Queer Power Hour wants to introduce you to Sister Ruth Hall. When the AIDS epidemic began to claim the lives of people in San Francisco, she offered up a room in the convent of the Community of St. Francis to families visiting their sick loved ones.
As the need surged, she founded The Family Link in 1985 to accommodate more visitors needing a place to stay.
Two years later, Mary Richards, a journalist with the Bay Area Reporter, interviewed Sister Ruth for the paper at an apartment that The Family Link was renting.
Mary Richards donated her audio archive and papers to the GLBT Historical Society. And thanks to them, we were able to listen to the original tapes of their hour-plus conversation.
We’re honored to share this excerpt that memorializes the heroic efforts of everyday people like Sister Ruth, who cared for strangers in the middle of an unprecedented crisis.
Epilogue:
Sister Ruth died on September 7, 2020 at Davies Medical Center in San Francisco. The organization she started 40 years ago lives on and continues to provide housing to family members that come to San Francisco to care for loved ones with life-threatening illnesses or injuries. Journalist Mary Richards passed away in 2023.