KIDS IN NEED OF DENTISTRY’S VOLUNTEER DENTAL PROFESSIONALS

In 1912, a group of Denver dentists joined together to provide dental care for the children of miners and railroad workers with limited incomes. A small dental charity, Kids In Need of Dentistry (KIND) was born. They set forward from that time with the mission to utilize their very particular skill set to provide service to children from infants to 18 years of age who would not otherwise be able to obtain dental treatments. In the last 90 years, this small local group of dentists and their peers has grown to become a great force in combating the oral health problems of children in Colorado. They now have over 150 volunteers that include dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, dental students and community volunteers.

A toothache can be similar to having a cold. There can be significant pain involved as well as a loss of appetite, concentration, interest in school and in one’s social and family life. A toothache and cold differ, however, in that the cold will get better without treatment over time; whereas the toothache will only get worse. It can actually get to the point of becoming potentially terminal.

More than 2.5 million school hours were lost nationally due to toothaches in 1998. Further, an initial dental appointment alone can easily cost over $200, which is a high starting fee for a family who does not have access to general dental insurance. With the help of KIND’s volunteer force, the charity is able to charge only ten percent of the value of the service completed on a child. This makes dental treatments financially feasible, and no child has ever been turned away due to an inability to pay.

During the last fiscal year alone, KIND volunteers provided in excess of $536,000 worth of services to uninsured children. Volunteers help in a number of different ways. A volunteer may go to one of KIND’s 4 clinics to treat children, they may see the children in their own office for specialized treatment or they may travel on KIND’s 36’ mobile clinic to see children in the far reaches of Colorado’s western slope. Volunteers may also go to a lower-income Denver elementary school to examine and place sealants on second grade students to prevent future decay on their permanent molars.

Since its inception, KIND volunteer dental professionals have rebuilt the self-esteem through a child’s confidence in his or her smile. This is a benefit that results in them succeeding in school as well as socially. KIND is an active part of giving needy families a new chance for their children. They no longer have to hide their smiles and all the possibilities that lie behind them.

SUSAN PSALMONDS

Susan Psalmonds is a volunteer with initiative and dedication. She is persistent in her drive to overcome challenges. As a person with multiple disabilities, she is highly aware of the existing problem areas that people with disabilities face on a daily basis.

She has been an active volunteer at the OPTIONS for Independence for the past four years and was the first participant in their program. She works to advocate for citizens with disabilities. She has demonstrated leadership qualities as the third term Chair of the Concerned Citizens with Disabilities Coalition. Under her leadership, the members have undertaken many local advocacy issues that affect the lives of people with disabilities throughout the community. Psalmonds has excellent organizational skills and uses her networking to bring various people together to help coordinate efforts with many disability-related organizations.

Psalmonds is the Chair of Concerned Citizens with Disabilities Coalition (CCDC). This is a volunteer advocacy group committed to improving accessibility in communities and to remove barriers of all types. She is also an Executive Board Member for the Catholic Campaign for Human Development. The organization recruits, trains and organizes people with disabilities across the state to influence national, state and local policy, systems and institutional decisions that affect their everyday lives. Participants in this program are empowered to more fully control their own destinies both personally and politically. They are taught to become leaders and use their skills to help others with disabilities.

Psalmonds volunteers an average of 20 hours of month. However, during the legislative session; she gives more time. She travels weekly to Salt Lake while the session is on to participate and become a part of legislative change and funding requests on behalf of people with disabilities.

As a result of her service, many changes have been brought about in the community. Local businesses have become accessible to people with disabilities; store aisles have been widened to accommodate people using wheelchairs and scooter, and owners have installed automatic door openers and/or doorbells so individuals with mobility disabilities can gain easier access. Necessary repairs have been made to city sidewalks, laws concerning handicapped parking have been enforced well with signage, and individuals lacking basic computer skills have received needed training.

Psalmonds is currently working on a Medicaid Reduction Proposal, which will ensure that Medicaid prescription benefits are not reduced. In addition, she is working to educate employers on ways to hire, train and work with people with disabilities. This will benefit the entire community as people with disabilities receive better employment opportunities while increasing their work quality.

YASHA KHIBKIN

For 62-year old Yasha Khibkin, it has been a long journey from his days as a physics and astronomy teacher in Uzbekistan to a Foster Grandparent volunteer in Massachusetts. Khibkin immigrated to the United States with his wife in early 1997 with more than two decades of teaching experience to his credit, impressive computer skills, degrees in astronomy and physics, but not knowing the English language. So, with the help of a Jewish Vocational Services worker, he enrolled in an English course.

The Chauncy Street location for the Jewish Vocational Services (JVS) also housed Action for Boston Community Development, Inc. (ABCD). They sponsor the area’s Foster Grandparent Program, and in 1998, the JVS social worker put Khibkin in touch with the director of the Foster Grandparent Program.

Khibkin has been working with youth ever since he was introduced to the program in 1998. Khibkin has combined his educational background with his recently acquired English skills to become the best volunteer he can be in the Foster Grandparent Program. As a volunteer Grandpa, he spends at least 20 hours per week helping children understand their homework and learn chess in the Broadmeadows After-School Program in Quincy, Massachusetts.

The children he serves range from six to eleven years old. Khibkin wants to stay sharp and keep in touch with his grandchildren, so he continues to improve his English skills by taking ESL courses run by QCAP and at Quincy College.

The Foster Grandparent experience carries many rewards. Both the grandparents and grandchildren have social contact, feelings of involvement and feelings of importance. ABCD’s Foster Grandparent program reaches out to children in the Boston area and over 140 senior volunteers who come from China, Hong Kong, North America, South America, Somalia, South Africa, Russia and the West Indies work with children in schools and daycare centers both individually and in small groups. These meetings develop the children’s self-confidence and sense of self-worth.

Khibkin also reaches out to the staff. He has made Russian meals during the Christmas season in an effort to connect more with staff that is much younger than he. He wholeheartedly supports the mission to create an environment that supports and encourages each child’s development.

THE KANDER FAMILY

For more than 12 years, the Kander family has been one of the most committed volunteer teams in Oakland County, Michigan 4-H Youth Programs. Their involvement began with the founding of the Class Act Drama 4-H Club, in which diverse groups of young people experienced Shakespeare by becoming actors in full-length plays. Lisa Kander, a mother of four children who also has an extraordinary ability to help any child understand the text of Shakespeare and other playwrights, directed the plays. Her productions have included children as young as 4 and have consistently involved young people in all aspects of the production, from lights to sound to props to costuming to direction.

Lisa’s 4-H Club is a long-term educational process that involves young people in addressing the challenge of diminishing funding for public schools, especially in urban areas. Many of the schools in the community have been forced to eliminate funding for their arts programs, leaving students with few opportunities to express themselves creatively. The loss of theatre arts is particularly devastating, because it removes the opportunity for young people to build teamwork and problem-solving skills in the course of mounting a production. Live theatre helps bring literature alive for audiences in an interdisciplinary way, and its elimination from public schools has implications on a larger scale.

The Kander family recognized this issue and took action by volunteering to bring their theatre productions to public events and programs. They taught performance art during summer camps for at-risk youth in elementary and secondary schools and at the countywide Youth Summit. They created shorter programs, such as “Folktales and Legends” and “Remember the Ladies” to encourage literacy at public library programs.

Their commitment to serve the community is matched only by their commitment to diversity. Class Act Drama 4-H Club performances have explored themes of Native American life, feminist perspectives of history and racial injustice. They have maintained an open membership policy and recruited diverse families to participate in the program. The Club began with just a few families in 1990. Today there are an excess of 100 club members, and they have earned the local 4-H Community Service Award for six consecutive years.

The impact of the Kander family’s vision and volunteerism can be summed up by the words of a local elementary school principal: “ Most of the children in the school have few models of success in their lives. The young actors showed her children that there is no such thing as ‘too young’ to make a difference. The performance helped the kids believe in their own abilities and recognize that literature can be fun.”

COMFORT ANDERSON-MILLER

Comfort Anderson-Miller of Richmond, Virginia is a Liberian-American who runs the Robert and Mary Anderson Charitable Organization. This 501(c)(3) organization is named after her parents and has a mission to comfort thousands of needy Liberians. Through her regular mission trips, Anderson-Miller has delivered food, clothing, computers, medical supplies, school supplies, toys, agricultural tools and other necessities to those that would otherwise go without. Despite the country’s overwhelming poverty – 80% live below the poverty level – there is a shortage of humanitarian aid because of the instability there. Her mission has provided much needed help and hope.

This special mission began in March of 1991. That year, she went to Liberia to visit her mother and brought over a few boxes of toys and clothes to distribute to those in need. She was shocked, however, to see the poverty and devastation that had been wrought by the civil war; and she decided she had to do more. Since then she has regularly distributed thousands of pounds of rice, which is the staple food of Liberia. She was able to get donations from Uncle Ben’s in 1998, and they have donated in excess of 120,000 pounds of rice since that time. In addition to running the foundation, Anderson-Miller has been instrumental in helping Liberian children receive medical attention. She has arranged for the corrective surgeries of five Liberian children.

Anderson-Miller’s most recent mission took place in April of 2003 and continued into June when the fighting began. She still transported two large containers of 40,000 pounds of rice and an additional container filled with 100 computers donated by Sun Trust, $6,000 of school supplies and 40 boxes of shoes donated by a local church. While other Americans were being airlifted out, Anderson-Miller stayed because she knew the need was particularly dire this year. Even though her mother’s house had been looted several times and a shell destroyed a truck she sent overseas; she stayed. Some people had no food in their homes except the rice she gave them.

Another amazing part of her mission was a young boy named Edward. She met him in 1995 while distributing books to a school. His face was deformed due to a bacterial infection he caught while living in the bush with his family, and rebels beheaded his father and older brother. Because of his appearance, Edward was treated as an outcast; but Anderson-Miller corresponded with the young boy and his mother. In 1996 when she returned to Liberia, she took Edward to the United States and obtained donated services from plastic surgeons to reconstruct his face. Edward’s mother was thankful and impressed by her care of her child, so she asked Anderson-Miller to adopt him. She and her husband, Elijah, did adopt Edward and now he is a healthy, well-adjusted 14-year old.

More than 10,000 people benefit from Anderson-Miller’s service. Her son is now also taking trips to visit his homeland of Liberia. He has learned a life of service from the example set by his new mom and as a teenager is ready to help others live better lives.

ELIZABETH WILLIAMS

Annually, more than 10,000 families and 21,000 children become homeless in Massachusetts. Approximately 1,400 of these families are living in family shelters or battered women’s shelters statewide. The children living in these shelters frequently do not have adequate opportunities for the educational play that is so vital to their growth and development.

The Horizons Initiative runs several program that provide children living in shelters in Boston and the surrounding communities with the nurturing and stimulation that all children need to learn and grow. The Horizons Initiative Community Children’s Centers are full-time childcare centers specifically for homeless children and their families. Their Volunteer Program recruits, trains and places volunteer “Playspace Activity Leaders” (PALs) to play and interact with homeless children at the Community Children’s Center, family shelters and bettered women’s shelters.

In November of 1999, Elizabeth Williams became a volunteer PAL. Since then, she has worked directly with homeless children through The Horizons Initiative programs. She wanted to make a difference in the lives of youth who were in transition by bringing them some happiness, hope and stability. Williams completed a 6-hour training on homelessness, child development and the special needs of homeless children. Since then, she has been a consistent presence for at least two hours each week in the preschool classroom at the Community Children’s Center in Dorchester.

William’s volunteer service has made a lasting impact on the homeless children enrolled at the Center, their teachers and the organization as a whole. Since the first years in a child’s life are critical for self-esteem, health and intellectual development, she is nurturing the preschoolers’ ability to learn, grow and thrive. Williams promotes their development by giving them individualized attention and leading them in age-appropriate activities. The staff that supervises Williams says she is sensitive to the needs of the children in the classroom and is also very skilled at leading them in activities that stimulate the development of their cognitive, language, motor and social skills. They look forward to her visits, and she is always welcomed with huge hugs and squeals of delights from the children.

Many of the children Williams works with have experienced tremendous loss or major traumas in their young lives. The stability that she provides through her consistent presence helps them develop a sense of security and trust in others and fosters feelings of positive self-worth. Even though volunteers are asked to give a commitment of six months, Williams has continued past the two-year mark.

Williams also provides much-needed support to the teachers at the Center by offering additional one-on-one care to the children. One of the preschool teachers states Williams constantly outperforms their expectations because she goes the extra mile to help both the children and the teachers. In addition to volunteering in the classroom, Williams has been an enthusiastic ambassador for The Horizons Initiative. She shares her volunteer experiences at trainings for prospective volunteers. She has also been a member of the PAL Activity Council, a volunteer leadership committee that provides training and resources to fellow volunteers.

THE LUTHERAN HOME AUXILIARY

The Lutheran Home Auxiliary is an organization created exclusively for the purpose of enhancing the lives of the Lutheran Home residents. The Auxiliary president states they will do whatever is needed to help make the residents more comfortable. Since its inception in 1972, the Auxiliary has provided labor, funding and personal contact for the residents of the Home.

Each of the Auxiliary members works an average of five hours per week. There are currently approximately 20 members, some of which have been involved in excess of 30 years. The average age of the Auxiliary volunteer is 80 years old.

Many of the members are accomplished seamstresses. They utilize their talent to provide many items within the facility such as clothing protectors, pillow skips, bed pads, tablecloths and lap blankets. They also sew aprons for the dietary workers and make soft booties for residents who are unable to wear shoes. Having these items made in-house rather than purchased commercially has reduced the facility’s operational budget.

Some days the Auxiliary members will sew all day long to make pillows, quilts, and craft items to sell at craft and bake sales. The ladies who sew also mend, repair and modify clothing for residents. They are able to modify clothing for the residents of the Home to help them maintain their independence. Some residents cannot pull a shirt over their head, so the Auxiliary volunteers cut the shirt so the resident can put it on by them.

The Auxiliary has also provided funding for various items. They have been able to purchase electric candlesticks for the chapel, television cart for staff training, prizes for bingo night and numerous equipment and supplies used for patient care. The most monumental gift was the equipment purchased for the physical and occupational therapy rooms. These purchases enable residents to receive therapy with up to date equipment.

In addition, the Auxiliary has an active “Welcoming Committee.” They visit new patients and bring a welcome gift to them to make them feel at home. They also help with various programs and also transport residents to activities and programs sponsored by the Home.

Without volunteers, it would be very difficult to meet the needs of the 379 residents. The Auxiliary volunteers have a direct impact on the lives of the residents in the Lutheran Home and make the jobs of the staff persons at the Home. The money they have raised throughout the years is substantial and the items they have donated are numerous and needed. The Lutheran Home Auxiliary has worked tirelessly for the benefit of the facility in excess of 30 years. They take each job seriously, no matter how large or small.

ASHLEY SHUYLER

Ashley Shuyler, 18, a senior at Colorado Academy in Denver, founded a non-profit organization that has raised more than $70,000 to provide four years of secondary education to 20 young women in Tanzania, and to provide badly needed supplies to girls’ schools in that African nation. Ashley’s idea germinated many years ago when she traveled to Africa for a wildlife safari. “The people I met there lived in poverty unlike anything I had seen before,” she said. “I returned home with a new awareness of just how blessed we are here in the U.S., and just how many opportunities we have.” A few years later, after meeting two missionaries who had started a school for Maasai girls in Tanzania, Ashley decided to focus on helping young African women get an education. She began seeking the assistance of friends, neighbors and family members, and before long, she had established a non-profit organization called AfricAid. She produced a brochure to describe her mission, developed a newsletter, launched a website, organized several fundraisers, and over the past two years has spent countless hours speaking to church groups, civic clubs, school organizations and others about her cause. Ashley hopes the impact of her work will go far beyond the girls she is helping. “After they graduate, they will either be able to continue their education, become teachers themselves, or return to their villages and make the health, economic and social changes they so badly need and desire.”

LINDLEY MAYER

Lindley Mayer, 14, an eighth-grader at Riverside Middle School in Greer, volunteers as a fundraiser and the “spokeschild” for the Children’s Miracle Network. Lindley also developed “Wings of L.O.V.E.,” a brochure and program designed to educate the public and encourage others to be kind to disabled children. L.O.V.E. stands for laughter, optimism, volunteerism and enthusiasm, qualities Lindley says “help children rise above disabilities and other problems they face.” As spokeschild for the Children’s Miracle Network, Lindley filmed a commercial, solicited donations and worked offstage during a telethon, visited hospitalized children, and assisted other patients attending a network camp. “Beyond a doubt, I was inspired to do this because I have two younger siblings who suffer from a rare kidney syndrome,” Lindley said. “They are both non-verbal and I have been their voice for years. Children’s Miracle Network and ‘Wings of L.O.V.E.’ were the ways I found I could be a voice for them.”

MAEVE O’CONNOR

Maeve O’Connor, 12, a sixth-grader at Belinder Elementary School in Shawnee Mission, has spearheaded an ongoing youth volunteer effort that has undertaken a wide variety of projects over the past four years to help children in need. When she was 7 years old, Maeve tried to volunteer at a local hospital, but was told she was too young. Instead, hospital officials gave Maeve and her brother and sister a list of items they could collect for patients. “We picked an item that children would like and set a summer goal of 5,000 crayons,” Maeve said. “We ended up collecting half a million crayons!” Energized by their success, Maeve and her siblings began working on other projects, calling themselves “Kids Helping Kids.” Other young volunteers soon joined their efforts. The group has collected food for hurricane victims, Christmas toys for children with HIV, books for a Sioux Indian library, and baby supplies for the children of migrant farm workers. Maeve and her helpers also sold 10,000 lollipops to fulfill the wish of a terminally ill child, and raised money to build an intergenerational playground and garden for a geriatric center. “Children are not only our future, we can be the driving force of today,” said Maeve. “Whoever said that a 7-year-old was too young to volunteer was mistaken!” Currently Maeve is raising funds to bring intergenerational arts programs into the urban core.