Next month, the AIDS Emergency Fund will mark its 25th anniversary with a night of dinner and dancing at the San Francisco Marriott. The event coincides with the longtime AIDS organization's milestone of granting $25 million in emergency financial assistance to people with HIV/AIDS, which will occur in late July or early August.

Phil Conway, 75, is just one of the 2,100 people AEF helps each year. Conway was diagnosed HIV-positive in 1986. Unable to work, he could not afford to stay in the apartment he was renting. He spent years living in the Derek Silva AIDS housing complex, a facility that provides supportive services to tenants. While he was grateful for the assistance, he said it never felt like home.

"It was very rigid," said Conway. "It was not really degrading, but depressing to live there."

Thanks to AEF, Conway and his husband recently moved to an apartment in the Bayview.

"Imagine, 1,300 square feet and a backyard for the dog," Conway marveled. With AEF's assistance, Conway and his husband were able to afford the expensive moving process.

Conway is elated about the move. "We feel free, we feel we're not stigmatized," he said. "We have good housing. The AEF is a miracle."

Conway isn't the only one whose life has been transformed by the organization.

"About 90 percent of our clients are on living on between $700 and $900 a month," said Mike Smith, 47, executive director of AEF. Clients most often need help paying rent, but AEF will also help with utility bills, trips home, and funeral expenses.

The fund began in 1982 in co-founder Rick Booth's living room, where a handful of people, including Booth and the late Walter Mellon, gathered to discuss what they could do to help those living with the newly-identified disease.

"We were hearing of people getting fired from their jobs because they were sick," said Booth, who will receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at the gala. "We thought, 'this shouldn't be happening. These people should be able to stay and receive treatment.' It's bad enough to have a horrible disease without being put out on the street."

"The idea was to collect pennies, as many as they could, and from all sources," remembered Conway, who attended the first meeting in Booth's living room. "I thought, 'these guys are smoking something!'"

Over the years AEF has collected more than just pennies, although its "Every Penny Counts" program generates thousands of dollars each year from local businesses and school children.

Besides being an agency that has traditionally had a low administrative overhead, another distinction that sets AEF apart from other AIDS organizations is its inseparable bond to the leather community. The group's first major fundraiser was Alan Selby's San Francisco Leather Daddy contest, in 1982. Selby, who died in May 2004, helped to organize additional leather title contests and events to benefit AEF, creating not just a leather-supported organization, but an AEF-fostered leather community.

Its first fundraising dinner was in 1987 at the Warehouse (now Slim's), and was chaired by entertainer Sharon McNight and Bay Area Reporter leather columnist Marcus Hernandez. McNight, long a supporter of AEF, will perform at next month's gala.

Today, AEF operates on a budget of around $1.5 million, about $800,000 of which comes from fundraising events. Smith said he hopes to bring in $150,000 from the anniversary event.

"All the proceeds go to our clients because the corporate sponsors have covered our costs," said Smith, who became the agency's first paid executive director five years ago. "One hundred percent of what we raise in donations always goes to a separate account for clients. All our overhead is paid for by corporate and government money."

AEF plans to commemorate its anniversary with the dinner and dancing featuring a 1980s-style disco theme at the Marriott, Fifth and Mission streets in downtown San Francisco. Comedian Bruce Vilanch is the headliner, and he will be joined by longtime agency supporters, McNight and Donna Sachet. There will also be a silent auction, with many items, including a cruise for two to Alaska donated by RSVP Vacations.

The party takes place Saturday, July 21, from 6:30 to 10 p.m. Tickets are $195 per person. For more information, call (415) 558-6999, ext. 3, or visit http://www.aidsemergencyfund.org.