Free ‘Mission of Mercy’ Dental Clinic Supported by Hartford Foundation Grants

Grants totaling $53,000 have been awarded by the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving to support the seventh annual statewide Connecticut “Mission of Mercy” free dental clinic. The clinic will be held on Friday and Saturday, April 25-26, at the XL Center, 1 Civic Center Plaza, in Hartford. Doors open at 6 a.m. each day.

The clinic traditionally draws long lines of people who wait overnight for free dental services, which are provided on a first-come, first-served basis, to anyone, including children, who are without dental insurance or in a low-income category.

Services include cleanings, extractions, fillings, x-rays, fluoride treatments, interim partial dentures (limited) and root canals (limited). There will be a separate entrance and line and shorter waiting time for pregnant patients.

The clinic, operated by the Connecticut Foundation for Dental Outreach in collaboration with the Connecticut State Dental Association, is held in a different location each year. The first clinic was held in April 2008 in Tolland followed by annual clinics in New Haven, Middletown, Waterbury, Danbury and, last year, Bridgeport. 

At last year’s event, 1,415 dental professionals and volunteers provided $1.3 million in services to 2,125 patients from 140 Connecticut communities. 

The Hartford Foundation has supported all of the free dental clinics with $314,400 in grants. This year’s grants are from its Beatrice Fox Auerbach Foundation Fund, Samuel Roskin Trust, S.A. Johnson Family Fund and Donald and Linda Silpe Fund.

The Hartford Foundation is the community foundation for 29 communities in Greater Hartford. It receives gifts from thousands of generous individuals, families and organizations and in 2013 awarded grants of more than $29 million to a broad range of area nonprofit organizations. For more information about the Hartford Foundation, visit www.hfpg.org or call 860-548-1888.