Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation support dental programs
Staff Reports | Digital Free Press
Delta Dental of Arizona, through its charitable foundation, has awarded grants to 33 nonprofit organizations working to increase access to oral health services and provide nutritional programs for underserved populations across Arizona.
These funds, totaling $743,536, were awarded to support projects and services promoting good oral health practices and increasing access to dental care among underserved children, pregnant women, seniors and — for the first time — adults, according to a press release.
“We expanded our guidelines this year to include non-dental programs, specifically nutritional access programs such as food banks, after-school and weekend food programs for children, and senior delivery programs,” says Barb Kozuh, executive director of the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation, in a prepared statement. “We were thrilled to see the response from these organizations.”
Grants were awarded via two funding categories: Community Grants and IMPACT Grants.
“Our Foundation board was intentional in updating our guidelines,” says Michael Jones, president and chief executive officer of Delta Dental of Arizona and president of the Delta Dental of Arizona Foundation. “There are thousands of individuals in our community that struggle with food insecurity daily. These individuals and their families likely also have unmet dental needs, and without access to proper nutrition no amount of preventative care or education can protect them from long-term oral health issues.”
Community grants ranging from $5,000 to $30,000, as well as dental supplies as needed, were presented to 30 Arizona nonprofits, including:
- A New Leaf
- Adelante Healthcare
- Arizona Dental Foundation
- A.T. Still University Clinical Education and Outreach Clinic
- Back to School Clothing Drive
- Children’s Museum of Phoenix
- Chiricahua Community Health Center
- City of Chandler Public Housing
- Coconino County Cooperative Extension
- Coconino County Health and Human Services
- Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona
- Dental Lifeline Network
- Desert Senita Dental Center
- Diana Gregory Outreach Services
- Dignity Health Foundation
- Flagstaff Medical Children’s Health Center
- Gila County Health & Emergency Management
- Kitchen on the Street
- Live and Learn
- Marana Healthcare
- Midwestern University
- National Kidney Foundation
- North Country Community Health Center
- Prescott Community Cupboard
- Southwest Human Development
- Sun Life Health
- Tucson Children’s Museum
- UMOM New Day Centers
- Valley of the Sun YMCA
- Verde Valley Medical Center
The Delta Dental IMPACT Grant program, which began in 2020, awards organizations two-year grants totaling $100,000 each, with $50,000 awarded each year.
Nonprofits invited to apply for these grants provide oral health services and education to more than 650 children, pregnant women or seniors and have a proven record of fiscal and reporting responsibility.
