Health Department Receives Grant to Promote Oral Health

The Effingham County Health Department (ECHD) has been selected by Delta Dental of Illinois Foundation to receive a $20,000 grant to support oral health initiatives in Effingham County.

ECHD will use the funding to attend community events and provide oral health education and awareness. Funding will also support its mobile dental units and professional partners to provide free preventive dental care to the community.

Catherine Bailey at ECHD explained, “We are grateful for this funding that will allow us to continue to give out oral health kits and education for adults, children, and infants at events in the county. In addition, we will also be able to continue to offer our adult dental clinics with the help of our PHDHs (Public Health Dental Hygienists). If any local organizations have upcoming events where they would like us to distribute our oral health kits, please contact me.”

Delta Dental of Illinois Foundation, the 501(c)(3) charitable arm of Delta Dental of Illinois, awarded over $260,000 to 19 nonprofit and community organizations through its annual Community Grants Program. Each organization selected shares the Foundation’s mission of improving health and well-being throughout Illinois. Since 2012, Delta Dental of Illinois Foundation’s Community Grants Program has provided more than $2 million to support organizations that help increase access to oral health care and education.

If you are organizing a community event which might benefit from oral health kits and education, call ECHD at 217-342-9237 and ask for Catherine Bailey.