Posted 8:28 am Monday, December 21, 2009
St. Paul Children's Foundation Provides Vital Services To Many Tylerites
If you have any doubts about the importance of dental care to a family who can't afford it, ask 13-year-old Clemente Duran.
On a grey Wednesday afternoon, the middle-schooler sat with his mother, Estella Avila, and his sister, Daisy Duran, 15, in the waiting room of the dental clinic of the St. Paul Children's Foundation. Clemente had come for a checkup, and his sister sat in the corner, nursing a swollen cheek resulting from an earlier procedure. The family depends on the foundation for all of its dental care and does not know what they would do without it.
"This is the only choice for us," said Ms. Avila through a translator. She said she and her children have been coming to clinic for eight years. The foundation's dental and pediatric clinics, along with its food pantry, clothes closet, weekly after-school program and Santa's Secret Workshop during Christmas fill a vital need year-round in this impoverished community just east of downtown Tyler.
Dr. Brady Swinney, a retired Tyler dentist, is one of 28 paid staff members at the foundation, which serves more than 20,000 children per year in all of its programs.
He said the foundation provides a safety net to the children of the working poor who would otherwise fall through the cracks. "We can only fill so many cavities -- so much of dental care is preventative," said Dr. Swinney, who said the clinic offers nutritional counseling to children and families.
He said if a child has a toothache, it can lead to infections, abscesses and other health problems if it is not treated early.
The nonprofit organization, which receives no government funds, relies on donations from individuals and businesses to keep its doors open, said Saleen Hearon, executive director.
The clinics also accept Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Plan and private insurance if a family has it. Uninsured families whose children use the clinic services pay on a sliding scale, ranging from $5 to $15. But Ms. Hearon wants people to know the foundation never turns anyone away if they are unable to pay.
"We have had explosive growth in the past few years for a multitude of reasons," she said. "One reason is the increase in the number of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren," said Ms. Hearon, who is raising two of her grandchildren. About 24 percent of the families the foundation serves are in such a situation.
The concept for the organization began in the early 1990s, when Dana Malloy was approached by a young Hispanic boy on his bicycle as she hurried to Sunday school at St. Paul's United Methodist Church.
He asked her if anyone could attend her church. When she responded, "Of course," the boy said his sister had told him the church was only for rich white ladies.
Shortly after that conversation, Ms. Malloy and her friends began the Wonderful Wednesday after-school program for the neighborhood children, giving them an opportunity to gather together, learn bible stories and sing songs. Ms. Malloy prayed enough children would show up and was pleasantly surprised when 53 came.
As other needs became apparent, a food pantry and clothes closet were established and were quickly followed by the pediatric and dental clinics and Andrews Park, a small, fenced park across the street from the foundation on East Richards Street. The park serves as the place for the organization's summer lunch program. In 1996, the St. Paul Children's Foundation was organized and incorporated to oversee and manage all of the children's ministries.
The two main programs the foundation oversees are the Khakis for Kids event, held each August before school starts, and Santa's Secret Workshop. At Khakis for Kids, the organization is able to assist about 400 low-income students with school uniforms, medical and dental checkups, backpacks and school supplies.
For Santa's Secret Workshop, the foundation selects about 100 out of the 10,000 families they serve to shop for new toys. And children get a chance to select something for their parents at the little cottage across the street from the foundation. The new, unwrapped toys are collected when businesses and churches hold their own toy drives.
"No one is here for a job," said Ms. Hearon of the staff, both paid and unpaid, who work at the foundation. "We are so blessed to be a part of this community and to coordinate all the needs of the family," she said.
He said the foundation provides a safety net to the children of the working poor who would otherwise fall through the cracks. "We can only fill so many cavities -- so much of dental care is preventative," said Dr. Swinney, who said the clinic offers nutritional counseling to children and families.
He said if a child has a toothache, it can lead to infections, abscesses and other health problems if it is not treated early.
The nonprofit organization, which receives no government funds, relies on donations from individuals and businesses to keep its doors open, said Saleen Hearon, executive director.
The clinics also accept Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Plan and private insurance if a family has it. Uninsured families whose children use the clinic services pay on a sliding scale, ranging from $5 to $15. But Ms. Hearon wants people to know the foundation never turns anyone away if they are unable to pay.
"We have had explosive growth in the past few years for a multitude of reasons," she said. "One reason is the increase in the number of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren," said Ms. Hearon, who is raising two of her grandchildren. About 24 percent of the families the foundation serves are in such a situation.
The concept for the organization began in the early 1990s, when Dana Malloy was approached by a young Hispanic boy on his bicycle as she hurried to Sunday school at St. Paul's United Methodist Church.
He asked her if anyone could attend her church. When she responded, "Of course," the boy said his sister had told him the church was only for rich white ladies.
Shortly after that conversation, Ms. Malloy and her friends began the Wonderful Wednesday after-school program for the neighborhood children, giving them an opportunity to gather together, learn bible stories and sing songs. Ms. Malloy prayed enough children would show up and was pleasantly surprised when 53 came.
As other needs became apparent, a food pantry and clothes closet were established and were quickly followed by the pediatric and dental clinics and Andrews Park, a small, fenced park across the street from the foundation on East Richards Street. The park serves as the place for the organization's summer lunch program. In 1996, the St. Paul Children's Foundation was organized and incorporated to oversee and manage all of the children's ministries.
The two main programs the foundation oversees are the Khakis for Kids event, held each August before school starts, and Santa's Secret Workshop. At Khakis for Kids, the organization is able to assist about 400 low-income students with school uniforms, medical and dental checkups, backpacks and school supplies.
For Santa's Secret Workshop, the foundation selects about 100 out of the 10,000 families they serve to shop for new toys. And children get a chance to select something for their parents at the little cottage across the street from the foundation. The new, unwrapped toys are collected when businesses and churches hold their own toy drives.
"No one is here for a job," said Ms. Hearon of the staff, both paid and unpaid, who work at the foundation. "We are so blessed to be a part of this community and to coordinate all the needs of the family," she said.
