SAN FRANCISCO , Aug. 7, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- The Delta Dental Community Care Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Delta Dental of California and affiliates, today announced $16.3 million in funding to nonprofit organizations through an Access to Care Grants Program intended to increase and safeguard access to quality, affordable oral health care.
The program is offered across the company's 15-state service area and Washington, D.C. The Community Care Foundation funds local community partners to increase access to care, address health disparities, drive health equity and promote innovation in the oral health field.
The grants enable its nonprofit partners, which include Federally Qualified Health Centers, to provide vital and beneficial services to those most in need in the communities they serve. This year's grants represent the program's largest annual funding to date. The grants are focused on three critical areas of need: the oral health crisis among older adults, health equity and rural oral health access.
Through these grants, the Community Care Foundation has significantly impacted the lives of many community members, including six-year-old Flora, who received oral health care through Healthy Smiles for Kids of Orange County in California . When Flora visited the organization's Garden Grove clinic a few weeks before her sixth birthday, she was experiencing dental pain and discomfort. Upon examination, the Healthy Smiles team learned that she had progressive dental decay.