Homeless Not Toothless
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Homeless Not Toothless (HNT), founded by Dr. Jay Grossman in 1992, is a non-profit organization of dentists who volunteer their time and who either pay for laboratory expenses or work with labs who donate dental work as their way of contributing to this worthy cause. Homeless Not Toothless is committed to encouraging the health, care, and support for as many foster children as possible to have their dental needs met through a well-structured community of doctors and dentists. The organization now has hundreds of dental practices, students and labs involved, volunteering their time and effort throughout the greater Los Angeles area and received many of its patients through referrals by the Venice Family Clinic as well as local outreach programs. Now, referrals mostly come from the VA, local shelters and past clients/patients. Since its start, HNT has provided more than $5,000,000 in dental treatment to over 60,000 of its patients.[1]
HNT hosted a fundraiser with actress Sharon Stone and writer/producer Antwone Fisher at the Smile for Every Child fundraiser on September 10, 2009.[2] The event was held at the Shangri-La Hotel in Santa Monica. The goal of the fundraiser was to raise five million dollars to build a facility that will treat the homeless and foster children of Los Angeles County. As of October 15, 2009, the building has been fully funded and remodeled, and a remainder of one million dollars needs to be raised to fund completion of the dental clinic. The medical component of the facility has been completed and is open and running.
The fundraiser event attracted the support of many celebrities including Sharon Stone, Antwone Fisher, William H. Macy, Larry King, Todd Black and others. The program raised funds for the free El Monte Dental Clinic, which will allow the program's participating dentists to provide free dental care to 28,000 Los Angeles foster children.
Grossman, the CEO and founder since 1992, has received numerous awards for his philanthropy.[3] Stats for 2015: • 16,085 children were seen pro-bono; • More than 300 procedures were performed for Veterans and the underserved communities; • Hundreds of volunteers - many are dental students; • The value of donated dental services for 2015 is more than $885,000. • Over 60,000 patients were seen as of the endo of 2019
HNT has utilized dental students at UCLA as well as Western University College of Dental Medicine as interns which has given the students the experience of treating patients outside the school environment while eliminating the cost of labor, allowing the overhead to remain under 10% per year.
Current Board members include Jay Grossman, Dr. Briar Flicker-Grossman, Sharon Stone, Larry Bernstein, and A Slice of PR.
Donors of HNT include Mattel, The Annenberg Foundation, Wells Fargo, The American Legion, California Community Foundation, Charles and Mildred Schnurmacher Foundation, Inc. and The David Geffen Foundation
In September 2020, Mayor Garcetti acknowledged HNT for reaching 10,000 days of providing over 60,000 homeless veterans, foster children, women of domestic violence, and the poor over $5-Million in pro-bono dental care.
References
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2016-01-05. Retrieved 2015-12-27.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Sources
- Behnam, Nicole. "Homeless Not Toothless Dr. Jay Grossman, DDS, Provides Free Dental Care to Homeless Patients." Westide Today, Health October 2006: 73. Print.
- Kramer, Jeff. "Dentist Changes His Cynicism About Homeless Into Idealism." Los Angeles Times 8 July 1993: Part J, Page 1. Print.