Shanti Project


The Shanti Project is a non-profit human services agency based in San Francisco and founded in 1974 by Dr. Charles Garfield in Berkeley, CA. Its goals are to provide peer support and guidance to people affected by HIV/AIDS, cancer, and other life-threatening conditions. Since its inception, several organizations adhering to the Shanti model have been created in the United States, including projects in Los Angeles, California, Seattle, Washington and Laguna Beach, California.
In 2001 the organization also began serving Women with breast cancer in addition to people who are HIV+. Then in 2013, renamed the Women's Cancer Project for Margot Murphy because of a funding source secured through the generous family of Margot Murphy. In November, 2015 Shanti opened their services up to Women with any type of cancer.

The Shanti Model

Shanti is a Sanskrit word meaning "inner peace" or "tranquility" and all of Shanti's direct service and educational programs are aimed at easing the burdens and improving the well-being of people in difficult life situations.
The Shanti model of peer support is built upon several services
In 1999 Badman Recording Co. released a compact disc featuring various artists, titled Shanti Project Collection. A portion of the proceeds from the sale of the CD were donated to the Shanti Project. It has since been followed up with two more collections.