California: SF Under One Roof Closing Up Shop

Under One Roof is closing the store it leases in the Castro after 21 years of raising more than $4 million for numerous local HIV/AIDS charities through the sale of small gifts. "The bottom line is we're not giving enough money to the charities we need to support," said Jennifer Kutz, a spokeswoman for the organization. Under One Roof was founded by San Francisco artist Daniel Goldstein in 1991 at the height of the AIDS crisis. In the beginning, everything in the store was donated by at least 50 other AIDS nonprofits, and all the revenue went back to those groups; however, today eighty-five percent of its merchandise is bought wholesale. The store was once at the forefront of the fight against AIDS, said Phil Siegel, the original spokesman for Under One Roof. However, the store had just expanded and moved locations in 2008 when the economy took a downturn. Under One Roof officials are in the process of determining how much money they can make through other ideas such as fundraisers and selling Christmas gifts at donated spaces, and they are convinced it will be an improvement. "We know this is the right thing to help people that really, really need it," Kutz said. For more information, go to Under One Roof's website: www.underoneroof.org.

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