2008 Successes

Save our Smiles! - Launched campaign for dental screenings for kindergarten and 1st grade students in Sonoma County schools. Up to 1000 children received fluoride varnish, Sweet Truth prevention programs and visited with the Tooth Fairy to learn about proper oral health.

Give Kids a Smile - A free day of dental care for 450 children; 100 volunteer dentists, hygienists and Santa Rosa Junior College students provided dental exams/treatment in 9 county locations.

Healthy Tomorrows - As advocates for systems change, we are the lead organization in anemia and obesity prevention for the Community Activity Nutrition Coalition (CAN-C).

Cesar Chavez Health Fair - We coordinate health screenings and case management for this annual health fair in the underserved Roseland community. We administered vision, hearing, anemia, dental, blood pressure, and blood glucose tests for hundreds of the 2,500 attendees.

School Nurses Program - Our public health nurses and aides in 12 elementary/schools and Roseland University Prep work with over 6000 students annually.

Sonoma County Oral Health Access Coalition - Leadership in oral health advocacy with quarterly convening of key stakeholders on community water fluoridation and best practices in pediatric treatment for low income.

Dental Health Connections Project – Conducted pediatrician and medical assistant training on fluoride varnish at Southwest Community Health Center; and First 5 School Readiness dental screenings for up to 1000 children in kindergarten transition program.

Kaiser’s Permanente’s Neighbors in Health - On this free day of health care for children heading to school, we coordinated 300 dental screenings, fluoride and dental treatment; case managed over 150 children with acute care follow-up needs.

Oral Health Needs Assessment Project - Sonoma Health Alliance selected our Assistant Director to manage the data collection project to assess oral health needs of kindergarteners and third graders in 15 Sonoma County schools (to be completed by summer 2009).

School Nurse Appreciation Day - We host an annual event to celebrate the work of school nurses and their commitment to Sonoma County schools.

Kid’s Net 2008/2009 School Year - We are in our fifth year of providing access to over 1200 uninsured children through referral to volunteer providers for medical dental, vision, pharmacy, and diagnostic services. We connect them to a medical home and assist in applying for affordable health insurance.

Healthy Communities - Conduct culturally competent community health education and outreach for addressing chronic disease prevention (anemia, asthma, obesity, tooth decay) for at risk, low income, minority groups; in neighborhoods, with community clinic partners, at health fairs.

Oral Health Prevention program at WIC sites - Our Assistant Director was selected to manage early childhood caries prevention initiative for one year olds and their parents at WIC sites; includes coordination of classes to teach parents about early detection, screenings and fluoride varnish, and linking kids to a dental home.