she was being treated as "expendable" and purged the board of several members, including film director Mike Nichols, and the head of the New York Center. Some people believed Williamson was losing trust in several board members and preemptively fired them before they fired her. She disputed that, claiming that she intended to step down as president and wanted to give her successor a clean slate. The two coastal Centers ended up parting ways, with Nichols going on to create a rival AIDS support organization. Williamson's defenders said that, as the founder and president of the board, she was within her rights to want a staff aligned with her vision, and that it was "unfair to charge her with a mania for control simply because she didn't want her creation usurped by hostile rivals": Williamson stepped down from the Center in the summer of 1992. The New York Center was able to remain open following a donation from Cher. Williamson gave the organization a $50,000 check and "graciously walked away." She remained an advisor to the organization. Project Angel Food In 1989, Williamson launched Project Angel Food to support HIV/AIDS patients. The program was operated by The Centers for Living, but became so successful that its name recognition outgrew its parent company. By 1992 it had raised over $1.5 million and was delivering nearly 400 hot meals a day to home-bound AIDS patients in Los Angeles. Williamson deemed the demand for the organization's services to be a positive sign about HIV/AIDS, treating people living with and managing the disease, rather than simply dying of it. Williamson resigned from Project Angel Food in March 1992 amid infighting, two months after the board fired executive director and gay activist Steve Schulte, with some speculating that Williamsonwho had been open about her wanting him gonewas responsible for the firing. Schulte, who had been the Center's third executive director in five years, was well-liked among the employees because he lobbied for salary increases, but clashed with Williamson over the operational approach to running the organization. His firing led a majority of the remaining employees to call for Williamson's resignation, his reinstatement, the replacement of the entire board, and unionization if Williamson remained. Stephen Bennett, a consultant hired to assess the situation, determined that there were more paid staff on hand than needed, but with a union vote pending, Bennett refused to lay employees off.