Shanti Project

The Shanti Project's community of Volunteers and Staff provides emotional and practical support to San Francisco's most vulnerable individuals living with life-threatening illness. Founded in 1974 by Dr. Charles Garfield at the UCSF Cancer Institute, Shanti was among the first volunteer organizations to work with terminally-ill individuals and later became one of the first community-based HIV/AIDS organizations in the world. Shanti has trained over 18,000 volunteers in the Bay Area and 600 organizations world-wide in the Shanti Model of Peer Support™; these volunteers have provided over 3 million hours of practical and emotional support to San Francisco residents with cancer or HIV/AIDS. For the 2,200+ clients we serve each year, Shanti represents the difference between zero and one – the difference between a client having to face a life-threatening illness alone or having at least one caring presence at his or her side. Shanti enhances the quality of life, health and well-being of people living with life-threatening illnesses.