The Waukesha County Community Dental Clinic has received a five-year, $375,000 grant from Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children. The money will be used to increase access to disadvantaged children and pregnant women.
Last year, the nonprofit WCCDC served almost 2,700 children and nearly 600 adults, according to executive director Renee Ramirez. With the grant, the WCCDC aims to serve an additional 500 children and 100 pregnant women each year for the next five years.
“Everyone at the WCCDC is thrilled and extremely grateful for this multi-year grant, which will help us conduct our outreach patient navigation to help us identify children and high-risk pregnant women who have not had access to dental care and to assist them in making the Community Dental Clinic their dental home.”
The WCCDC has provided $9.5 million worth of dental care to more than 10,000 people since it opened seven years ago. Last year, it provided almost $2 million worth of dental care to 3,300 individuals.
Serving Waukesha County residents, the WCCDC serves uninsured or underinsured patients whose household income falls below 200 percent of the federal poverty guidelines.
The WCCDC was one of two national organizations to receive the five-year grant. The other was Kids’ Community Dental Clinic in Burbank, Calif.
Established in 1987, Healthy Smiles, Healthy Children is the charitable arm of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry dedicated to providing dental homes for children nationwide. Since 2010, HSHC has donated more than $3 million in support of access to care initiatives helping more than 290,000 children in 26 states.
