https://www.facebook.com/nicholas.snow/videos/1788579167851967/
Desert AIDS Project held a symbolic groundbreaking event March 27, 2018, to fully launch their Vision 2020 Campaign, and Nicholas Snow and #PromoHomoTV were LIVE with another historic broadcast.
This is a very personal episode for Snow, who is living powerfully with HIV as a grateful client of DAP. Snow, a resident in DAP’s Vista Sunrise Apartments, is featured in the housing portion of the new website, as seen in the featured photo posted with this report.
Hundreds of invited guests gathered for a groundbreaking ceremony on the Desert AIDS Project campus celebrating the beginning of an expansion that will more than double D.A.P.’s ability to provide healthcare to underserved communities in the Coachella Valley.
Speaking at the event were County Supervisor V. Manuel Perez, Marsha Martin of UNAIDS, Desert AIDS Project CEO David Brinkmanship, and Palm Springs City Councilman Geoff Kors.
In just 24 months, D.A.P. has gone from serving 2,300 to more than 4,500 clients a year. This has almost doubled the demand on their resources. With more than 51% of Coachella Valley residents living in poverty—a fact many are not aware of—it’s estimated that some 40,000 people living in our service area remain without access to healthcare. To these community members, health care, today, is unaffordable.
All of Desert AIDS Project clients are facing the same economic challenge. And federal funding is being threatened for those in need.
By responding to the needs of the entire community, Desert AIDS Project’s vision of “care for everyone” will support more of the community’s neighbors, friends, and families who need it most, regardless of their current HIV status.
Today, Desert AIDS Project is a leading HIV specialty care provider, even though approximately 50% of its clients are not HIV positive. As a Federally Qualified Health Care Center, D.A.P. now provides care to anyone – regardless of their ability to pay or their HIV status.
The March 27 groundbreaking ceremony marked how Desert AIDS Project plans to do more.
With the completion of Desert AIDS Project’s campus expansion and supporting capital campaign, D.A.P will:
Expand the capacity of its medical clinics from 4,200 patients to 8,000 patients, growing 48%.
Expand its dental clinic to serve nearly 2,000 people annually, doubling the number who receive dental care today.
Triple its capacity to provide robust behavioral and mental health services to our community.
Eliminate its three-year wait list for affordable housing by adding 60 additional units of affordable housing to the 80 units we already offer, growing 75%.
The resulting expansion in the next two years will serve the unique needs of up to 10,000 of their neighbors in the Coachella Valley. It is a bold step towards Desert AIDS Project’s goal of helping those who need it most.
About Desert AIDS Project
Desert AIDS Project (D.A.P.) is a Federally Qualified Health Center in Palm Springs, CA offering D.A.P. Total Care – a combination of medical, dental, counseling, social services, support groups, alternative therapies, in-house pharmacy and lab, and other health and wellness services. D.A.P.’s sexual health clinic, The DOCK, offers STD testing and treatment, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), Post-Exposure Prophylaxis (PEP), and free HIV and HCV testing. D.A.P.’s Get Tested Coachella Valley campaign, the nation’s first region-wide HIV testing and access to care initiative, was recognized by the White House for helping to bring about an AIDS-free future. D.A.P. is rated a “Top 20 HIV Charity” by About.com.
