Betty Russell had plenty to smile about Dec. 1 as guests made their way through the Eastern Panhandle's new Healthy Smiles Community Oral Health Center on Warm Springs Avenue.
"Finally we're meeting this need," said Russell, a community activist who helped spearhead the four-year effort to create a clinic to serve thousands in Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties currently without access to dental care, including 10,000 or so young people on Medicaid. "And it's a wonderful space -- bright, friendly, colorful."
After the intensive work of documenting the need for such a clinic and helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, Russell in recent weeks got to pitch in on the fun task of decorating the 2,800-square-foot space. She chose a variety of colorful, whimsical paintings, including several she composed herself such as a large canvas reading "Smile" and featuring fake jewels.
The clinic, which will begin seeing patients Dec. 7, will have a yearly operating budget of $565,000. The budget includes the salaries of a full-time dentist, a part-time dentist and an office manager. Other dentists and hygienists will volunteer at the facility.
Funding for the clinic came from the government as well as private sources, said Randy Jacobs, the director of administration for Shenandoah Valley Medical System, the Martinsburg health care clinic that will refer clients to the dental clinic and serve as its home base.
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., provided an earmark of $177,842 while another $157,140 came in via the federal stimulus package, Jacobs said. The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation provided another $53,205, he said. Other donors included Mikki Van Wyk, the Carl Freeman Foundation, Panhandle Builders and Excavating Inc. and others.
Jan Callen, executive director of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, said his agency raised $108,000 for the dental clinic so far and hopes to bring in at least $200,000 more for it during the next two years.
"The money we've already raised will offset the cost of care for the uninsured," he said. "Next we want to provide funding to physically expand the space here and then we'll raise money to create an endowment."
The center will see not only those with Medicaid and CHIP coverage, but also patients with insurance and those without insurance who want to pay on a sliding scale. The new clinic will provide cleanings, fillings, extractions, root canal, crown and bridge work, oral cancer screenings and other care.
Even with the recession, donors have been willing to help with the dental clinic, Callen said.
"Overall, giving to the United Way is down 15 percent this year, but the dental clinic is another matter. People really seem to see the need and they want to help," he said.
The Mission of Mercy dental clinics at Hedgesville High School in 2008 and again this June were central to waking up the community to the huge need for dental care in the region, Callen said. More than 600 volunteers turned out in 2007 and more than 800 this year.
News coverage of a tragedy in nearby Maryland also spurred interest in expanding access to dental care. In mid-2007, a 12-year-old died when his untreated toothache led to an infection that spread to his brain. His family lacked insurance and had no money to see a dentist. The incident happened just months after dentist Lisa Dunn was hired as the director for the new Healthy Smiles of the Eastern Panhandle initiative,
"This is a basic health care need, and I think people are starting to recognize that," Dunn said in an interview last year.
With thousands lining up the night before the M.O.M. clinic in hopes of getting a spot in a dental chair, it was clear a huge, unmet need existed in the community, Russell said. Prior to the establishment of the Healthy Smiles center, the closest free dental clinic was 90 minutes away in the Hardy County community of Baker.
"It felt good to be able to help so many people but we knew it was just a Band-Aid," she said. "And we weren't providing preventative care. We were seeing people so late, the only alternative was to pull their teeth. And we were seeing only adults."
The turnout at both M.O.M. events -- more than 2,300 patients seen and a total of 3,261 teeth extracted -- prompted additional giving and interest in the permanent dental clinic, Russell said.
A hand-lettered sign on the front door of the clinic includes the center's phone number and calls have been flooding in, Russell said.
"The word is out already," she said. "People cannot wait."
"Finally we're meeting this need," said Russell, a community activist who helped spearhead the four-year effort to create a clinic to serve thousands in Berkeley, Morgan and Jefferson counties currently without access to dental care, including 10,000 or so young people on Medicaid. "And it's a wonderful space -- bright, friendly, colorful."
After the intensive work of documenting the need for such a clinic and helping to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars, Russell in recent weeks got to pitch in on the fun task of decorating the 2,800-square-foot space. She chose a variety of colorful, whimsical paintings, including several she composed herself such as a large canvas reading "Smile" and featuring fake jewels.
The clinic, which will begin seeing patients Dec. 7, will have a yearly operating budget of $565,000. The budget includes the salaries of a full-time dentist, a part-time dentist and an office manager. Other dentists and hygienists will volunteer at the facility.
Funding for the clinic came from the government as well as private sources, said Randy Jacobs, the director of administration for Shenandoah Valley Medical System, the Martinsburg health care clinic that will refer clients to the dental clinic and serve as its home base.
Rep. Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., provided an earmark of $177,842 while another $157,140 came in via the federal stimulus package, Jacobs said. The Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation provided another $53,205, he said. Other donors included Mikki Van Wyk, the Carl Freeman Foundation, Panhandle Builders and Excavating Inc. and others.
Jan Callen, executive director of the United Way of the Eastern Panhandle, said his agency raised $108,000 for the dental clinic so far and hopes to bring in at least $200,000 more for it during the next two years.
"The money we've already raised will offset the cost of care for the uninsured," he said. "Next we want to provide funding to physically expand the space here and then we'll raise money to create an endowment."
The center will see not only those with Medicaid and CHIP coverage, but also patients with insurance and those without insurance who want to pay on a sliding scale. The new clinic will provide cleanings, fillings, extractions, root canal, crown and bridge work, oral cancer screenings and other care.
Even with the recession, donors have been willing to help with the dental clinic, Callen said.
"Overall, giving to the United Way is down 15 percent this year, but the dental clinic is another matter. People really seem to see the need and they want to help," he said.
The Mission of Mercy dental clinics at Hedgesville High School in 2008 and again this June were central to waking up the community to the huge need for dental care in the region, Callen said. More than 600 volunteers turned out in 2007 and more than 800 this year.
News coverage of a tragedy in nearby Maryland also spurred interest in expanding access to dental care. In mid-2007, a 12-year-old died when his untreated toothache led to an infection that spread to his brain. His family lacked insurance and had no money to see a dentist. The incident happened just months after dentist Lisa Dunn was hired as the director for the new Healthy Smiles of the Eastern Panhandle initiative,
"This is a basic health care need, and I think people are starting to recognize that," Dunn said in an interview last year.
With thousands lining up the night before the M.O.M. clinic in hopes of getting a spot in a dental chair, it was clear a huge, unmet need existed in the community, Russell said. Prior to the establishment of the Healthy Smiles center, the closest free dental clinic was 90 minutes away in the Hardy County community of Baker.
"It felt good to be able to help so many people but we knew it was just a Band-Aid," she said. "And we weren't providing preventative care. We were seeing people so late, the only alternative was to pull their teeth. And we were seeing only adults."
The turnout at both M.O.M. events -- more than 2,300 patients seen and a total of 3,261 teeth extracted -- prompted additional giving and interest in the permanent dental clinic, Russell said.
A hand-lettered sign on the front door of the clinic includes the center's phone number and calls have been flooding in, Russell said.
"The word is out already," she said. "People cannot wait."
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