosphere at Feinstein’s set the perfect mood for such a festive occasion.

We would like to thank everyone who purchased tickets or donated and our dedicated and generous sponsors: Tito’s Handmade Vodka, The Bob A. Ross Foundation, Brio Financial, The Powerhouse, Americorp Financial, The Edge, Mark Leno, David Helton, Lu Conrad and Jeffrey Stone, and the San Francisco Bay Times.  All together we raised more than $22,000 to support PRC’s integrated social, legal, and behavioral health services to help the City’s most vulnerable populations.  

We look forward to next year’s Songs of the Season and hope that you’re able to join the festivities.  

Full cast

If you would like to make a donation to support Songs of the Season, click here. All proceeds support PRC’s lifesaving, integrated social, legal, and behavioral health services to help the City’s most vulnerable populations. 

6th Annual Mighty Real Gala, A Resounding Success

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

PRC is pleased to announce the extraordinary success of its 6th annual Mighty Real Gala on Friday, November 4, 2022. Taking place at the beautiful Four Seasons Hotel and attracting nearly 330 guests, this incredible evening raised more than $250,000 for PRC’s essential services for San Francisco’s most vulnerable individuals. 

“The overwhelming support of this year’s Mighty Real Gala is a testament to this community’s commitment to helping San Francisco’s homeless and other vulnerable populations with whom we work every day. It was a powerfully emotional and momentous occasion as we symbolically passed the leadership torch and honored our retiring CEO Emeritus Brett Andrews for his visionary leadership of the organization for nearly 20 years. I’m honored and humbled to have had the opportunity to share this moment with our community and by the love and support I’ve received.” shared PRC Interim CEO Chuan Teng.  

Highlights of the evening included a heartfelt and symbolic transfer of the leadership torch from CEO Emeritus Brett Andrews to Interim CEO Chuan Teng and impassioned and emotionally expressive speeches from Gala Chair and PRC Board Member Nichole Wiley, PRC client Stafford Hemmer, and Senator Scott Wiener. The sentiment and devotion for PRC’s clients and services was brimming throughout the ballroom. The festivities were ushered in by Master of Ceremonies extraordinaire Kelly Russell, who presided over an exciting live auction and Fund a Need, and the afterparty was energized by the entertaining seven-piece band, Last Wave.  

Guests were also treated to award presentations of the Outstanding Corporate Partner Award to the Law firm, Pillsbury, Winthrop Shaw, and Pitman, the Keystone Service Award to The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, PRC’s first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award to retiring CEO Emeritus Brett Andrews, and the Sylvester Community Pillar Award to Latrice Royale. Between Tito’s specialty cocktails and a fabulous performance from Drag performer, recording artist, and reality TV Personality, Latrice Royale, the evening proved to be a touching tribute to those served by PRC’s services. 

We would like to extend our deepest gratitude to everyone who attended and supported PRC during the live auction and Fund a Need,  our dedicated volunteers, and our generous sponsors: Janice & Thomas Berthold, Chevron, David McCrory and Andrew Chen, Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP, Tito’s Handmade Vodka, AT&T, DivcoWest, Eastdil Secured, JLL, JP Morgan, Kaiser Permanente, Nuveen Real Estate, Quest Diagnostics, Revel Architecture & Design, Brian Schneider and Robert Liberman, Stockbridge, TMG Partners, ABM, Allied Universal, ARG Conservation Services Inc., CBF Electric & Data, East Bay Rental Housing Association, Giampolini Courtney Masonry Restoration, Landis Communications, Inc, Metro Services Group, Newmark, San Francisco Community Health Center, Skyline Construction, and Transwestern. 

If you would like to extend your support of this year’s Mighty Real Gala, you still can.

Photo Gallery from PRC’s 6th Annual Mighty Real Gala

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Another Step in Combating Stigma Based on Gender

Posted on by Seth Abrahamson

New social security policy allows for self-selection of gender.

As part of the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) Equity Action Plan, on October 20, 2022, the Acting Commissioner of Social Security, Kilolo Kijakazi, announced that SSA will offer individuals the option to self-select their gender on their Social Security Number (SSN) applications and records. SSA is committed to decreasing the burden on those who identify differently from their assigned gender at birth. Acting Commissioner Kijakazi stated, “This new policy allows people to self-select their sex in our records without needing to provide documentation of their sex designation.”

Those who want to update their SSN records will need to apply for a replacement card. (https://www.ssa.gov/forms/ss-5.pdf) They will still need to prove their identity with current documentation, such as a passport or state-issued driver’s license or identity card. Although the gender field is not used in determining benefit eligibility, SSA is working with other agencies to allow millions of transgender people in the United States to update their most commonly used identification documents.

Unfortunately, the current SSA record system cannot include nonbinary or unspecified gender designation at this time. SSA is exploring options to support an “X” designation in the future.

This new policy began when President Biden signed Executive Order 13988, Preventing and Combating Discrimination on the Basis of Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation on January 20, 2021.

Resource:

Social Security Implements Self-Attestation of Sex Marker in Social Security Number Records (Abigail Zapote, Senior Advisor to the Commissioner, dated October 20, 2022)

Social Security Implements Self-Attestation of Sex Marker in Social Security Number Records