Volunteers essential to fulfilling DAP Health's mission

By Robert Hopwood

Volunteers are needed more than ever as DAP Health and Revivals Stores continue to expand across the Coachella Valley to meet the needs of the community.

DAP Health's sexual wellness clinic moved into a new space on July 6, 2021, and expanded its ability to treat more patients. Meanwhile, the health center's new Behavioral Health Clinic is set to open in September.

In May, Revivals Stores headed down Highway 111 and opened a new location in Indio, expanding into the east valley for the first time.

The new store, which needs about 40 volunteers, is expected to increase the resale chain's revenue. The profits from all four stores is sent to DAP Health, which uses the money to provide healthcare and other services to more than 9,700 people.

"The income from the Revivals Stores is an essential component of DAP Health's budgeting," Naishtut says.

Volunteers across DAP Health enable the health center to fulfill its mission of treating everyone who needs it with compassion, regardless of their ability to pay. 

Approximately 400 volunteers work at DAP Health and Revivals Stores, says Marcie Lerner, volunteer coordinator for Revivals. How many are active depends on the activities. During events like the Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards or the Desert AIDS Walk, more volunteers are needed.

Where do these volunteers work? The answer is throughout DAP Health.

They staff both the welcome desk in the main building and at the health clinics. They work in finance and resource development. Volunteers work with community health and outreach; they assemble safer-sex kits; they help staff the food depot; and they do much more, says Larry Naishtut, volunteer services coordinator at DAP Health.

Volunteers also provide Reiki, sound baths, yoga, knitting classes and more, Lerner says.

Volunteers do about 80 percent of the staffing at Revivals Stores, Lerner says. 

They do all the processing, price items and work the cash registers, she says. They help stock the sales floor, sort donations and work in the dispatch office scheduling pickups and deliveries.

"At any given time, there may only be five staff members at the store on a shift and the rest would be volunteers," says Lerner.

Volunteers donate about 70,000 hours of their time each year to help DAP Health provide compassionate, integrated care, Naishtut says. So far this year, volunteers have only contributed about 33,000 hours.

Without them, DAP Health wouldn't offer or support as many services as they do, Naishtut says.

Revivals Stores about 175 active volunteers, says Lerner. Some of them have been there for 15,000 hours. They range from high school students to people in their late 80s. One volunteer is even in her 90s.

Lerner says the people who volunteer for DAP Health do it because they want to give back to the community. They feel it's important to help somebody. And they are passionate about the mission of DAP Health, and they want to contribute in some way.

"Not everybody can afford to write a check," says Lerner. "So a lot of people will volunteer their time, as opposed to just writing a check as a donor. "

DAP Health and Revivals need volunteers all year long, says Lerner. Many retirees have taken the summer off, and Revivals Stores needs more volunteers, she says.

"It's always a struggle to find enough volunteers," Lerner says.

Volunteer opportunities available right now include about 30 open positions at the Revivals Store in Indio.

In addition to other volunteer positions DAP Health has available, it's looking for a computer tutor and a Spanish-speaking person who can run a social support group (non-therapy).

For additional information or questions about volunteering at DAP Health or Revivals, please contact Larry Naishtut for information about volunteering at DAP Health at [email protected] and Marice Lerner at [email protected] for information about volunteering at Revivals Stores.