THE HISTORY OF UNDER ONE ROOF

The history of Under One Roof begins in 1990 when a group of friends, wanting to stop the epidemic ravaging their community, joined together to create a small retail shop, the proceeds from which they would give to local AIDS service organizations (ASOs). They occupied a little corner of the Names Project's storefront on Market Street in San Francisco, for the holiday season. Customers were thrilled that they were able to give support to the fight against AIDS simply by giving gifts, and by so doing, raising funds for their friends and loved ones. And so began an enduring Under One Roof gift giving tradition " giving the gift that gives twice ."

Two years later, Under One Roof opened a year-round store, dedicated to providing unrestricted funding to ASOs that had limited internal fund-raising capabilities. The new store, which gave 100 percent of its profits to participating ASO's, was a truly collaborative effort: Agencies came together to sell merchandise, volunteers ran and staffed the store, corporate partners provided funding, vendors donated goods to be sold, and customers shopped their little hearts out. All together, all "under one roof".