DWE PARTNERS WITH BORREGO COMMUNITY HEALTH FOUNDATION

Dear friends of DWE.  We ended 2009 very concerned about the loss of California’s “Every Woman Counts Program” because many of our women who needed further care were qualified for financial assistance under this state program and we weren’t sure where we could send them.
  Now in this new year we begin a new partnership with Borrego Community Health Foundation  (“Borrego”) which will not only give aftercare for women who need it, but will also provide other healthcare services to our women, e.g., pap tests.   Moreover, the best news for our valley is that uninsured/underinsured men can also get medical help from Borrego.
We met with Bruce Hebets, Borrego’s Executive Director, and representatives from Desert Healthcare District to discuss how Borrego and DWE could collaborate together.  The meeting was very successful and the future looks bright for the uninsured/underinsured women of our valley.   Borrego can also provide transportation if needed to our women and will be attending some of our clinics to pass out their literature. 
  For more information about Borrego go to www.borregomedical.org.

WELCOME NEW BOARD MEMBER

DWE welcomes back Laury Searle to our board.  Laury served as a board member on DWE a couple of years back and we are very fortunate to have her volunteering with us again.  Laury is currently an Executive Director/Administrator for Odyssey Healthcare, a national hospice organization.  Laury will be handling all of our email blasts and will be working with Micah, our webmaster, to keep our web site up to date.
With the addition of Laury and Daniel (our practicing nurse),  along with Michael (our practicing doctor) we have three board members working in healthcare.  We are very proud of the composition of our board and want our members and supporters to know that we are continuing to grow and meet the increased needs of our community.

Donations

Yes we have received a generous grant from Desert Healthcare District and are being helped by Regional Access Project and possibly by Supervisor’s John Benoit’s office but we’ve had to cancel a March 2010 clinic with the Flying Doctors because of budgetary concerns.  Anything you can do for us would be greatly appreciated.  We know that everyone is hurting right now but preventive medical care is so very important to us all.  Send your donations to DWE, 555 S. Sunrise Way, Suite 209, Palm Springs, CA 92262.  Or become a member of DWE—your membership dues helps sustain us as well.
Remember, we still do not have any employees—we are 100% volunteer run.  Our volunteers are the heart of our organization.  They make appointments for mammogram screenings and they attend our clinics helping women get the best care.  Just a few weeks ago one of our technicians saw signs of what she thought was an advanced cancerous tumor.  She rushed it to the radiologist and we received a call advising us to help get this woman to a doctor right away.
Sharon made sure that the woman was immediately informed of her condition and her films were brought over to be seen by a doctor.  The doctor called crying and told Sharon that this woman, who had never had a previous mammogram, might be able to be saved because of how quickly she was seen.  Now, that’s what it is all about.
Thanks to you all---we are saving women’s lives!

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TUESDAY, MARCH 2  FUNDRAISER—SAVE THE DATE

Dink’s is the place and David Marcuso a/k/a Ms. Victoria will be performing.  Tickets will be $25.00.  More information to come—check you emails for the flyer.  For more information, contact Kathryn White, our Events Chair at kathrynmwhite@yahoo.com.

The Beginnings of DWE

A couple of people have asked me how DWE actually began.  They had heard different stories from a few people and were curious about the beginning.  Just to be perfectly clear—no one or two people founded DWE.
The beginning as well as the middle was a culmination of great minds and generous spirits.  Twenty lesbians got together and met for several months trying to figure out how they could help our community.  The energetic (that is putting it mildly) group was facilitated by Lynne Worley and eventually we drafted a mission statement and gave our group a name—Desert Women for Equality.  I was elected the founding President with Sly Zelnys the founding Vice-President.
We began as a politically-minded group and were touted as the Best Political Organization by Stonewall Democrats during our first year of existence.  Then, as is the case sometimes in many organizations, some of us wanted to be more philanthropic and some wanted to be more political.
I personally wanted to bring a free mammogram program to Coachella Valley and set out to see if there was any mobile mammography group available to help us.  We found Physician Diagnostic Imaging (a Laguna based- mobile mammography group owned by two women) and entered into a contract with them to provide services to Coachella Valley women.  PDI is still our partner and as of February 2010 we have completed 1790 mammograms.
  Doctors and/or clinics also had to be found to help see women whose screening mammograms indicated that they needed further testing.  Dr. Christopher Flores of Cathedral City and Dr. Michael Jardula (now on our Board) volunteered.  We partnered with the Desert Pride Center—their volunteers trained by Sharon Doty (Co-Chair of our Mammogram Committee) made our first appointments and our first clinic was held at the Pride Center in June 2006 with 34 women getting a mammogram.
The political women left DWE to join and found other organizations in our valley and the rest of us stayed and worked on the “We Care” Free Mammogram Program.  So, those 20 women were the seeds and wherever they are today they need to be proud of what has happened due to their generosity of spirit and dedication to making our world a better place to live. 

ELECTION OF OFFICERS—ONE YEAR TERM

DWE recently had its election of officers and, yes I am honored to be President again, and this time with an excellent Executive Committee to help move DWE into the future.

PRESIDENT:    Barbara Barrett
VICE PRESIDENT:  Laury Searle
TREASURER:  Daniel Walthall
SECRETARY:  B. Joy Gunnett

Tax Deductible Donations

Send your checks to:
Desert Women for Equality
555 S. Sunrise Way, Suite 209
Palm Springs, CA 92264.
Every dollar counts!

Make a donation using paypal

Membership Questions? Want to Join Our Committee? Contact Us!