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Dental Clinic Ministry
Opens March 12
by Chrissie Tomlinson
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The
vision of a group of local dental health professionals and church leaders
around the Middle Georgia area is finally being realized with the opening
of Rehoboth Life Care Ministries, Inc. (RLCM), on Friday, March 12, 2010.
RLCM is a non-profit 501(c) (3) corporation which was established in
November 2008, by the Rehoboth Baptist Association and a group of area
dentists as a volunteer staffed dental clinic in Warner Robins. The mission of RLCM is to
provide low-cost, high quality dental health care to the uninsured and
under-insured populations in Houston, Peach,
Crawford and Taylor
counties in Middle Georgia.
This exciting new ministry was created to address the
problem of the lack of oral health care available to the poor, Medicaid
eligible, children, elderly and minority populations in Central
Georgia. Yesmin Wilson, a registered nurse, serves as the
Chairman of the Board of RLCM, Inc., and has been in charge of community
migrant health fairs for the past 18 years. Mrs. Wilson has spearheaded
this ministry due to her past experience, as well as her desire to meet the
needs of the lower income or economically disadvantaged in the community.
The history of the ministry began in 1989 as the need
arose to educate, diagnose and treat illnesses found primarily in the
migrant farm worker population. In 1994, the need for expansion for dental
care became apparent to a group of dentists and the idea of a mobile dental
clinic was born. An old Project Smile bus was purchased, renovated and put
into action as a collaborative effort with the Georgia Baptist Convention.
In 2008, the idea expanded again and RLCM was incorporated. A clinic site
was donated to have a permanent location for a year-round dental clinic to
operate, a board of directors was formed and a new opportunity to serve a
vital and unfilled need in this area for oral healthcare was established.
According to the Georgia Dental Association (GDA), poor
oral health is a significant public health problem among children in Georgia.
Today, the GDA alerts us to a dental care crisis by saying: “Recent fee
cuts to the program by WellCare range from 14 to 51 percent making it
difficult for some dentists to continue to provide services.” The U.S. Surgeon
General’s Report says that “while 44 million Americans lack medical
insurance, about 108 million lack dental insurance. Only 60 percent of baby
boomers receive dental insurance through their employers and older workers
lose their dental insurance at retirement.”
RLCM patients will be screened for oral disease and a
dental care plan will be established. The volunteer dentists, all from our
local area, and their staff, will perform dental care as if they were
seeing the patients in their own offices. In addition to dental services,
the clinic will also provide Biblically based counseling, and contact
information for appropriate social services as needed.
In order to qualify for treatment at RLCM, patients must
meet certain requirements. First, they must live in Houston,
Peach, Taylor,
or Crawford counties. A utility bill will be required for proof of
residency within the serviced area. A photo ID is also required. Also,
patients must be uninsured. This means that they are not covered by a
spouse’s insurance, nor are they approved by Medicare, Medicaid, Peachcare
or the VA.
Finally, the family’s gross income must be at 150% or
less of the federal poverty level (listed below). Clients must bring with
them documentation which applies for proof of household income (for
example, W2 or the most recent year’s income tax return, last three current
& consecutive pay check stubs for everyone employed in the household,
recent government benefits letter showing current amounts of benefits or
IRS 1040 Form).
Family Size Annual
Monthly Hourly
1 $16,245.00
$1,354.00 $7.81
2 $21,855.00
$1,821.00 $10.51
3 $27,465.00
$2,289.00 $13.20
4 $33,075.00
$2,756.00 $15.90
5 $38,685.00
$3,224.00 $18.60
6 $44,295.00
$3,691.00 $21.30
The clinic, located at 3208 US Highway 41 in Byron, will be
opening for financial screenings on Friday, March 12, from 8:30am-3:30pm.
The clinic will be open on the second and fourth Friday of each month. For
appointments, call (478) 953- 7770.
Those interested in being a clinic sponsor, or in
making donations to assist with the purchase of dental equipment may do so
by contacting The Rehoboth Baptist Association, c/o RLCM, Inc., 744 Lake Joy Rd.,
Warner Robins, GA
31088, or calling 478-987-0005.
More information is available on the website, www.careforlifeclinic.com, or
by calling Yesmin Wilson at 478- 952-6590.
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