DAP Health’s 30 Days of PRIDE

Marking 40 years of advocacy on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, the nonprofit outlines seven celebratory October and November events to coincide with the city’s Greater Palm Springs Pride celebration.

In heartfelt tribute to its 40-year legacy of advocacy, DAP Health is proud to announce its “30 Days of Pride” commemoration. The nonprofit will either host or participate in a series of eight related events throughout October and November, each of which will mark DAP Health’s unwavering commitment to every member of the LGBTQ+ community.

October 2: The Pride Honors Awards at the Hilton Palm Springs

Kicking off the series, DAP Health will be honored with the Spirit of Stonewall Advocate of the Year Award at Greater Palm Springs Pride’s Pride Honors Awards at the Hilton Palm Springs from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. This award recognizes DAP Health’s decades-long dedication to providing expert health care and social services to members of the LGBTQ+ community in the Coachella Valley and beyond. Speaking to the impact of this year’s honorees, Greater Palm Springs Pride President and CEO Ron deHarte says, “Their work inspires us all to strive for a future where everyone can live authentically and without fear.”

October 11: National Coming Out Day at Revivals Palm Springs

To mark National Coming Out Day, Revivals Palm Springs will host its all-day Gender-Affirming Sales Event, during which the entire store will replace gender-specific rack signs with ones that say, “Fashion Has No Gender.” Revivals will also offer 50% off all pre-loved apparel. Stressing the importance of this event, DAP Health Chief of Brand Marketing Steven Henke says, “Coming out is a lifelong process as we get to know and express our authentic selves. We want to celebrate that journey of self-discovery by inviting the entire community to shop for fashion without the limits of labels.”

October 18: Revivals After Dark Back Alley Event at Revivals Palm Springs

Revivals Palm Springs will host its biannual Revivals After Dark Back Alley Event from 6:00 to 7:30 p.m., raising funds to support both health equity and the Palm Springs Leather Order of the Desert. Since its inception in 2022, the insanely popular outdoor affair has raised more than $130,000 on behalf of LGBTQ+ health care services, and to foster community connection. This year, more than $25,000 is projected to be raised through the sale of leather gear, underwear, and other clothing, plus adult-themed art, books, magazines, novelties, and collectibles.

October 22: Vista Sunrise II Ribbon-Cutting

At 10:00 a.m., DAP Health will proudly commemorate the official opening of Vista Sunrise II, its latest onsite affordable housing complex, developed in tandem with the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition. The structure on DAP Health’s Sunrise campus in Palm Springs features a total of 61 units, with 30 dedicated to rapid rehousing, 30 for individuals with chronic illnesses and/or low incomes, and one for an onsite case manager. The ribbon-cutting will be in partnership with major donor Desert Care Network, which donated a gift of $2.5 million toward DAP Health’s Vision Forward Capital Campaign.

October 26: DAP Health Equity Walk

Presented by Desert Care Network, the 35^th Annual DAP Health Equity Walk (founded in 1989 as the Desert AIDS Walk) will kick off from Ruth Hardy Park at 8:45 a.m. Celebrating its 40th anniversary of protecting and expanding health care access, DAP Health looks forward to another successful and impactful fundraising event, whose slogan for 2024 is “Because Health Care is a Human Right.” “All of us at DAP Health are so proud that we can put the invaluable lessons we have learned over the last four decades to use in improving the lives of members of the rainbow of communities that exist throughout Southern California,” says longtime DAP Health CEO David Brinkman. “Every dollar raised by our generous participants and their supporters will go to fund health equity for all people.”

October 26: Equality California’s Palm Springs Equality Awards

Later that day, DAP Health will receive the Community Leadership Award at Equality California’s 2024 Palm Springs Equality Awards. Since 1984, DAP Health has remained committed to protecting and expanding health care access for the LGBTQ+ community. Today, guided by the voices and needs of every one of the diverse communities it serves, the nonprofit provides medical and social services to people of all ages, genders, ethnicities, orientations, and socioeconomic statuses at 25 fixed locations and eight mobile units from the Coachella Valley to the San Diego coast. This marks Equality California’s 25th annual event, whose theme is “Our Journey for Equality.”

November 2 – 4: Greater Palm Springs Pride Festival & Parade

DAP Health’s Community Health team will participate in the 38th Annual Greater Palm Springs Pride, providing health information, free STI testing, and vaccinations. “Participating in Greater Palm Springs Pride is always a personal highlight of the fall season, not just for me, but for everyone who calls DAP Health home in one fashion or another,” says CEO Brinkman. “At DAP Health, we have always fought for the LGBTQ+ community, championing health care access for more than four decades. Our recent expansion hasn’t weakened our commitment; it’s fortified our resolve.”

As a recipient of the Spirit of Stonewall Advocate of the Year Award, DAP Health’s employees will walk alongside the car in which Brinkman — who celebrated 18 years of service to the organization on August 2 — will ride during the Pride Parade at 10:00 a.m. on Sunday, November 3. Landmark achievements under the CEO’s leadership include onsite affordable housing complex Vista Sunrise (for people living with HIV) on the Sunrise campus, the first adult HIV specialty dental clinic in Riverside County, an official visit to the White House to celebrate the pioneering Get Tested Coachella Valley initiative, a sexual wellness clinic in Indio (eradicating barriers to accessing free STI testing and treatment in the eastern Coachella Valley), the absorption of the Borrego Health system and its 24 locations and 70,000 patients, and the recent unveiling of second onsite affordable housing complex Vista Sunrise II, also on the Sunrise campus.

November 7: Partners For Life Season Open Party

Rounding out “30 Days of Pride,” DAP Health will host its major donor Partners For Life Season Open Party from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the legendary Bob Hope House. Fans of architecture refer to it as a John Lautner house, in reference to the celebrated Los Angeles architect who designed it, but locally, it’s known as the Bob Hope House, a circular, 24,000-square-foot residence built 40-plus years ago for the entertainer and his family. Many observers have said the structure, with its sweeping, gravity-defying roof and 60-foot-wide oculus, looks like a spaceship parked on a rugged hill. When Hope first saw Lautner’s architectural model, he quipped, “Well, at least when they come down from Mars, they’ll know where to go.”

About DAP Health

Founded in 1984 at the dawn of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, DAP Health has been a pillar of support for the LGBTQ+ community in Palm Springs and beyond. With a focus on cultural competence and patient-centered, whole-person care, the nonprofit has expanded its reach across Southern California, offering a wide range of programs and services from the Coachella Valley to the San Diego coast. DAP Health remains committed to honoring its past while forging a future of health equity for all.

For more information about “30 Days of Pride,” or to get further involved, please visit DAPHealth.org/Pride.