Dear Friend,
Thank you for being part of the KinderSmile Foundation village! We hope that you and your family are in good health. Your continued support has been truly appreciated!
Since our last Newsletter, we have continued to increase access to oral health education and dental care for our State's most underserved populations in all three of our Dental Homes and through our programs.
Please read on to learn about our charity's expanded efforts of eradicating dental disease across New Jersey. We could not do it without all of you. #ItTakesAVillage |
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The Latest from KinderSmile Foundation:
A look into the Future as KSF Continues to Grow |
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| Stay Tuned: KinderSmile Foundation
Is Working on a Documentary!
We are working with the wonderful team at Riverview Studios to create a program which is intended to be a powerful tool to facilitate change by educating the public and motivating a solution to the lack of access to oral health care.
Oral health is the gateway to total health and a critical component of public health that has been overlooked. We intend to demonstrate that a policy change is required in order to begin to reduce disparities and close the gap in access to care. |
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Maternal Oral Medical Health Project
In partnership with The New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute we wrote and introduced a "MOM" (Maternal Oral Medical) Bill, replicating KinderSmile Foundation's Perinatal Health and Wellness Program on a State level. This project raises awareness of the correlation between oral health and total body health. It emphasizes the importance of oral health care while pregnant, and the education of the mother in order to eliminate the incidence of Early Childhood Caries and improve maternal health outcomes.
Thank you to committee members Linda Schwimmer, Elizabeth Litten, Virginia Tesser, and Kate Shamszad for joining Dr. Nicole McGrath-Barnes and Dr. Michal Herman in a collaborative effort to bring this initiative to light! |
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Nurture NJ
KinderSmile Foundation's Dr. Nicole McGrath-Barnes was invited to join the First Lady of New Jersey Tammy Murphy's “Ask a Dentist” panel, to raise awareness of the gap in oral health care access for children and perinatal mothers.
KinderSmile Foundation's Perinatal Health and Wellness Program is well aligned with Ms. Murphy's Nurture NJ Campaign, committed to reduce infant and maternal mortality and eliminate racial disparities. Nurture NJ is establishing a Center for Maternal and Infant Health in Trenton, as one of its initiatives to reduce inequities in access to care in the State's medically-underserved capital. KSCOHC Trenton will be a proud partner of this center.
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| Oral Health Nutrition and Obesity
Oral health is the gateway to total health. Thank you to Dr. Michal Herman for spearheading KinderSmile Foundation's first HRSA grant, facilitated by the NJ Department of Health. This Oral Health Nutrition & Obesity initiative through the NJDOH included BMI screenings and nutritional education for children ages 6-11, highlighting KSF's focus of education, prevention, and intervention. KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers Bloomfield and Trenton screened 1,200 children through this program, and 454 of them had BMIs that qualified them as overweight or obese. Thank you to all our staff and volunteers for helping this project be successful!
The NJDOH goals included efforts to reduce the BMI of 6-11 year-olds who were designated as overweight or obese, increase dental health literacy of parents and children, and improve children's oral health with repeated nutrition counseling. The food expansion portion of this grant included coordinated food deliveries for some qualifying families.
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KinderSmile Oral Health Program |
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KinderSmile Oral Health Program is back in full force! After taking a virtual break for the last two years during the coronavirus pandemic, we are excited to relaunch KSOHP. Offsite visits for oral health education and preventive dental care are scheduled and the offsite teams are ready to see our community partners in person! |
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KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers
Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton |
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We are grateful to the The Delta Dental of NJ Foundation, and AAPD Foundation for supporting KindeSmile Foundation at all three Dental Home locations.
Over 80% of the children living at or below the Federal Poverty Level are at risk to suffer from dental diseases that are easily preventable. Currently in New Jersey there are 90,000 uninsured children, many due to immigration status. And sadly, only 22% of children eligible for Medicaid coverage receive preventive dental care.
KSCOHC Bloomfield has continued to provide access to care to thousands of at-risk youth in Essex county and vicinity, providing a link to one of the only Dental Homes in the area where uninsured children and perinatal mothers could get free or affordable care. We are grateful to The Delta Dental of NJ Foundation, The Healthcare Foundation of New Jersey, Partners for Health Foundation, Montclair Foundation, Hyde and Watson Foundation, Columbia Bank Foundation, Investors Foundation, Bloomfield CDBG, and America's ToothFairy for their continued support.
KSCOHC Newark, located at The Boys and Girls Club of Newark is open to Club members and the community, and provides care to underserved youth in this medically underserved city. We thank The Delta Dental of NJ Foundation, Dr. Michael Gruber, MCJ Amelior Foundation, Columbia Bank Foundation, and Provident Bank Foundation for supporting this Dental Home.
KSCOHC Trenton provides quality comprehensive dental care for underserved and uninsured adults and children alike. With over 85,000 residents, where 63% of children are insured by Medicaid/NJ FamilyCare, and many are entirely uninsured, Trenton is designated as medically underserved. Thanks to donations from Bernie Flynn, Albert Stark, and Dr. Jothi, we were able to obtain a digital scanner and x-ray sensors for KSCOHC Trenton, as we continue to offer quality dental services with state of the art equipment for the adult population. We are grateful to The George H. and Estelle M. Sands Foundation, The Princeton Area Community Foundation, The Burke Foundation, Delta Dental of NJ Foundation, The Martha L. A. Norris Fund of the PACF, PACF Fund for Women and Girls, and I Am Trenton Foundation for their support of our Trenton Dental Home. We extend a special appreciation to Deborah Sands Gartenberg. Thank you!
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| Dr. Rooshika Dalaya and Dr. Rashmi Agrawal
We are excited to welcome Dr. Rooshika Dalaya as a full time general dentist at KSCOHC Bloomfield, and Dr. Rashmi Agrawal as a part time dentist at KSCOHC Trenton. They are compassionate and kind professionals, who have already improved the smiles of so many, and have quickly become a beloved providers at the Dental Homes! Since the start of the pandemic, dental practices have been facing labor shortages in all positions, which can lead to delays in routine preventive and comprehensive dental care. KinderSmile Foundation is so grateful to have a team of caring professionals, dedicated to public health and to helping our mission of increasing access to care to the underserved. |
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| KinderSmile Foundation was founded in the community and for the community, and despite the continuing challenges from the coronavirus pandemic, we are excited to return to our partners!
KSOHP offsite visits to provide oral health education and preventive care are shaping the calendar, and we are ready and excited to relaunch the program with many scheduled visits in October and November!
CSLP volunteer Priya Vaid is scheduled to conduct multiple in person oral health education visits for 500 Belleville PreK students!
KSOHP continued its visits to GRACE Summit, with Board Member Dorrie Gagnon, RDH. GRACE is a community organization dedicated to helping Summit residents in need. Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, they have been consistently serving more than 500 families per week. KSF's GRACE visits include oral health education, diagnostic, and preventive dental care for the uninsured, linking patients back to our Bloomfield Dental Home for comprehensive care when needed. Thank you to The Summit Foundation and Overlook Foundation for sponsoring this important project.
KinderSmile Perinatal Health and Wellness Program breaks the dangerous cycle of untreated dental diseases by empowering uninsured mothers, from pregnancy to three years postpartum, with informative, personal, culturally-sensitive training about the importance of maternal oral health and its impact on the developing fetus and young children.
Graduates of the training program earn a full year of free dental care to restore their smiles to full functionality and painlessness. KSF strives to reduce racial disparities and inequities in oral health care access by linking the mothers and their young children to a barrier-free Dental Home. Thank you to The PACF Fund for Women and Girls for sponsoring our Trenton PHWP moms.
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Our Programs and Volunteer Opportunities |
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KinderSmile Community Service Learning Program perseveres. In addition to shadowing and assisting providers and staff, our volunteers greet our patients, screen for COVID-19 symptoms, and provide oral health and nutritional education. Thank you for being a crucial part of our team, we appreciate all that you do! |
Thank you to our amazing CSLP volunteers Aaron, Ahmad, Akasha, Akriti, Allyson, Ashley, Aseel, Ayse, Christine, Deandra, Jacob, Jihad, Lucah, Maggie, Nafisa, Nikita, Priya, Simran, Trinity, and Zeynep for being a part of our team!
KinderSmile Foundation hosted Seton Hall Prep students for two Days of Service. Students were led by Nyeilla Veale, as she introduced the program, assigned duties, and helped with task completion. Nye started as a CSLP volunteer, dedicating over 250 hours of community service to KSF! She quickly proved to be a compassionate, professional, and valuable asset to KSF. She was hired as a dental assistant as well as our Chief Administrative Assistant, wearing multiple hats like any great nonprofit employee. Thank you!
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We are grateful to the wonderful Give Back a Smile professionals who volunteer at KinderSmile Community Oral Health Centers of Bloomfield, Newark, and Trenton, and in our programs. Thank you to Dr. Lucia Arias, Dr. Ayanna Bradshaw, Dr. Desai, Dr. Dawn Forbes, Dr. Katheryn Goldman, Dr. Julia Guerrier, Dr. Kyung Ha, Dr. Richard Kahn, Dr. Alan Layton, Dr. Geri Mirkov, Dr. Choe Morgan, Dorrie Gagnon, RDH, and Melka Argaw, RDH. Thank you! |
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This fall we count our blessings, as we have been lucky to continue to serve the community through a pandemic, expand our programs, and offer oral health education and access to dental care to thousands of uninsured and underinsured children and adults! We are truly grateful to our donors, grantors, volunteers, and friends who are all part of the KinderSmile Foundation "village." Thank you for helping us achieve our mission to provide access to oral health care and ensure that every child has access to a dentist! Together, we can work towards eradicating preventable dental disease. We couldn't do it without all of you! Blessings, |
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Nicole McGrath-Barnes, DDS, FACD
Founder & CEO KinderSmile Foundation |
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There are a variety of ways to donate to KinderSmile Foundation: online, check, stock options, or planned giving: |
Planned Giving: Leave a Lasting Legacy of Smiles!
A Planned Gift to KinderSmile Foundation will enable KSF to continue its mission of providing access to oral health care to the underserved, support our programs, and allow you to leave a lasting impact on children’s smiles for years to come.
To ascertain the best way to make a planned gift or legacy donation to KinderSmile Foundation, we recommend that you consult your financial advisor or qualified estate planning attorney. Consider exploring stock options as a way to donate while saving on capital gains taxes. Doing so will maximize your opportunities for meaningful estate, gift and income tax savings for you and your family. |
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Our Mission: To provide underserved children with access to comprehensive dental care and educate children & their families about the importance of dental hygiene. Our Vision: A future where every child has access to a dentist and preventable dental diseases are eradicated.
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KSOHP - KinderSmile Oral Health Program Bringing oral health education and preventive dental care to schools & community events
PHWP - Perinatal Health & Wellness Program
Promoting maternal oral health and dental care during pregnancy and early childhood
CSLP - Community Service Learning Program
Youth mentorship through volunteer work & internships
GBAS - Give Back A Smile
Volunteer opportunities for dental professionals |
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Our Contact Information
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