BY DAN HILDEBRAN
North Central Florida’s sole nonprofit dental clinic celebrated its 50th anniversary with a fundraising dinner and continues the effort through November with a fund-a-thon.
According to a news release by the Alachua County Organization for Rural Needs, Inc., two churches launched the nonprofit in 1974 to provide home-based medical services and social service referrals to low-income families. Two years later, it established a medical clinic and, in 1987, began offering dental services.
In 2019, ACORN closed its medical clinic because of funding challenges.
Fundraising was top priority
In the release, Executive Director Tina Lloyd, who was hired in May, said her priority was to increase the clinic’s revenues.
“When I came on board,” Lloyd recalled, “they said our goal is to try to raise funds because we are solely funded through sponsorships, donations, and grants.”
In response, Lloyd and her team decided to host a 50th anniversary celebration dinner and fundraiser to support the nonprofit’s mission.
Lloyd said she and Clinical Director Debra Mott set a fundraising goal of $50,000 for the event, but the dinner surpassed that milestone, generating around $56,000.
ACORN’s new executive director added that the fund-a-thon will consist of the organization’s staff continuing to reach out to potential donors. Lloyd said she has successfully uncovered new donors and grants, making progress in funding ACORNS’s approximately $500,000 annual budget.
Lloyd said county governments have been a source of reliable support, in addition to several churches.
The two ACORN leaders said they were not expecting the significant number of supporters who would contribute to their event. Many local businesses showed support, including Lake Butler Rotary, Starke Rotary, Teal Tile Carpet One, Magnolia Dental, Palm RV Park, Federal Tax Accountants, Edwin Hsiung, DDS, Piesanos Stone Fired Pizza, Belle Oaks Barn, Bailey Health Solutions, Lake Area Watersports, Pritchett Trucking, Shadd Trucking, ACORN Medical Clinic Alumni, ACORN Founders, ACORN Former Board Members, Well Florida Council, West Fraser, Reddish & White, Cornerstone Caregiving, Delmond Dentistry, ACORN Board of Directors, Woodmen Life, Spires IGA, TD Bank, Alachua County Safety Net Collaborative, and Dean Isabel Garcia, William Witt, DDS.
Over 2,000 patients from 27 counties
Lloyd said the most significant barrier to fundraising is that people are not aware of the need for nonprofit dental services,
“There’s a lot of data that’s been put out there that shows that there’s a large number of patients that are still showing up at the ERs for dental care because they don’t have transportation or they don’t have insurance,” Lloyd said.
She added that although most of the 2,244 patients the clinic served in 2023 resided in Alachua, Bradford, and Union Counties, residents from 27 Florida counties received services from ACORN last year. Some drove from South Florida and even Georgia because the region lacks nonprofit dental clinics.
“We had two from Georgia,” Lloyd said. “Miami? Yes. And we’ve got a lot coming from Dixie and Gilchrist counties.”
Loses $83 on every visit
Mott added that ACORN charges patients on a sliding scale based on household income and that the clinic loses an average of $83 per patient visit because of the reduced rates.
Lloyd said volunteer dentists come to ACORN to perform extractions, and the clinic refers more advanced cases to the University of Florida.
Emergency cases not turned away
Mott said the clinic does not turn away emergency cases.
“If someone walks in with visible swelling,” she said, “we will see them. We won’t turn them away.”
The Clinic said in its news release that it thanks everyone who has contributed to the dental clinic and its mission to continue providing dental services to the community.
