The Family Link is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit agency which has served San Francisco since 1985. We are one of the original “San Francisco Model” AIDS Service Organizations founded in response to the burgeoning AIDS epidemic, to fill a need that remains unique and urgent more than three decades later: providing safe, supportive, affordable, home-like accommodations that allow low-income family members to come to San Francisco and care for loved ones with AIDS, COVID-19, and other life-threatening illnesses or injuries.
The Beginning
Sister Ruth Hall, right, with contractor Jim Spotts, during a 1994 remodel of the Family Link home.
Sister Ruth was born Norma Diane Hall on June 29, 1949 in Liverpool, England. Growing up in a Quaker family, she felt called to a religious life. In her teens she investigated various denominations, and joined the Anglican church. After college she moved to Southern England and when she turned 21 in 1970 she joined the Community of St. Francis (CSF). She went to San Francisco in 1974 as part of the group who founded the American Province of the CSF. By 1981, then a volunteer at the Shanti Project, Sister Ruth realized that many people who came to San Francisco to care for ill loved ones had nowhere to stay, and so she arranged a room for a relative visiting a Shanti client. By 1985, she had rented an apartment, recruited a board of directors, obtained nonprofit status, and was networking with hospital and hospice social workers to identify unhoused guests.
1985-1995
To avoid competing for scarce funds that could otherwise go to medical care, she insisted on never seeking or accepting government funding, a policy that continues today at the Family Link. Dedicated volunteers and donors have enabled the nondenominational agency to survive. Sister Ruth was the only full-time employee, and the agency had a part-time employee and housecleaner.
Sister Ruth did much outreach to the LGBTQ community. She rode in the agency's float in the 1993 San Francisco Pride parade. The Family Link has participated in the AIDS Walk and has been involved in the Castro Street Fair since the 1990s.
San Francisco Pride Parade
Our New Home
In 1995, the Family Link moved into its own building at 317 Castro Street. Sister Ruth had obtained a contractor's license, and she worked with contractor Jim Spotts on repairs that turned two dilapidated Edwardian flats into a warm family home.
For nearly 40 years, Sister Ruth welcomed thousands of guests from around the world, making lasting friendships. She was there 24/7, ensuring that guests were fed, comforted, counseled, and cared for. Sister Ruth died on September 7, 2020 at Davies Medical Center in San Francisco following a recent cancer diagnosis, but her legacy persists.
317 Castro Street
Looking Ahead
Under the fervent leadership of current Program Director Shabnam Gul, the organization continues to serve visitors who come to San Francisco to visit and care for loved ones with life-threatening illnesses or injuries.
Shabnam had worked with Sister Rush since she first came to the Family Link with her infant daughter in 2001 during a family medical crisis.
Shabnam Gul, Program Director