DAVE PURCHASE PROJECT
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About This Cause
1.2 Agency Mission and History Agency History: Point Defiance AIDS Projects (PDAP) incorporated as a 501c (3) nonprofit agency on December 5, 1988. PDAP’s founder, Dave Purchase, a drug and alcohol counselor at the time watched many he counseled die of a disease later known as AIDS. This experience shifted his focus from addiction recovery to preventing the spread of HIV. Dave put it this way, “Dead people can’t two-step let alone 12-step.” He knew international programs provided drug injectors with clean syringes in an effort to reduce needle sharing. Their success in stemming the spread of disease compelled Dave and others to found the Tacoma Needle Exchange Program (TNEP). TNEP is the first legally sanctioned syringe exchange program (SEP) in the U.S. and has operated continuously since 1988. As interest in syringe exchange as a public health model spread, TNEP and other emerging SEPs were overwhelmed with technical assistance and information requests. It became clear that the growing network of SEPs needed a source for low cost syringes and start-up assistance. To meet these needs, PDAP expanded services nationally, forming the North American Syringe Exchange Network (NASEN) in 1993.