DAP Health will throw its signature masquerade-themed gala at the Palm Springs Convention Center on February 20, 2027, organizers announced. The 33rd annual Steve Chase Humanitarian Awards will support the regional health provider's mission. Community members, philanthropists and supporters are expected to turn out in formalwear and masks for an evening of cocktails, dinner, silent and live auctions, honoree recognitions and entertainment before the night closes with a live-DJ dance party.
The announcement came as reported by KESQ, which detailed the gala's format and its role in funding DAP Health's mission of providing accessible, affirming health care and support services. Presented by Desert Care Network, the gala has generated more than $2 million in net revenue over the past three years, money the station reports goes toward HIV prevention and care, services for uninsured patients, and expanded health care initiatives. Desert Care Network, which operates Desert Regional Medical Center and other hospitals in the Coachella Valley, also contributed $2.5 million in March 2024 to DAP Health's Vision Forward capital campaign for housing and health facilities, according to DCN News.
A Gala Named for an Early Champion
The event traces back to a Valentine's Day 1994 fundraiser called Heartstrings, per the station's report. The current gala is named in honor of Steve Chase, a renowned interior designer and philanthropist whose early support helped DAP Health grow. Chase, an openly gay interior designer, was a philanthropist whose early support helped DAP Health grow, according to GED Magazine.
DAP Health itself began in 1984 as a grassroots volunteer effort known as Desert AIDS Project, formed in response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping the Coachella Valley. The organization has since expanded into a full-service community health center.
Growth Fueled by a Bankruptcy Acquisition
Growth Fueled by a Bankruptcy Acquisition That expansion accelerated in 2023, when DAP Health acquired the bankrupt Borrego Health system out of Chapter 11 proceedings. DAP Health has 23 fixed clinic locations, six mobile units and 950 employees serving almost 80,000 people across Southern California, according to the later account. Borrego Health, a San Diego-based clinic chain, had filed for bankruptcy in 2022 following fraud and mismanagement allegations. By 2023, DAP Health logged the region's largest number of patient encounters among community health centers, according to an April 2026 regional market report from the California Health Care Foundation, which says the six largest non-county community health center systems provided over 60% of all community health center patient encounters in the region.
DAP Health plans to open a new LGBTQ+ health clinic in Oceanside, the station reports, part of a broader push beyond Riverside County. In partnership with the North County LGBTQ Resource Center, that expansion includes a sexual wellness clinic and pharmacy offering free HIV/STI testing, free PrEP and PEP, and free DoxyPEP prevention services, according to the Standard, which reported the Oceanside site was designed around years of patient feedback aimed at eliminating traditional access barriers. DAP Health also intends to open a women's health center in Palm Springs in 2027, expanding OB-GYN care at its Sunrise campus, according to Desert Charities News.
Housing Built Into the Care Model
The Sunrise campus already houses more than clinics. In October 2024, DAP Health and the Coachella Valley Housing Coalition held a ribbon-cutting for Vista Sunrise II, a 61-unit permanent supportive and affordable housing complex on the campus, with 30 units reserved for rapid rehousing of people experiencing homelessness, according to KESQ's earlier coverage of that opening.
A Ballot Fight Looms Over the Gala
The gala's fundraising supports DAP Health's mission of providing accessible, affirming health care and support services.
The organization has also waded into state politics, publicly urging Californians to vote No on Proposition 44 on the November 2026 ballot. DAP Health has warned the measure could cut $1.7 billion from community clinics statewide in its first year and restrict non-clinical support programs like transportation and care navigation, according to the Gay Desert Guide. Health economists cited by opponents of the measure estimated that 88% of California community clinics could operate at a loss if Proposition 44 passes.
Organizers say additional details about performers, honorees and other elements of the 2027 gala will be announced in the coming months. For now, the masquerade ball stands as one of DAP Health's largest annual fundraising pushes at a time when statewide policy fights are converging on the safety-net system that has grown from a volunteer AIDS crisis group into an Inland Empire community health center network that recorded the region's largest number of patient encounters in 2023.
