Doing Good and Looking . . . Fabulous DIFFA is back in town

DIFFA once had a high profile in Houston–and around the country–for leading the fight against AIDS before anyone else, and doing it with impeccable high-flying taste and tony style, with events like Heart Strings, Take a Seat, and Dining by Design. But then DIFFA (which stands for Design Industries Foundation Fighting AIDS) seemed to fade away, and we didn’t hear much on either the local or the national fronts.

Now, we hope you’ve started to notice DIFFAis making a comeback, first with their Wreath Collection last year during the holidays at the Warwick, then their Eat Out & Chip In hosted by Café Annie’s Robert Del Grande among others. And now on Sunday, July 8, DIFFA is throwing their Blendorama–which, if that oh-so-intriguing chartreuse promo ad is any indication, should be quite the splash. Blendorama is billed as an afternoon of "groovy music, icy concoctions and hmmmmm, let’s see what else we can think of...."

DIFFA was started in 1984 by a group of New York design professionals, and was really the first organization on the scene raising money for AIDS. Three years later, designers Michael W. Dale, Betsie Weatherford and Lynn Billings Etheridge started a local group, and soon it was going strong. In DIFFA/Houston’s 14 years, it has raised more money for HIV/AIDS than any other private organization, granting more than $2.6 million to local AIDS service providers. DIFFA’s events are orchestrated by volunteers from the fields of fashion, interior design, furnishings, and architecture, so you know they’re going to be amazing.

The man behind this renewal of energy is Rodney Honerkamp, who became DIFFA’s director in August last year. Honerkamp has quite the Houston resume, having spent the ’80s working with the Institute of International Education, which brought scholars and other international figures to town, and then working for David and Suzanne Saperstein, bold type River Oaks phenomenons known for their Metro Traffic Control and their extravagent tastes. Perhaps this background in the erudite plus the wealthy was the perfect preparation for his role as DIFFA’s shining white knight.

"Houston for years was the foundation’s number one chapter," said David Sheppard, DIFFA’s national executive director, speaking from their New York offices. "But through those heavy volunteer years, well, we just burned people out. We’re thrilled that DIFFA is back in Houston."

In the years since DIFFA was founded, many many other AIDS organizations have been formed–but DIFFA’s role as a fundraiser linking business and professionals to the hand’s-on agencies has become ever more indispensable. DIFFA went through some rocky years in the early ’90s, according to Honerkamp. The national DIFFA office put a lot of promotion and hope into the 1994 Gay Summer Olympics. They anticipated bringing in $1 million, but the Olympics were a flop, and they actually owned several hundred thousand. But far worse, DIFFA had made the over-hopeful error of pledging the expected money to the recipient AIDS organizations. The board of directors was determined to made good, calling on all the regional offices to help with the massive fundraising effort, and raising controversy and over-stressing the organization. Houston went from being the strongest regional DIFFA group, to basically hibernating while they regrouped and rekindled. "It was bad judgement and a mistake in timing," Honerkamp said, "but it wasn’t like the director flew his girlfriend to the Bahamas."

DIFFA states that their granting philosophy "has been to support start-up or emerging programs and ideas that reflect a unique or innovative approach to a problem." Through the years, DIFFA has provided money to the Assistance Fund, AIDS Foundation Houston, AVES, Bering Community Service Foundation, Body Positive, the Houston Buyer’s Club, the Center for AIDS, Casa de Esperanza de los Ninos, Interfiath Care Partners, Houston AIDS Information Link, the Montrose Counseling Center, the NAMES Project, Omega House, People with AIDS Coalition, and both Baylor College of Medicine (Department of Pediatric Infectious Diseases) and UT Health Science Center (Department of ObGyn).