PRC (formerly Positive Resource Center) has been transforming the Bay Area for decades, helping those affected by HIV/AIDS, substance use, or mental health issues realize their best selves by providing the support and services they need to reclaim their lives.

Services include emergency financial assistance for short-term security; legal representation for access to basic income and healthcare benefits; and residential treatment, supportive housing, and employment training for longer-term social rehabilitation.

Having merged with the AIDS Emergency Fund and Baker Places, Inc. in 2016, PRC’s newly interconnected services help over 5,000 clients per year on their path toward long-term stability and success.

A longtime pillar of the community, we have grown, and we have changed, and we’ll continue to grow and change. We’ll add new services, and find new partners to work alongside us. But, through it all, we will remain committed to the same core ideals we began with:

• We will continue to be welcoming and accepting of ALL people;
• We will stand up, speak out, and provide both urgent and long-term support for those who too often are marginalized or ignored;
• And we will never, ever stop working to empower our clients by helping the whole person – moving beyond merely addressing their health and tackling the larger social issues that affect them.

Driven by a deep desire to help those affected by HIV navigate their way through a cumbersome process and get the disability benefits they deserved, ABC operated for months out of people’s homes without financial support. Later that year, thanks to a modest but meaningful gift of $500 from People with AIDS – San Francisco, along with pro bono legal services from the team at Pettit & Martin, ABC filed for its incorporation and tax-exempt status.

In March of 1989, founder and key volunteer Patrick James died of complications from AIDS. ABC was devastated by the loss, but did its best to regroup and find creative ways to provide the same level of service using legal interns and volunteers. Over the next few years, ABC moved to a more permanent home in the Castro District, hired staff, and received first-time local government funding from the Department of Public Health and first-time federal funding through the Ryan White CARE Act. By the end of 1991, ABC had an operating budget of over $14,000 and two full-time staff members.

Meanwhile, in 1992, the Life Center, a local HIV/AIDS service provider, was approached by community members to develop employment resources for people living with HIV/AIDS – Positive Resources was founded as a result of their efforts.

Four years after this program’s formation, however, the Life Center fell on hard financial times. Putting the Positive Resources program out to bid, the Life Center’s Board of Directors entertained offers from a variety of non-profits, ultimately accepting ABC’s offer in 1996. After operating in separate locations for two years, ABC and Positive Resources came together under one roof at 973 Market Street in 1998. The agency officially changed its name to Positive Resource Center in 1999.

Since then, PRC has experienced extraordinary growth. PRC modified its Mission Statement in 2004 to expand services to people at risk for HIV/AIDS, including those with mental health disabilities. In 2015, PRC began discussions of a merger with Baker Places, Inc., followed by AIDS Emergency Fund in 2016. Both mergers were approved in 2016, bringing Baker Places’ substance use and mental health services to the PRC portfolio, as well as expanding our services for people with HIV/AIDS through AIDS Emergency Fund’s Emergency Financial Assistance program.

As of 2017, Positive Resource Center is now officially just “PRC.” The result of a year-long rebranding effort, this new name also comes with a new logo (called “Bridge to Betterment”) and a new feel. Warm and welcoming, bold and inspiring, knowledgeable and optimistic, our new brand seeks to reflect the values and hopes of our newly merged organization.