Health Equity Drives the 2021 Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards  

Honoring the art of caring on Sunday May 9, 2021 starting at 5:30 p.m. PT 

DAP Health and community sponsors will host the 27th annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards, reimagined this year as a digital experience that will honor this community’s legacy of giving and the compassion of its namesake, all in a format that made safe and accessible for everyone.   

Registration is open: The 27th Annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards is May 9, 2021.  Click here to register and keep up to date on all the details, celebrity entertainment, online auction opportunities and more. 

You can participate by tuning into NBC Palm Springs or by joining us on any of DAP Health's social media channels (Facebook, YouTube or Twitter).   

DAP Health’s largest fundraising event is in its 27th year and is named for one of our earliest financial supporters, the designer Steve Chase.   

“Making health equity a priority in this Valley through this pandemic calls for us to remember the spirit and lessons we learned from Steve Chase,” says David Brinkman, CEO. “DAP Health continues to be guided by his example of activism and giving, which saves and changes lives today.” 

Themes in 2021 Serve the Greater Good 

This year's awards are a celebration of the Hope Begins With Health campaign — a $2 million fundraising initiative to propel DAP Health's frontline work. 

Our ever-expanding patient population needs us to focus on: health equity, COVID, mental health, and ending HIV.  

Health Equity Means Access  

Experts warn us that too many people are falling out of essential medical and mental healthcare, but throughout 2021 DAP Health is offering them solutions tailored for these times.  

• Public health outreach to isolated patients will connect them to care based on need and not wealth, 
• Added resource navigators will help more people access care with insurance, plus help with everyday living essentials,  
• Mobile medical services will serve a wider patient population, 
• Added home services will keep more patients feeling self-sufficient.  

Increasing Access Takes a Commitment to Cultural Humility  

We understand that cultural humility calls for us to be more curious, and much less set in our ways. Instead of a one-size-fits-all approach to accessing and engaging in healthcare, DAP Health believes that each person deserves a connection that works for them.   

To do this, we constantly examine our approaches. We lean in and get to know the cultural and social realities of our patients and clients by actively listening, so that we can offer them care and services that meet their unique needs.  

DAP Health has been bringing people in the Coachella Valley health and inclusion since 1984 by identifying new and emerging public health needs of people who face disparities in accessing care, especially due to race, class and economic circumstance. 

Especially now, the intersection of race and health equity is one of the most important public health challenges facing this Valley and this nation.  

Meeting the diverse needs or our community takes a lifelong commitment to question our own approaches, and the willingness to evolve.  

DAP Health was born out desperate need for innovation, which is why our history is one worth remembering and emulating. It calls for us to always be ready to embrace change, to continue making everyone feel welcome and wanted at DAP Health. 

COVID Response 

DAP Health opened one of California’s first COVID Clinics and over 9,700 patients have been seen. These services will continue, and in 2021 DAP is working to improve many social determinants of health that are preventing so many from better health outcomes during this pandemic. 

Food and housing insecurity, joblessness, isolation, and access to healthcare can have a considerable effect on COVID outcomes, compounded by factors like race, ethnicity, and LGBTQ status. (CDC) 

DAP Health joins with the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) to declare that beating COVID will require solutions that promote health equity. 

Behavioral Health Expansion 

Building health equity has always included restoring the sense of belonging that many people lose because they are different. Homophobia, racism, and COVID fatigue are top challenges causing isolation for many people. Health experts warn that this is a serious health risk.  

Throughout 2021  the DAP Health Behavioral Health department is doubling its capacity to see patients for individual and group therapy by California licensed clinical psychologists and licensed clinical social workers.  

Thriving with HIV and Ending the Epidemic 

DAP has the region’s largest team of HIV-specialized doctors with expertise in aging and thriving with HIV, and although the word “AIDS” no longer appears in the DAP Health logo, providing care to people with HIV (PWH), and ending the HIV epidemic, remain core to DAP Health.  

Despite COVID, providing more HIV testing and better treatment for PWH remains essential to ending the HIV pandemic. We will continue offering free self HIV-test kits to anyone who requests one.  

We are cutting the time between diagnoses of HIV and entry into care for patients in 2021, and are making medication available quicker, a move to prevent people from falling out of care. We know this will also help decrease HIV transmission rates. 

Patients can count on us to help them stay healthy and untransmittable to others. They become part of the DAP Health family beginning with testing, to linkage into care, and then being enrolled in medical and mental healthcare, dentistry, social services, and prescription access.  

Find Out Why Hope Begins with Health 

The economic impact of COVID on our community is not just a change in financial circumstances. The implications have far-reaching consequences on medical and mental health. Click here to explore our Hope Begins With Health campaign and find out how DAP Health is meeting the needs of our patients and clients during this pandemic, and how you can help. 

About DAP Health  

DAP Health (DAP) is an advocacy-based health center in Palm Springs, CA serving over  9,700 patients, offering medical and mental healthcare, STI testing and treatment, dentistry, pharmacy, and lab. A variety of wraparound services enable patients to experience optimal health, including social services, support groups, alternative therapies, and other wellness services. Excellent HIV care is provided by the largest team of specialized clinicians in the area.      

DAP opened one of California’s first COVID clinics and hotlines to offer screening, testing, and treatment. DAP is also working to address social determinants of health that are causing negative health outcomes during this pandemic, like food and housing insecurity, joblessness, isolation, and access to ongoing healthcare.  

DAP’s sexual health clinic offers STI testing and treatment, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), and HIV and HCV testing. DAP has earned Charity Navigator’s highest rating for the twelfth consecutive year – landing DAP in the top 6% of nonprofits rated. The distinction recognizes that DAP exceeds industry standards in terms of financial health, accountability, and transparency.      

Visit www.daphealth.org to learn more.      

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