Bev Woods, founder and CEO of Gift From The Heart, at the Community Grants Advisory Committee Meeting on Monday, appealing to the council for an extra $20,000 grant to assist with a new Mobile Dental Outreach Centre. Photo Courtesy of Council for the City of Quinte West’s YouTube.
BELLEVILLE – A local non-profit is opening a clinic in March at Loyalist College to provide dental care for people unable to afford it.
Gift From The Heart is a not-for-profit charity organization based in Belleville which aims to improve access to oral and dental health care for all residents, regardless of cost.
The group came before Quinte West Council to ask for a $20,000 grant to help support the initiative. The group currently receives a $7,500 grant from the city annually.
Founder and CEO Bev Woods said the project will help people who do not have insurance or the money to pay for basic dental care.
“Our number one goal is to help as many people as we can, to get out of pain,” Woods said.
The biggest goal is to decrease the pressure on hospitals and doctors by providing affordable oral health, she said.
“There is no care provided at our local hospitals yet; that’s where the majority of people end up because they don’t have access to dentists. They can’t afford conventional dental treatment because of the cost of it. And when the infection becomes too great, or the pain too great for them to bear, they end up in our hospitals looking for help. We don’t have any current programs provided for people over the age of 18 for public health. And our community health centers are overrun with people who need help.”
Over half the people living in Quinte West are between the ages of 18 and 64. According to the 2021 Census, Quinte West has almost 47,000 people – that’s enough to fill the Belleville Sens CAA Arena almost 11 times.
The federal and provincial governments fund dental care for children. This project focuses on adults.
The organization recently finished building its Outreach Dental Centre at Loyalist College. Woods, who is a dental hygenist, said it hopes to open in March. She also wants to create mobile dental care program using old ambulances.
“I just have a big heart for people who I hear write me letters and call me every day saying, ‘Can you help me? I just need to get this tooth out,’” she said.
During the Community Grants Advisory Committee meeting, Woods read out some emails she had received from people asking Gift From The Heart for help.
“My brother has no income at the moment, no coverage, and has been dealing with difficulties and pain caused from his teeth. He desperately needs a tooth extraction, possibly more than one. Please help,” she told the council as she read from one letter.
In another letter, the council heard about a family in need.
“I am a 42-year-old PSW, single mom with 4 children from 3-17 years old. I have two upper wisdom teeth that just broke off years ago. My front teeth are mostly in good shape (in appearance, anyways; I’m sure there are cavities somewhere). My once lovely smile is long gone because you can now see the missing and broken teeth. I am always smiling with my lips closed because it’s embarrassing to see what my smile looks like now compared to what it used to be. I can feel holes in some of the remaining back teeth and worry about the current overall state of my health. I need to be healthy to be able to take care of my kids,” she said.
Prior to the meeting, Woods had sent a letter to the council to ask for an extra $20,000 to help pay for dentists to help in the Outreach Centre, as well as to help set up another Mobile Dental Centre to go out to underserved communities.
The decision was deferred for further consideration at the meeting on Monday, and was told the council would read the letter she submitted.
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