March 29, 2025
By Megan Fitzgerald
Mark your calendar for March 29, 2025, when Latinos Salud will welcome guests to their annual gala at the Riverview Ballroom at the Broward Center for the Performing Arts. This year’s gala promises an evening of community, entertainment and pride. If you’ve got questions about the event, I’ve gathered the answers from Latinos Salud. Read below for more information on this vibrant evening that recognizes and celebrates purpose, progress, and philanthropy.
What can attendees expect from the evening?
Johnathan Medina, the agency’s senior health program manager, shared, “This year, Latinos Salud’s Gala will flow through the Broward Center’s many gathering spots. Starting with an open-air reception with open bar under the bistro lights in the Peck Courtyard, we’ll head indoors to the Riverview Ballroom for a 3-course plated dinner and program that will include live performances and a dynamic video showing all the ways that Latinos Salud grew its reach and service portfolio during our 15th year of service. Then we’ll welcome in our 16th year, by wrapping up the evening down at the Broward Center’s riverfront bar and spilling out to open air dancing and a drag show out in the Wendt Terrace, which will be roped off just for our guests.”
What’s your favorite part of the evening, whether it’s the festivities, the people, or something else?
Latinos Salud’s Executive Director, Dr. Stephen Fallon, fielded this one: “Last year, one of our guests scanned the room, and marveled: ‘I’ve never met most of these people. I had no idea that there were so many gay people in our community.’ There’s so much diversity in our community, yet it’s easy to miss experiencing it since we all tend to travel in familiar social circles of peers. My favorite part of Latinos Salud’s Gala is seeing our clients and members decked out in their chic best, interacting with community leaders who they might never have otherwise met. At our Gala, everyone comes together as one community.”
If you had to describe the gala in three words, what would they be?
“Vibrant, inspirational and fun!”
How does this gala help Latinos Salud fulfill its mission and serve the community?
Latinos Salud’s Director of Health programs, Rafaelé Narváez, explained, “The funds we raise through our Gala give us flexibility to grow programs or pilot new services. Many of our current programs originally kicked off with seed funding, whether from individual donations, donor-advised funds, or Gala ticket purchases. Once the outcomes of these pilot efforts are documented, we’re often able to secure multi-year major grants from the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institutes of Health, the Florida Department of Health, and others, and not depend on donations for that service anymore. Talk about leveraging your contribution!”
What is the goal for this year’s event in terms of fundraising or awareness?
Dr. Fallon, who has been working in the field for 30 years, remembered that “HIV related galas used to come down to two messages: ‘We need your money,’ and ‘Be afraid. Be very afraid.’
“You won’t find scare tactics or strong arm appeals at Latinos Salud’s Gala. Instead, you’ll just be more aware that we believe everyone deserves a long and healthy life, supported by a diverse community that appreciates each member.”
How has the gala evolved over the years, and what makes this year’s event special?
Dr. Fallon explained, “The days of opulent Red Ribbon galas with major celebrities showing up to help raise huge sums are long gone. Back then, guests didn’t blink at high ticket prices, and they could often meet Gloria Estefan or Cher or Elton John at a Gala event. Venture capitalists would show up with big checkbooks, and try to outdo one another, calling out their massive additional donations. If only non-profits could still count on such largesse!
“Today, the venue and catering costs required to throw a gala are stratospheric. And decades on, donor fatigue has set in.
“So we feel an obligation to adapt, working to keep our Gala event costs down, and securing as many mission-aligned sponsors as we can to absorb many of those costs. All of that ensures that every Gala ticket goes towards our goal: dramatically increasing both the range of free services and the numbers of community members we serve each year. And we’re doing it with inflation busting pricing: we haven’t raised our Gala ticket costs in three years.”
Are there any notable partnerships or sponsors that are contributing to this year’s event? How do they align with the mission of Latinos Salud?
Johnathan Medina replied, “We are pleased to welcome back our major sponsors: AHF, American Exchange, Avita Pharmacy, CVS, Florida Blue, Gilead Sciences, and ViiV Healthcare, as well as our media sponsors, and many community partners who help underwrite the event costs.”
Can you share any personal stories or memorable moments from past galas that have stood out to you?
Rafaelé Narváez recalled, “In 2021, we had to hold our Gala virtually due to COVID-19 closures and social distancing precautions. We livecast the Gala from Dr. Fallon’s back patio, and the techs from the A/V company we hired had a glitch that meant we couldn’t get our cameras to broadcast until 15 seconds before the Gala started! But even in that unprecedented time, we innovated, and created a Gala where people connected. We had multiple house parties that cued in and live streamed with us, and we even got the amazing singer Johnny Manuel from America’s Got Talent to perform live, all the way from Sydney Australia. Then in 2022, with COVID-19 slackening but still worrying, we innovated again, ditching our plans to host in a hotel ballroom, and instead staging our Gala in two smaller, socially-distanced events, al fresco on Latinos Salud’s front lawn. That year, it was Jimmy Herrod, also from America’s Got Talent, who blew the top off the tents with his powerhouse voice. More recently, we’ve been introducing rising local talent at our galas, including Franser Pazos and Leandro Gaston who performed live when we cut the ribbon on our newest location, a 7,000 square foot space in Miami’s SW.”
What do you hope attendees take away from this event?
Rafaele said that “We want people to walk out the door with two feelings: that their time and generosity were respected, and that they are proud of the community we are building together. And I hope they say, just as our guest did last year, that they were excited to see new faces, and find new connections at our event!”
Latinos Salud is investing millions of dollars in free community services and events each year. While the agency has a successful track record winning multi-year federal, state, and foundation grant support, grant budgets get locked in at year one, and don’t adjust for inflation, let alone for exceeding grant goals by serving more than the required count of clients or patients. To a very real extent, Latinos Salud’s expenses are increasing precisely because its staff are so committed and friendly, its locations so accessible and sparkling. What can you share with me about this?
Dr. Fallon says that “Our expenses increased by 50% again last year, as we served more community members than ever before, and offered more new services.” Rafaelé Narváez notes, “We’ve come a long way from the days of just handing out condoms and giving safer sex workshops.”
Dr. Fallon gave some examples, “Latinos Salud spends over two-thirds of a million dollars on lab fees each year, so that community members don’t have to. The agency also devotes over two-thirds of a million dollars to health insurance premiums for patients in greatest need. For many, this is the first time in their life they have had any health insurance at all. Latinos Salud is even developing the next generation of nurses, social workers, psychologists and public health workers, with our ‘Health and Support Services Pride Scholarships,’ which now award up to $6,000 per year to each recipient. And Latinos Salud offers 100 free, community events each year— from yoga classes to kayaking, from museum tours to theater nights, from food bazaars to fitness boot camps, from candle making to karaoke, from self-defense training to learning how to dance in high heels.”
What specific programs or services will the funds raised at the gala help support?
“One of Latinos Salud’s biggest successes has been getting people on PrEP, the pill (or injection) that prevents HIV,” said Dr. Fallon. “Though PrEP has been around for a dozen years, uptake was slow. It’s expensive, and getting an appointment to start PrEP at some clinics can take months. As a result, the people who most need PrEP have been the least likely to be able to access it. The CDC refers to this as the ‘PrEP-to-Need’ ratio, and in most of the hardest hit areas, gay Latinos, gay African Americans, and lower income LGBT people have faced the most barriers trying to access PrEP.”
Not so at Latinos Salud, where 85% of their PrEP patients are from one of these underserved communities. It’s a heavy lift, costing Latinos Salud millions of dollars each year. But it’s a wise investment, Dr. Fallon says, since helping people to stay on PrEP slashes the chance of another new HIV infection by 99% in our South Florida community, which is already overburdened with the highest rate of new HIV cases in the nation.
Why should people who may have never attended a gala before consider coming to this one?
Johnathan Medina, the agency’s Senior Health Program Manager, says this Gala is different. “Many of us have sat through Galas that seem designed for everyone but the attendees. Often the main program is spent recognizing local politicians, cross-promoting other businesses, or giving awards to celebrities. Latinos Salud’s Gala is unique in that it’s a community event. We design the event for you. We keep the speeches short, make sure the food is amazing, unfurl a variety of talent and fun, interactive activities, and celebrate what we can accomplish, when we come together as a community!”
Author: Megan Fitzgerald, PhD, Associate Professor
