By Carla Burgess | March 2004

• 1: Introduction
• 2: Wyo Clinic and Its Offshoots
• 3: Beyond Wyo
• 4: Brighten & Build Program
• 5: Members of the N.C. Association of Free Clinics
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Wyo Clinic and Its Offshoots

Located in the EnergyUnited Touchstone Energy cooperative’s service area, the Wyo clinic provides services that include cleanings, fillings, extractions, root canals, and some partial and full dentures. Operated through donations of money, equipment and supplies, the clinic serves people mostly from Yadkin and Davie counties, but also Wilkes and Surry. Largely rural and agricultural, the region’s communities have been hurt by loss of textile jobs, a sluggish economy and, in turn, poverty. People often wait until a dental problem is acute before seeking care, often in the emergency room. There, says Phillips, patients usually receive a stopgap such as antibiotics to treat infection. But the root of the problem remains.

Like many other dentists, Phillips found he was offering increasingly more free services to poor patients in this office. He dreamed of a way to address the need through a comprehensive approach. Meanwhile, he had been making annual trips to Montego Bay, Jamaica, to volunteer at a weeklong, church-sponsored dental clinic. The pool of dentists, students, surgeons, nurses, hygienists, assistants and other support volunteers who made the trip were eager and willing to regularly donate their time. They needed only a destination. And so Phillips started the Giving Hand Foundation, which now operates clinics in Wyo and Kernersville, as well as seasonal clinics in Jamaica and Paraguay.

“It’s been my experience that there’s no shortage of people to volunteer,” says Phillips. “There are a significant number of folks across the country who would like to start a clinic but have no idea how to go about it, how to find equipment and how to secure facilities.” For that reason, the foundation’s major goal is shepherding start-up clinics throughout the United States and helping them become self-sufficient. The foundation has given a hand to fledgling clinics in Florida, Tennessee, Minnesota and other parts of North Carolina.

Phillips credits the success of the clinics to the generous, tireless efforts of many community volunteers. Besides the dental professionals who give their time, many local folk have donated their talents and skills to get—and keep—the clinic’s doors open.

The clinic also has widespread institutional support. Students in the dental assistant and hygienist programs at Forsyth Technical Community College volunteer at the clinic, receiving class credit and valuable experience in return for their assistance. At a recent “sealant clinic” for elementary school children, dental students applied protective tooth coatings that help prevent tooth decay. The health departments of Yadkin and Davie counties, which screen at-risk children in the schools, also helped advertise the sealant clinic. Phillips said the children were so moved by the experience that they took up a collection to buy a new instrument cart for the clinic.