Where Barbie Fears To Tread

December 27, 2023January 3, 2024 by suelowe

Where Barbie Fears To Tread

With “Barbie” being the biggest movie of 2023, it’s a perfect time to not only raise awareness, but to actually do something about the state of women’s care. It may surprise you to know that DAP Health is already the projected leader.

As seen in Issue 4 of DAP Health magazine

Words by Kay Kudukis • Photos by Zach Ivey

Whether or not you liked the movie “Barbie,” you have to admit it’s causing … feelings. But since neither Barbie nor Ken have genitalia, or any internal organs, it has kept some salient points, like women’s health care, from being explored on screen.

Still, they could have thrown in a scene where America Ferrera’s character chooses a blue razor over a pink one while explaining that the latter is, save for color, exactly the same as the former but that, since it’s marketed “for women,” it’s available at a 13% price hike. Or that in 21 states, feminine hygiene products are still taxed as luxury items — which is some very dark state humor. Both are victims of the unwritten “pink tax” that requires women to pay more for bare necessities.

The film’s all-girl Supreme Court screamed “goals” and, independently of “Barbie,” DAP Health thought that was a good idea too. There are now six women on the nonprofit’s board of directors, and we’ve “poked the bear,” so to speak, and asked them to weigh in with their experiences and concerns.

“You can find numerous stories where women ‘know’ there is an issue and they are ignored by their doctor,” says DAP Health Board of Directors Vice Chair Lauri Kibby, an investor and entrepreneur in Palm Springs. “As if the ‘hysteria’ label continues to exist — though much more subtle.”

If you’re late to the game, in the mid-20th century, women with “unexplained malaise” were diagnosed with hysteria.

Bottom line? We need a big wake-up call in the medical community, which even today has an astoundingly limited understanding of the intricacies of a woman’s body and how it relates to her well-being. “The medical profession has has been bound by the assumption that women’s health management and issues are similar to male health management and issues,” Kibby continues. “This could not be further from the truth. As a consequence, research methodologies, and even provision of care, has mimicked male health care, resulting in insufficient — and often delayed — diagnosis, and in many cases, the cause of serious prognosis or early death.”

Dignity Health St. Mary Medical Center Hospital President and CEO Carolyn Caldwell of Long Beach, also a DAP Health board member, calls attention to something of which many women are guilty. “They are often so busy taking care of their families, they forget to take care of themselves,” she says. “It is critical that the health care powers that be educate women on the importance of self-care.”

But many women are single parents who work, and seeing a doctor or having tests requires time off, not to mention the cost of childcare, so they skip it. That only compounds whatever ill might be silently brewing.

“Due to a historically patriarchal health care system, women are prone to increased and often untreated forms of heart disease, mental illness, cancers, and other complex medical issues unique to women,” adds Palm Springs’ Eve E. Fromberg-Edelstein, an attorney and partner at Fromberg Edelstein Fromberg who also sits on the nonprofit’s board.

NPR cites a study showing middle-aged women with chest pain are twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental illness (instead of a heart condition) than their male counterparts, indicating women’s medical concerns are often dismissed at higher rates than those of men.

“Listening to women and responding to their concerns is a step in the right direction,” suggests Kibby, who also spearheaded DAP Health’s new Women of Impact initiative (see sidebar). “Training doctors and medical students that there are differences, and changing methods of research to include the biology of women, are all preliminary steps to changing the culture of women’s health care.”

“I will say this,” adds board member and Palm Springs business owner Athalie LaPamuk of her involvement in Women of Impact. “I was initially drawn to serving on this particular committee because, for the last eight years I have lived in the desert, I have continued to see my gynecologist in New York City once a year. That just seemed normal given the lack of women’s care options here. Hopefully, our women’s health initiative at DAP Health can change that. I think it’s been proven that a community is only as healthy as its women, so this is very important.”

DAP Health Associate Chief of Operations Nereida (Nedy) Terrazas served at Borrego Health for over 20 years, and has been involved in women’s health care since 2014. She comes into her new role within the integrated system with experience, ideas, and big plans, including practical ones such as moving from paper medical records to the much more efficient electronic ones. She also wants to address the issue of women missing appointments. “We are looking into an Uber health account so we can begin offering transportation services to our patients,” she says. Many families have only one car, and during clinic hours, the husband often uses it for work.

Terrazas seconds Caldwell’s concerns that lacking self-care is a major issue. “Your health should always be a priority,” she says. “Women tend to be the caregivers and make the health care decisions for our families. If we’re not well, who will replace us? Preventative care keeps us healthy so we can take care of our families. We cannot afford to skip it.”

Professor Karyl E. Ketchum, Ph.D. — who also serves on DAP Health’s board — is the department chair of women, gender, and queer studies at California State University, Fullerton. She brings good tidings: “Healthy women are better able to engage in economic activities, both within and outside the home, contributing to increased household income, economic growth at the community level, and improved living standards.”

With such strong and strongly empowered women in place within its leadership and workforce, DAP Health (which estimates that more than half of its patient population is female) is set to galvanize women throughout Southern California thanks to much-needed improvements in female-specific health care. What a perfect premise for a … “Barbie” sequel!

Fade in:

Palm Springs Barbie, in vintage Bob Mackie, sips a chilled beverage in her immaculately appointed Midcentury Modern doll house as Pregnant Midge gushes over the award-winning, holistic, patient-centric care she is receiving at DAP Health.

Barbie is inspired to create an “In the Pink” world tour, and to kick off her opening speech, she uses the words of yet another member of DAP Health’s governing body in Palm Springs, U.S. Soccer Foundation Chief Revenue Officer Ginny Ehrlich: “So many are headed in the wrong direction when it comes to women’s health. But not DAP Health. Instead of stripping women of their ability to determine what’s right for their own bodies and well-being, we are offering them the respectful and comprehensive health services they need … and deserve!”

Greta Gerwig, call me.

Sidebar:
Women of Impact, the newest initiative for DAP Health, came together through the passion of a powerful group of community, board of directors, and staff members dedicated to setting the “gold standard” of health care for women and children in our community.

“We all know there are severe gaps and barriers to good quality care for the women in our community and the families they care for,” says WOI Chair and DAP Health Board of Directors Vice Chair Lauri Kibby. “Our goal with Women of Impact is to fund programs that will address those gaps and educate the public about how they can be part of this movement.”

You can join Women of Impact — or get more information about the WOI tours that began this fall at Centro Medico Cathedral City — by contacting Chas Kidder at [email protected].

Caption: DAP Health PrEP Navigator Livi Moreno photographed by Zach Ivey in a dress by Peepa’s Palm Springs from Revivals.

Caption: DAP Health's Women of Impact Committee members photographed by Zach Ivey.

Imagine

December 26, 2023January 3, 2024 by suelowe

Imagine

Lift to Rise is partnering with DAP Health and others to erase desert homelessness.

As seen in Issue 4 of DAP Health magazine

Words by Kay Kudukis • Photos by Noé Montes for Lift to Rise

Collective impact: a network of community members, organizations, and institutions advancing equity by learning, aligning, and integrating actions to achieve systems-level change.

Even before 2011, when the term was first coined in a paper published in the Stanford Social Innovation, Heather Vaikona had been putting “collective impact” into practice in England, networking organizations to get behind a common cause to drive toward something.

In 2014, having returned from overseas and serving as the resource development director for United Way of the Desert, Vaikona was invited to an investor meeting. “The significant amount that all local funders were investing in was FIND Food Bank,” Vaikona says, which sounded fantastic until data showed food insecurity was still a thing. It was a symptom of something bigger. “Folks said, ‘What would it mean if we formed a coalition to try to tackle the root cause issues?’ Everyone in the room said, ‘Yeah, you figure it out, and come back and tell us.’”

Vaikona hit the road, lifted the hood at all the existing coalitions, and listened. “I heard loud and clear the importance of having an academic data partner using a results framework.”

Enter USC Professor Gary Painter, a leading economist who prompted Vaikona and FIND Food Bank to successfully apply for a $500,000 grant from Feeding America on behalf of FIND. “We did a valley-wide needs assessment between 2015 and 2016,” she says. “Gary did quantitative data analysis: If we were to move one or two or three indicators, what would radically shift conditions for all residents? And then qualitatively, we asked 1,500 residents to identify their biggest obstacle to economic stability and it was overwhelming. Everyone said ‘housing.’” The data matched.

The Coachella Valley’s number one industry, with a whopping $7.1 billion dollars (2022) is, not surprisingly, tourism. The number-two industry surprises some: Agriculture brings in $600 million annually. That means the valley is home to thousands of hospitality and farmworkers, many undocumented.

Statistics show that 40% of the Coachella Valley’s workforce is employed in hospitality and service sector jobs that pay between $15,000 and $33,000 annually. The average one-bedroom apartment in Palm Springs currently averages $1,822. That’s $21,864 per year. On the lower income end, it’s a non-starter; on the high end, factor in utilities, food and household goods, car, phone, and gas expenses, and you’re in the red.

Affordability is an extraordinarily civilized word used to define a crisis in America resulting in 600,000 homeless Americans, which increased since 2022 by 11%.

It was already a problem in 2018 when Lift to Rise, the low-income investment fund founded by now CEO Heather Vaikona, was born. Its mission? To build 10,000 affordable homes in the Coachella Valley by 2028.

And then, COVID-19 hit.

DAP Health Care Coordinator Specialist Regional Coordinator Veronica Garcia grew up in Coachella as one of six kids raised by a single mom who worked as a farmworker and at a citrus-packing plant. Weeks into the pandemic, people she knew socially were coming in, scared of facing homelessness. “In the beginning, there was no work, and if there was, they didn’t hire as many farmworkers,” she says. “It was really hard on the East Valley.”

Garcia gets emotional describing the impact Lift to Rise had on her community after the org showed up at one of her staff meetings to share details about its United Lift Rental Assistance Program.

Vaikona explains why: “We deployed emergency cash assistance to 5,000 folks and beyond, and the great thing about that is we got to see everyone’s applications and analyze the data. More than half said they weren’t going to be able to pay their rent. We already had this rock-solid partnership with Riverside County, and honestly, the Riverside County Board of Supervisors does not get enough credit. They made the largest allocation of Cares Act funding in the country to build what became our United Lift Rental Assistance Program.”

The balance in Lift to Rise’s PayPal account — linked to a donation button on the org’s website, which rarely got any action — suddenly ballooned by $100,000 in two hours. Vaikona and her team had no idea what was going on until an excited phone call from a colleague announced that Lift to Rise had just been featured on PBS Newshour. At the end of the day, a small army of like-minded Americans had independently donated $600,000.

Last year, Lift to Rise received the California Nonprofit of the Year Award and, along with other organizations, partnered with DAP Health and Coachella Valley Housing Coalition to fund a 61-unit affordable complex called Vista Sunrise II, currently being built on DAP Health’s Sunrise campus in Palm Springs. It will house those with chronic illnesses who are facing homelessness, and residency will include health care services provided by DAP Health.

By its fifth birthday, Lift to Rise had plenty to celebrate. Here’s its highlight reel:

Due to its advocacy, Governor Newsom created a $600 million kitty, made catalyst funds eligible, and Vaikona expects they’ll be capitalized with at least $40 million by 2024.

We Lift — its housing catalyst fund in partnership with Riverside County, Rural Community Assistance Program, Low Income Investment Fund (LiiF), and 70 community partners — has funded seven projects totaling 500+ affordable housing units, and has deployed $3.5 million in loans, with 1,600 units under construction.

Its Resident Leadership Table, comprised of 14 community leaders, is dedicated to Lift to Rise’s mission.

Its Collaborative Action Network, made up of more than 60 partners, sets strategic pathways to housing security through economic mobility.

As impressive as that is, Vaikona will not go gently into that good night, resting on laurels. She expresses a viewpoint that leaves those conflating altruism with economic challenges rather … uncomfortable.

“We don’t have a resource problem when it comes to homelessness. We have a value problem [relating to] how we view those who are unhoused,” she says. “Our economy is based on significantly underpaid labor. In that way, the economy is exploitative. It is not Mother Nature, something we have no control over; it’s a complex set of individual behaviors and choices and transactions.” If someone told them to build three million houses right now, Vaikona says they could do it if it weren’t for all of the barriers imposed by people.

And here’s the most difficult pill to swallow, according to Vaikona: “It’s really ‘Who do we love?’ and frankly, ‘Who don’t we love, and why?’ If we love people, we will go to the wall to ensure their care. It’s a real existential question: What does it mean to be alive on planet Earth? Why am I here? And what do I owe my fellow human? We’re holding structures and mental models about who is deserving and not deserving of support and care. We could solve all of our problems very quickly if we operated from a different value system. I think we have to step back and look at our obligation to each other. We can choose to build a radically different future than the one that we live in.”

Imagine all the people, living life in peace.

~ John Lennon & Yoko Ono.

Caption: Above: Lift to Rise received a $15 million allocation from the state budget to go into We Lift: The Coachella Valley’s Housing Catalyst Fund to encourage affordable housing development. Pictured from left to right are Lift to Rise board member Matt Horton, Lift to Rise President and CEO Heather Vaikona, Lift to Rise board member Nadia Villagrán, Assemblymember Eduardo Garcia, and Lift to Rise board member Bea Gonzalez. Right: Lift to Rise celebrated its firth birthday in July.

A Tale of Two Cultures

December 22, 2023January 3, 2024 by suelowe

A Tale of Two Cultures

How DAP Health and Borrego Health married their expertise into one unified vision

As seen in Issue 4 of DAP Health magazine

Words by Barbara Kerr

At DAP Health’s Sunrise campus in Palm Springs, one client is receiving HIV specialty care and a connection to social services, including food and housing, as another receives gender-affirming care.

At Borrego Health’s Coachella Valley Community Health Center in Coachella, physicians are providing obstetrics, pediatric, and dental care for a migrant family, plus specialized care for a veteran’s family.

These stories reflect just a few of the comprehensive services provided by DAP Health, serving the Coachella Valley since 1984, and Borrego Health, serving Riverside and San Diego counties since the 1980s.

Now, the two organizations have become one, offering compassionate health care with dignity and respect across Southern California. Looking to the future, leaders of both organizations are committed to nurturing a true partnership.

Corina Velasquez has a unique understanding of the mission and culture of Borrego Health. Sixteen years ago, she joined the organization as a medical assistant. In 2021, she became its chief operating officer, a role she now fills at DAP Health. “I think the culture is in the need to deliver care to the underserved, making sure that you’re here for your neighbors, your friends, your family,” she says. “Because that’s who they are to our employees.

“This organization has been through a lot over the past couple of years, much like many other organizations in terms of COVID-19 and how that’s changed things. But with Borrego, it goes a step further with all the things we’ve had to deal with.”

Velasquez credits the staff for their dedication. “So many of them could have left. But when you look at the staff that are still here — and you ask about their tenure — it’s anywhere from five, 10, 15 years and climbing.”

To answer questions and ease concerns, Velasquez, Borrego Health Vice President of Clinic Operations Nereida “Nedy” Terrazas, and DAP Health CEO David Brinkman took part in an extensive listening tour prior to the official start of the two organizations joining forces. “We went to every single one of our brick-and-mortar clinics over the course of about five to six weeks,” Velasquez reveals. The goal was not only for Velasquez, Terrazas, and Brinkman to answer tough questions, but for the latter to start to get to know Borrego Health employees, and vice versa.

“It was very important to me to travel near and far, accompanied by Corina and Nedy, to visit the many people with whom we would soon be working so closely, in their own workplaces,” says Brinkman. “What was most moving to me was not only to see how long most have been in health care, but to witness firsthand the love and passion they have for the work; the dedication they have to the patients they feel it’s their duty and honor to serve. All of that was immediately apparent from our very first conversations.”

Velasquez believes DAP Health is a perfect partner in terms of patient care. “It is such an alignment of DAP Health’s ability to do the wraparound services — all of the things that are not direct patient care, from housing to food insecurity — and marrying that with Borrego’s ability to deliver complex care, from women’s health to pediatrics, adults, and specialty. I’m really excited for the future and what’s to come.”

Deanna Drake — who earned a master’s in public health from the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities — is a senior manager at Facktor Health, a nationally recognized consulting firm with expertise in development, innovation, and integration for federally qualified health center (FQHC) health plans and hospitals. The company has been supporting DAP Health and Borrego Health throughout this integration, and will continue for the foreseeable future.

Drake notes that both organizations were established to meet an unmet need for a population that didn’t have access to care. “I think what’s really similar is how they started — their motivations for caring for people,” she says. “And what’s changed, over time, is who those populations are.

“Many people choose to continue working at these two organizations for the exact same reason. They’re passionate about caring for their patients. And those are patients who are typically quite underserved, vulnerable, and subjected to marginalization or discrimination.”

What does that mean to those who turn to the new, blended organization for care and support? “Say you’re a busy mom and you’ve got three kids,” Drake suggests. “You want to know: When I call to make an appointment for my child, is it the same phone number? Can I use my same insurance? Will my doctor or my nurse practitioner be there?

“They want that stability — that reassurance that the care they’ve been receiving will continue and it’s as accessible as it always has been. They want to hear, ‘I’ll be here for you. Yes, it’s the same phone number. Yes, you can use your same insurance.’ It’s really important to get that information to those patients directly through their providers.”

What could the health care partnership look like within the two years? Drake has a powerful and inspiring vision. “It’s an organization filled with very talented leaders — and very mission-driven staff — who have learned from each other to create a system that is truly exemplary,” she said.

Looking to the future, Drake says, “In terms of the quality of the care they’re providing, the quality of their facilities, the excellence in their approach to social determinants of health, they’ve taken the best of both entities and blended that into a strong, unified vision and a mission-driven organization.”

Timeline

September 12, 2022

Borrego Health files for bankruptcy and solicits potential acquisitors to assimilate its assets, and to serve its more than 100,000 patients (which include people of all genders, as well as children — individuals as diverse as migrant farmworkers in rural areas to refugees and recent immigrants in urban settings).

February 5, 2023

DAP Health makes public the fact that — having retained Facktor Health (a firm with expertise in FQHC acquisitions) and having formed an alliance with fellow regional FQHCs Neighborhood Healthcare and Innercare — it has made a bid to absorb Borrego Health in order to advance DAP Health’s nearly 40-year-old mission of protecting and expanding health care access, especially for marginalized populations.

February 15, 2023

The Borrego Health board of trustees selects DAP Health to absorb the Borrego Health system based on a process conducted through Borrego Health’s Bankruptcy Court proceedings. The final sale is still subject to the approval of both the Bankruptcy Court and the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA).

March 1, 2023

The Bankruptcy Court approves DAP Health’s bid to acquire all assets of Borrego Health, launching a regulatory transition process involving the California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) and HRSA.

Working with the consultants at Facktor — and having created various committees devoted to human resources, communications, IT, operations, etc. — DAP Health works through not only its DHCS and HRSA requirements, but the logistics involved in hiring Borrego Health’s 600 employees, all of whom are offered positions at DAP Health.

DAP Health and Borrego Health leaders — in addition to that at Innercare and Neighborhood Healthcare, plus Facktor consultants — focus on implementing a well-thought-out plan that will lead to the smoothest transition for all involved.

July 31, 2023

HRSA officially approves the absorption of all Borrego Health assets by DAP Health.

August 1, 2023

DAP Health and Borrego Health begin operating as one integrated health system.

Information for Patients

Does DAP Health own Borrego Health?

Yes. DAP Health purchased Borrego Health and is responsible for managing all Borrego Health employees and for operating all Borrego Health clinics.

Why did DAP Health choose to acquire

Borrego Health?

DAP Health chose to acquire Borrego Health to protect and expand care for Borrego Health patients, and to increase its footprint so it can bring its award-winning, holistic, patient-centric model of care to more communities throughout Southern California.

Is the name of any DAP Health and/or Borrego Health clinic/center changing?

No. For at least the next 12 months, each clinic/center will retain its original name, branding, and signage.

How will this acquisition affect patient care?

Programs and services for all DAP Health and Borrego Health patients will remain the same everywhere, and in many cases will be improved as DAP Health adds more providers and support staff. There will be no interruption in care, which patients can access as they normally have.

Will patient care teams remain the same, and will patients retain their same provider/doctor?

Yes. All providers and care teams are now employees of DAP Health. However, most will continue to serve at the clinics where they have been working and caring for patients.

Will all Borrego Health and DAP Health clinics/centers have access to all patients’ medical records?

Yes. Once you are registered as a patient at the clinic, you can authorize staff to request your records.

Can a patient transfer their care between Borrego Health and DAP Health?

Now that DAP Health and Borrego Health are one system, any patient who wishes to visit another clinic location should call to speak to a representative about registering at that clinic as a patient.

Will there be changes in insurance requirements?

No. All insurance requirements remain the same.

Do existing Borrego Health patients need to change the facility name on their insurance card if they want to be seen at DAP Health?

No. Existing patients can continue to use their current insurance cards. Only new enrollees will be issued a new card that indicates that DAP Health is their medical home.

Together For Better Health

December 22, 2023January 3, 2024 by suelowe

Together for Better Health

DAP Health and Borrego Health become one integrated health care system with a singular goal — to protect and expand local access to culturally competent care for more than 100,000 patients.

As seen in Issue 4 of DAP Health magazine

Words by Daniel Vaillancourt

On August 1, 2023, DAP Health and Borrego Health became one in a union sanctioned by both the Bankruptcy Court and the Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA). Since then, the integrated health care system has operated with some 850 employees serving more than 100,000 patients of all ages, genders, ethnicities, orientations, and socioeconomic status at a total of 25 Southern California clinics located within 240 rural and urban zip codes from the Salton Sea to San Diego.

Prior to the two federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) joining forces, DAP Health’s programs and services included primary care, infectious diseases, gender-affirming care, LGBTQ+ care, mental health, dentistry, harm reduction, recovery services, affordable housing, and social services. The Borrego Health disciplines now under DAP Health’s vast umbrella include family medicine, women’s health (including OB-GYN), pediatrics, veterans’ health, geriatrics, urgent care, and pharmacy services.

“It’s an honor to unite Borrego Health and DAP Health’s missions, as well as our region’s most exceptional, dedicated, and passionate health care professionals,” says DAP Health CEO David Brinkman. “Together, we will build a brighter future where every individual — regardless of who or where they are — has equal opportunity to live a healthy and fulfilling life.

“We will achieve this by replicating our time-tested, holistic, patient-centered care model, which addresses all applicable social determinants of health (SDOH) negatively affecting the patient population at each of our clinics. By addressing these SDOH — whether they pertain to language and literacy, housing, nutrition, transportation, education, employment and income, addiction, violence, and/or racism and other discrimination — we remove barriers to care, increase our patients’ quality and length of life, and create true health equity.”

“When all of us at Borrego Health were looking for a like-minded FQHC to take us under its wing, three things mattered most,” says DAP Health Chief Operating Officer Corina Velasquez, who served in the same capacity at Borrego Health. “Continued access to health care for our more than 100,000 patients. Continued employment for our more than 600 employees. And mission match — an organization that would share our values and our vision for continually creating more health equity in this region. In DAP Health, we hit the proverbial trifecta … and then some!”

Of note:

Every DAP Health and Borrego Health location will remain open, retaining its original name, branding, and signage for the time being.

Some 99% of Borrego Health employees accepted DAP Health’s invitation to join the combined entity. There were no layoffs or forced relocations among existing DAP Health employees.

Fellow FQHCs Innercare and Neighborhood Healthcare — allies of DAP Health who have regional and cultural expertise in Riverside and San Diego Counties, respectively — will offer guidance, support, and community connections on an as-needed basis.

DAP Health’s mission — including its commitment to LGBTQ+ health care, HIV care, gender-affirming care, and the Coachella Valley community — will expand as a result of its absorption of Borrego Health.

Over the next 12 months, DAP Health’s fortified executive leadership team — consisting of individuals from both organizations — will analyze all social determinants of health (those non-medical factors that negatively impact patients’ health outcomes) at all the clinics served. It will actively engage fellow community organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, and businesses to improve health outcomes for all, whether that be by adding programs and services or improving physical facilities. By combining a plethora of strengths, DAP Health will achieve new levels of excellence in delivering comprehensive, accessible, and culturally sensitive care to its diverse patient populations.

Engagement is the Cure for Isolation

November 22, 2023December 12, 2023 by suelowe

Engagement Is The Cure For Isolation

Brothers of the Desert vice president Eric Davis talks about how the nonprofit is working to remedy disconnection and inequalities for gay black men in the Coachella valley

Words by Trey Burnette • Photo by Aaron Jay Young

There was a growing consciousness that gay Black men in the Coachella Valley felt isolated and disconnected from the community. The issue became the topic of conversation at a 2017 New Year’s Eve dinner party. “No one in the valley was doing anything to address the problem,” says Eric Davis. “So instead of complaining about it, why not create a solution?” The men did do something. They formed Brothers of the Desert (BOD), a nonprofit organization that provides a growing, local support network for gay Black men and their allies living here.

Davis is BOD’s vice president. The group started with meetings on the second Saturday of every month at the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert in Palm Springs, where the men had a forum to discuss their lives and challenges. The African American population in the valley is less than 5%; gay Black men are only a fraction of that. Those gatherings continue today.

In 2019, BOD held its first Wellness Summit. “It was a vision of President Tim Vincent,” says Davis, “and we have been able to implement that vision into reality for the last four years.”

DAP Health became a sponsor the third year, and its partnership and sponsorship continued to grow. Another partnership the two organizations started three years ago involved DAP Health’s Desert AIDS Walk. BOD was able to walk as a group and raise money for the event. The organization also gained visibility with a speaking engagement and an event booth where they spoke with community members and provided educational and outreach information.

Davis also happens to be the sales director and event planner for the local magazine GED (Gay Entertainment Directory.) His experience gives him wisdom and know-how when he asks himself, “How do we engage with the community to facilitate our ideas?” And they do engage. Besides the annual Wellness Summit held in November and participation in the AIDS Walk, BOD hosts the annual New Year’s Eve Legacy Gala, which serves as its largest annual fundraiser, celebrates Legacy honorees, and brings the community together to ring in the new year.

That is the mission of BOD — to connect and engage gay Black men to the community. “If we don’t feel isolated and we feel like we can grow and strengthen,” says Davis, “we can move forward.”

DAP Health, invested in BOD’s growth, has been an active partner from a financial, physical, and encouragement standpoint, and has had opportunities to partner in BOD’s speaker series. When DAP Health needed messaging help with the LBGTQ+ community of color during the mpox outbreak in 2022, its leaders called on BOD. An mpox vaccine clinic was set up at the Wellness Summit in November 2022 at Margaritaville in Palm Springs.

BOD’s primary concern is its community members’ mental health, which was most severely impacted by the isolation the men were experiencing. Beyond engagement in the Wellness Summit, the Legacy Gala, the speaker series, and monthly meetings, a partnership with DAP Health was formed at Greater Palm Springs Pride to create content that did not center around alcohol, was Black-centric, and appealed to allies.

In the spirit of holistic wellness and philanthropy (part of its mission statement), BOD has been able to support the education of LGBTQ+ and Black students in the Coachella Valley with more than $10,000 in scholarships. Donations have also allowed the organization to establish an emergency fund for members needing critical financial help with rent, food, or even new tires for a vehicle. Underneath each act of giving, recipients understand, whatever the situation, that they are not alone — that there is a community available to them. Some recipients have been able to repay the fund once they’re back on their feet.

As BOD continues to grow and act on its purpose — to change the dynamics that produce isolation, disconnection, and inequities among gay Black men — the organization hopes to strengthen its partnerships with DAP Health and have a more significant presence in the Coachella Valley. It currently has approximately 125 members in the Palm Springs area, across the country, and in Canada, but it continues to do membership drives. A monthly newsletter, “Brother’s Drumbeat,” keeps the community abreast of current events and engages community leaders in conversation.

For more information, please visit brothersofthedesert.org and follow the group on Insta @brothersofthedesert.

Lifesaving Art

November 22, 2023December 12, 2023 by suelowe

Lifesaving Art

Patients and clients build financial stability through creative expression

Words by Staci Backauskas • Photos by Donato Di Natale

What began as a series of pop-up art shows featuring the work of DAP Health clients continues to honor the talent and tenacity of the artists while building avenues of income that improve their quality of life.

It was during a 2016 career workshop that DAP Health’s then-Associate Director of Personal Development and Wellness Valerio Iovino discovered that several of the clients were artists. This led him to secure local venues to display their work, which resulted in an invitation to participate in the prestigious Indian Wells Arts Festival.

Seven years later, Wellness Center Manager Cory Lujan is excited about the ongoing evolution of the project and what it means to the artists and to the community.

When visitors enter the Barbara Keller LOVE Building on the DAP Health campus, they are greeted by a gallery that displays the art of a dozen Wellness Center patients and clients. Along with sculpture and pottery under glass, there are original oils, watercolors, photographs, and high-quality reprints on the wall. Every piece is for sale, with all proceeds going to its creator.

The original intent of sharing the art was to provide additional income. “A lot of long-term survivors lost their jobs and went through their savings,” explains Lujan. “Many of them were able to get disability of some kind, but it’s very little. The goal always was to help clients supplement that and improve their quality of life.”

Wellness Center Administrative Assistant Curtis Howard recalls one of the artists making a $1,500 sale that was enough to pay his rent for the month. “He was so excited! He was in tears,” Howard remembers. “That moment told me that this is really making a difference in their lives, not just having a venue to display their work but actually making sales of their art to the general public.”

The financial benefit is clear to watercolor artist Robert Coughlin, and the results have been lifesaving. “I can think of seven or eight examples where I didn’t think I was going to make it and a painting sold off that wall,” he says. “I was able to buy groceries or pay the light bill.”

Fellow artist George Thomas, who paints vivid collages in oil, selling both originals and prints, agrees. “Having somebody buy a piece of artwork often keeps me going.”

Another way the project continues to evolve is through teaching artists to become more tech savvy. With the aid of a grant from the Houston Family Foundation, Lujan recently hired a temporary computer expert to show artists how to create their own online marketplace.

“Some of our clients have been out of the workforce for a while and may not have the computer skills necessary to succeed online,” she adds. “Even in terms of payment, some of them don’t know how to use Zelle or Venmo, so when a buyer says, ‘I really like this and I want it right now,’ but they don’t have the cash, they could lose a sale.”

Although the financial aspect is key, the benefits extend further. “I can make a piece of artwork, but if I keep it to myself, there’s no satisfaction,” says Thomas. “I want people to look at it and maybe get something out of it.”

“Just reaching out to a client and saying your artwork can come up on this wall has such an impact. Everybody’s welcome to join,” says Coughlin, who began painting when he was just 3. Returning to his love of watercolor offers not just revenue but the joy of artistic expression. “After the doctor told me to get my affairs in order, I thought it was over,” he says. “This is my voice.”

Client artwork can be viewed in the lobby of the Barbara Keller LOVE Building on DAP Health’s main Palm Springs campus, which is open during normal business hours to the general public. People can also contact Curtis Howard at 760.656.8414 or [email protected] for questions or to purchase client art. 100% of sales benefit each individual artist.

Making an IMPACT

November 22, 2023February 15, 2024 by suelowe

Making an Impact

Behind The Scenes Of The Behind-The-Scenes Tour Dap Health Offers To Prospective Donors

Words by Rory Taylor

In 2021, Desert AIDS Project rebranded itself as DAP Health, a broader name to match a broader mission. “We’ve upgraded our services to include primary care and so much more,” says Director of Development James Lindquist. “You can now get mental health care, food, clothing — all these other services. These changes coincided with COVID-19-related interruptions in other fundraising efforts, so a novel approach was needed to connect partners to the expanded mission.”

In June of 2021, the IMPACT Hour — a facility tour for prospective donors that features behind-the-scenes spaces alongside testimonials — was introduced. The visit is intended to inform and to forge connections, rather than to ask for donations.

Entering the Annette Bloch CARE Building, DAP Health’s diversity of care immediately becomes visible in the several clinics within the structure, each named for a color corresponding to chakras: yellow for the solar plexus, green for the heart, blue for the throat, purple for the mind, and orange for the sacral region. Lindquist says this was done to promote privacy and dignity for patients and clients, and to avoid creating shame and stigma.

“You can go to any primary care physician for your services at any of our clinics,” Lindquist continues. “If you go to the reception desk, you say, ‘I have an appointment in the Green Clinic,’ and they will direct you there. They’re not gonna know you’re here because of ‘X.’”

The tour consists of three primary stops, or “buckets,” focusing on ending epidemics, health equity, and mental health and addiction services. Each bucket features a storyteller — an employee, patient, or client — who helps demystify more of the organization’s operations and reach, following a “myth, fact, gap, need” framework.

“With ending epidemics, we talk about a myth where people believe they’re not susceptible to infectious disease,” says Lindquist. “The fact of the matter is that everybody can get infected by something. COVID, HIV, mpox. Plus, in the Coachella Valley, 15% of people between the ages of 16 and 94 don’t have insurance, compared to the state average of 10%.”

One IMPACT Hour storyteller is LaWanda Manigo, a patient and client at DAP Health who challenges stereotypes about what is broadly perceived as queer health issues. “DAP Health is not just for what some people would typically believe would be [gay] white males,” says Manigo. “I’m letting everybody know there’s other options.”

Meeting guests in the Blue Clinic, Manigo shares how living with HIV as a straight, Black woman impacts quality of life, and how a little education goes a long way. “They have educated me about my diseases, about my health, and have just made me, overall, a better person and a more informed patient, so that I can be more proactive and take a firmer stand in my own health care,” she says. “And that’s a benefit that’s gonna last me the rest of my life.”

That education comes not only in patient-practitioner relationships, but also through learning seminars with pharmaceutical representatives, group wellness programs, and social groups covering everything from cutting-edge HIV treatment and diabetes prevention to knitting and dog walking.

At the core of the clinic cluster is the bullpen — the first tour stop, and one that exemplifies the broader mission DAP Health has taken on. “All the providers you have at DAP Health get together in the morning before your visit to discuss your case in what they call the bullpen,” says Manigo. “Everybody is touching base, so they get an overall view of what you’re dealing with as a complete person.” Lindquist echoes the great value found in holistic care. “I think a lot of times in our health care, you just get parts of people, you get fractions,” he says. “If you’re getting your primary care at one facility, but then you’re getting your dental somewhere else and you’re taking care of your sexual wellness somewhere else, and you’re getting your therapist somewhere else — that’s four places I’ve just named! And how many of those typically will be talking to each other?”

The IMPACT Hour tours normally happen every second Wednesday from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Invitations are made by staff and current donors.

For more information, please visit: https://www.daphealth.org/support-our-mission/

The Kier Royale Treatment

November 22, 2023December 12, 2023 by suelowe

The Kier Royale Treatment

Monster legend Udo Kier thrifts at all four of DAP Health’s Revivals stores

Words by Kay Kudukis • Photo by Kelly Puleio

Udo Kier has had a monster career in more ways than one. His acting credits span six decades working with venerated and provocative filmmakers like Andy Warhol and Lars Von Trier. You might recall him in Gus Van Sant’s “My Own Private Idaho” as Hans, the flamboyant lamp dancer, in a threesome with River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves. More recently, he’s got a six-episode arc on the Al Pacino led “Hunters” as Adolph Hitler, and a new movie, “My Neighbor, Adolph.”

“I’ve played Adolph Hitler five times,” Kier says wryly. “My [inner] direction was always comedy. I think about Charlie Chaplin in ‘The Dictator’ when he kicks the world.”

Kier is used to playing monsters. In fact, he’s a cult film monster staple. He played the doctor in Andy Warhol’s “Flesh for Frankenstein,” and the lead in “Blood for Dracula,” from frequent Warhol collaborator Paul Morrissey. He’s also portrayed Jack the Ripper and a slew of other unsavory characters.

When he’s not filming, there’s a fairly good chance you’ll run into Kier at one of the four Coachella Valley Revivals thrift stores. Unlike branded chain retailers, Revivals offers something entirely different at every outpost, whether it’s Palm Springs, Cathedral City, Palm Desert, or Indio.

It’s not clothes Kier is seeking — although he does have a thing for vintage ties. No, the man is into art. It doesn’t have to be a famous artist, but it must speak to him. He has been spoken to a lot over the years. Hence his four shipping containers full of thrifted treasures.

When asked why he thrifts, Kier’s answer is simple: “I love it.” But maybe that quartet of receptacles bursting with art and furniture finds have something to do with his past.

On October 14, 1944, Operation Hurricane launched a 24-hour bombing campaign on Cologne, Germany. Explosives pounded the city — including the hospital where Kier’s mom was in labor with him — relentlessly. They survived, but barely. When it was over, Cologne, the city that had been built in 50 A.D., was in ruins. Things were so bad, Cardinal Josef Frings told his people “Thou shalt not steal” was temporarily on hold, encouraging them to take whatever they needed to survive.

At 18, Kier moved to London to learn English. Now recovered from the Blitz — the eight-month, nonstop bombing by the Nazis — London was back to her jolly old self and swinging into the ’60s. Counterculture was so far out it was in.

One day, in a coffee shop, Kier was approached by a man who asked him if he’d like to be in a film. Kier said, “I don’t know how to act.” The director replied, “I don’t care.” One screen test later, he was cast as the gigolo in “Road to Santa Fe,” directed by Michael Sarne of “Myra Breckinridge” fame. Since then, Kier has appeared in more than 220 movies.

His love of art is not limited to paintings and sculptures, but includes glassware, pottery, and architectural furniture, mainly midcentury modern. When Kier purchased his first home in Los Angeles, needing to furnish it, he did it all by thrifting. His first piece was a George Nelson chair, one of Herman Miller’s designers.

On one thrilling thrifting adventure, Kier found a pair of chairs with metal slats for the back. Enter his prized vintage ties. He wove 11 of them into each chair as backing. If he gets bored with those, he swaps them out.

Unlike many thrifters, Kier isn’t in it for the resale value. He also doesn’t go thinking, “I need something for that wall.” No, he indulges strictly for the pleasure of finding something he would like to enjoy for longer than a glance. In fact, if a friend is over at his home (a repurposed 1965 Palm Springs library designed by John Porter Clark and starchitect Albert Frey) and admires one of his treasures, there’s a fairly good chance — if Kier’s done enjoying it — it’s going home with said friend.

In 2021, Kier played the lead in writer-director Todd Stephens’ film “Swan Song.” The movie is based on the real, outrageous, and famously controversial Sandusky, Ohio hairdresser Pat Pitsenbarger. In one scene, a thrift store owner tells Pat how much his life has impacted her own, and gifts him with a lime green leisure suit. Whether Stephens knew of Kier’s thrifting passion and generous nature is unknown. Either way, it’s a very nice little Easter egg for those on the hunt.

Strength in Numbers

November 22, 2023December 12, 2023 by suelowe

Strength in Numbers

The Coming Out Experience at DAP Health is all about sharing stories and making connections

When it comes to gay men with experiences of coming out, Rob Thomas and Ron King had theirs at opposite ends of the age spectrum.

Thomas recalls he was 12, lying in his bed and wondering if he was bisexual. It wasn’t until he was 18 and having sex with his first male lover that he realized he wasn’t bi but gay — and that the coming out process was just beginning for him.

King was 47 and married with two adult children when he decided to end his marriage and come out to himself and the world.

Thomas, now 53, and King, 71, have been a couple for 10 years and currently live together in Palm Springs. On occasion, they discuss different aspects of their coming out stories as part of the DAP Health Wellness Center’s weekly Zoom group called The Coming Out Experience. And as both point out, coming out isn’t a one-shot deal. “We keep touching on the fact that the coming out experience is very ongoing,” King says. “There are all sorts of little nuances.” Or as Thomas puts it, “You probably come out with everything you say as it relates to your sexuality in any everyday conversation.”

Those nuances and everyday conversations likely dovetail with other aspects of a person’s sexuality, too. For Thomas and King, it could be their May/December relationship, “which many people don’t understand,” King claims.

Thomas and King are also an interracial couple. And Thomas is on Social Security disability, having gone blind in 2005 from diabetic retinopathy, the leading cause of blindness in working-age adults. King is a retired special education teacher, a retired massage therapist, and also an interfaith minister who still officiates at weddings. He says he’s been a client of DAP Health since 2014 and a participant in the Wellness Center’s activities for years.

Six months ago, Thomas started receiving dental services at DAP Health, which qualified him to engage in Wellness Center activities, too. Thomas notes that King found The Coming Out Experience beneficial and liked the other participants, which piqued Thomas’ curiosity. “I thought, well, why don’t I get involved in this and see what it’s about? So far, it’s been a good thing.”

Both Thomas and King give high marks to Wellness Center Career Development Specialist Steve Rossetti, who facilitates the group. Rossetti has an extensive history both as a therapist — specifically, a cognitive behavioral therapist — and as a director of employee training for two companies in Chicago. He began working at DAP Health in 2018 and started The Coming Out Experience in 2020. Rossetti himself came out as gay in 1991 at age 31.

Rossetti introduces group discussions with a set topic, then tries to drive the discussion with questions. Thomas notes that Rossetti invites group members to call or email him with related topics they wish to discuss. “This is your group. So, bring me what you want to talk about,” Thomas quotes Rossetti as saying.

In a separate interview, Rossetti reiterates King’s perspective that the coming out process is ongoing, offering new challenges as one ages. This is particularly true for those who have yet to learn how to live their authentic selves. Instead, Rossetti says, many can be classified as “situationally gay,” where they can be queer for some people like friends or family members, but not for others like colleagues or neighbors.

Rossetti says this can lead to the “pause effect,” as one stops and considers how best to respond when someone asks if one is dating or in a relationship. “You pause and calculate. What do I disclose? Why is this person asking me? Is it safe? Do I feel comfortable disclosing I’m gay?”

According to Rossetti, this doesn’t mean you have to lead with, “Oh, hey, I’m gay.” But Rossetti says this often takes an acquired ability of “just being natural and transparent with who you are. The ability to know you’re living authentically.”

Rossetti says The Coming Out Experience attracts four to 12 participants each week, mostly men in their 50s through 80s — an age range, he points out, that “just kind of evolved.” Nevertheless, Rossetti says the group is inclusive and that younger participants, as well as female, trans, and nonbinary members are welcome, too.

These groups, Thomas adds, “show that DAP Health stands by what it says in terms of treating the person holistically, looking at all parts, the mind and the body.” As for The Coming Out Experience, it’s like “informal group counseling, where you get together with people who have common experiences and learn from each other.”

The Coming Out Experience meets via Zoom on Thursdays from 10:00 to 11:00 a.m. Those interested are encouraged to call Steve Rossetti at 760.322.6378, or to email him at [email protected].

He's Here

November 22, 2023December 12, 2023 by suelowe

He’s Here

Chef, Restaurateur, And Community Leader Albert Gonzalez Has Come A Long Way To Give Back

Words by Daniel Hirsch • Photos by John Paschal

As a young person growing up in Indio, Albert Gonzalez didn’t think there were other gay people like him in the Coachella Valley. Much like to the desert itself, the intervening years have brought incredible transformation to Gonzalez’s life. He’s emerged as an essential leader in the region’s LGBTQ+ community.

Along with his partner in business and life, Willie Rhine, Gonzalez co-owns Palm Springs’ Eight4Nine Restaurant & Lounge. A self-taught pastry chef, he now runs the kitchen. Eight4Nine has frequently hosted events for organizations such as DAP Health and the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert, given in-kind donations to numerous local charities, and even provided meal deliveries to first responders and older adults during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Gonzalez and Rhine have also given back through philanthropy. They participate in DAP Health’s major donor program Partners for Life, are Angels at AIDS Assistance Program – Food Samaritans, and contribute to the Center as longtime Ocotillo members. Since 2019, Gonzalez has also been on the Center’s board of directors. To top it all off, he’s worked 100 volunteer hours at DAP Health’s Revivals Thrift Store, and been a frequent volunteer at the Palm Springs Animal Shelter.

Gonzalez’s personal philosophy of service is a simple one, described as “the conundrum where you have to give it away in order to keep it.”

Giving back to the communities he’s been a part of includes his community of origin. With Gonzalez’s involvement on its board, the Center has amped up its programing in the East Valley by offering new programs to LGBTQ+ young people.

“He’s just got this incredibly kind, wonderful spirit,” says former Center Executive Director and CEO Rob Wheeler. “If we’re struggling with something, Albert is one of the first people we reach out to.”

For Gonzalez, his current abundance didn’t always seem likely. It meant detaching from his close-knit family of origin, getting sober, and teaching himself how to cook from a discount Betty Crocker cookbook. “Growing up here in the valley, I didn’t have an idea of where to go, what goals to have in life,” he says. “Today my life is very different, it’s beyond my wildest dreams.”

Breaking the Bubble

Gonzalez describes his upbringing in Indio in the 1980s and ’90s as “a bubble.” When the 43-year-old was young, his part of the East Valley hadn’t experienced the economic prosperity felt elsewhere. To Gonzalez, it was isolated and remote.

“I grew up very conservative,” he says. “Going to church basically alienated everybody around us.”

Gonzalez is the second eldest of four children of working-class parents — a landscaper and an office administrator — whose own parents immigrated to the city of Thermal from Mexico. Gonzalez’s folks broke off from the rest of the extended family when they left the Catholic church and became members of a born-again, Apostolic church.

From an early age, Gonzalez knew he was gay. As an active member in his conservative church, it tormented him even as he served as youth president and choir director. During pastors’ sermons declaring gay acts as sin, Gonzalez prayed that nobody would notice he was different. At school, some did notice, and he fended off bullying from a young age. “There’s always that sense of loneliness,” he says. “And then, given my background, that I grew up with the church, that only exacerbated it.”

It wasn’t until he was 20 that Gonzalez interacted with out gay people. Working as an office assistant at the Riverside County Department of Mental Health, he met his friend and future mentor Damon Jacobs, a psychotherapist and early PrEP proponent who has worked with DAP Health. When Jacobs invited him to a birthday party in Palm Springs, Gonzalez’s sheltered existence cracked open.

“I felt at home,” Gonzalez says. “I felt that these are my people… Yet I never knew about it, just living 30 minutes away.”

Circle K to Cartier

With Jacobs’ help, Gonzalez moved out of his parents’ home and relocated to Palm Springs. To his surprise, his parents accepted his sexuality and choice to leave Indio, but that didn’t mean being out and independent came easy. “We are raised with that fear of sex,” he says. “We don’t get to experience it in a healthy way.”

Drug use, alcohol abuse, and more than a few unhealthy romantic and sexual relationships consumed Gonzalez’s early 20s. At age 25, he started attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings and worked to get sober. (Gonzalez will celebrate 17 years of sobriety in
October 2023.)

Around this time, a chance encounter with Rhine forever altered his path. Gonzalez isn’t shy about sharing how and where they met: They locked eyes outside of a Circle K and went home together soon thereafter. This casual encounter blossomed into a romantic relationship that ultimately transformed into a committed life partnership. To mark their commitment, Gonzalez and Rhine bought each other Cartier bracelets; Gonzalez jokes that if he ever writes a memoir, it would be titled “From Circle K to Cartier.”

“The words that come to mind when I think of Albert: kind, passionate, stubborn, lovable,” says Rhine, adding: “Did I say stubborn?”

Rhine saw that stubbornness in action in the early days of their relationship. At the time, he was general manager of Lulu California Bistro. When Gonzalez, who was still working at the Department of Mental Health, expressed interest in restaurant work, Rhine hired him as maître d’. Working in restaurants ignited something in Gonzalez that came to full fruition when the couple went shopping at a gift shop one Sunday afternoon. That day, Gonzalez purchased the aforementioned Betty Crocker cookbook.

Seeing Gonzalez pick up the cookbook, Rhine was initially dismissive. “My response was, ‘Why are you buying that? It’s a waste of money. You don’t bake. You’ll never use it,’” he recalls. But Gonzalez, whose only gastronomic experience was watching cooking shows on TV, insisted on buying it. From that first cookbook and more to come — plus a few classes at the Culinary Institute of America — Gonzalez taught himself to bake. Occasionally sharing cakes with friends turned into a full-fledged passion. His confections soon grew more and more refined. By the time Rhine opened Eight4Nine in 2015, Gonzalez had become the ideal pastry chef.

Back to the East Valley

When the LGBTQ Community Center of the Desert partnered with the nonprofit Alianza to open a youth center in the East Coachella Valley, both organizations knew their own leadership needed to reflect the largely Latino and immigrant communities they hoped to serve. As an emerging leader in the LGBTQ+ community — not to mention an Indio native — Gonzalez was an obvious choice to join the board.

“Albert is able to pull from his own experience growing up as a young person in Indio,” says Wheeler. “He helped us think about the right questions we should be asking when we were thinking about need, about what issues young people might be facing in the East Valley.”

Opened in 2016, the Center Eastern Coachella Valley is a youth-driven, LGBTQ+-affirming space situated in downtown Coachella. It hosts support groups, workshops, and social events as well as offers programing to local high schools that addresses youth mental health and uplifts queer people. It’s the kind of place that didn’t exist for Gonzalez when he was growing up in the area. But also, by being involved in its operation and showing up for its programming, Gonzalez has become the kind of person he never knew existed when he was young.

DAP Health Director of Brand Marketing and longtime friend Steven Henke describes Gonzalez as a “north star” for young people in the valley. “Anyone can look at the life he’s created and learn from it,” he says.

For Gonzalez, returning to his old home is both inspiring and daunting. “When I go back to Indio, there’s still that fear … the homophobia is still there,” he says. “Hopefully, through the Center, we can educate individuals that we are here … and we’re not evil, we’re not bad!”

Recently, Gonzalez had such a chance to educate. He joined Wheeler in the car parade of the 2021 East Coachella Valley Pride Festival — only the fifth year of its existence. Driving through the streets of Coachella, seeing all the rainbow flags and people cheering in support, it was clear his old home had changed — and so had he.

Call: (760) 323-2118

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