Illinois Mission of Mercy: Illinois State Dental Society Foundation
The Illinois State Dental Society Foundation (ISDSF), a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, will host its 7th Mission of Mercy (MOM) event at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, Illinois on June 28 & 29, 2024. The event will provide free dental care to over 2,000 children and adults. More than 1,000 dentists, dental hygienists, dental assistants, lab technicians and general volunteers will donate their time and clinical skills to help patients receive much needed oral health care.
Since 2008, America’s Dentists Care Foundation has supported clinics in 31 states, and has provided 290,000 patients with more than $200 million in charitable oral health care. The Illinois Mission of Mercy event is hosted in different cities across the state of Illinois on a biannual basis. Our 2010 event, held in Bloomington, Illinois, was the most successful inaugural Mission of Mercy event in the United States to date. Our volunteers delivered $975,000 in dental care to 1,953 patients in just two days. Since then, the Illinois MOM event has been held in Grayslake (2012), Peoria (2014), Collinsville (2016), Springfield (2018), and Rockford (2022). MOM provides free dental care to the uninsured, underinsured and those who are unable to access dental treatment. Anyone who attends without a medically compromising condition that would prohibit them from receiving care is seen on a first-come, first-served basis.
The Illinois State Dental Society Foundation will give priority status to 250 U.S. veterans at this year’s Mission of Mercy event at the Peoria Civic Center in Peoria, IL. Volunteers will screen up to 250 veterans beginning at 1:00 pm after the clinic is set-up on June 27. These pre-screened veterans will receive priority status upon the clinic opening on Friday, June 28.
Program Details:
The ILMOM Program Coordinator and Local Arrangements Committee members will communicate with the local Veterans agencies and clubs (County Veterans Assistance Commissions, VFW Posts, and American Legion Posts) to inform them of the Veterans First Program. In addition, printed materials will be distributed to the County Veterans Assistance Commission.
Veterans should present at the Peoria Civic Center between the hours of 1:00 pm – 5:00 pm on Thursday, June 27. Signage will direct them to the correct entrance.
Each veteran must present his/her DD214 or appropriate identification ID card to prove that he/she is a U.S. veteran. The veteran can present any one of the following to prove veteran status:
- Department of Defense Identification Card
- Veteran Health Identification Card
- Veteran Identification Card
- Veteran’s identification on a state-issued identification card
- DD214 (discharge papers) and photo identification
Each veteran will receive a numbered armband corresponding to the number on his/her registration form. The veteran must wear the armband upon presenting to the clinic the following day so that the record folder can be easily located. If a pre-screened veteran presents to the clinic on Friday, without an armband, he/she may have to re-do the registration, screening and triage.
The Veterans First Program will include the following ILMOM services on Thursday of the event:
- Registration
- Medical Triage
- Dental Triage
- X-Rays
Each pre-screened veteran will be instructed to enter or line up at the Veterans First entrance at 7:30 am on Friday. The veterans will receive priority entry to the clinic and enter via a different door than the public.
Veterans who arrive later than 7:30 am will need to enter at the end of the general public line. Volunteers will monitor the Veterans First entry door and ensure patients are appropriately escorted. Ten veterans will be admitted at a time beginning promptly at 7:30 am.
Upon lining up at the Veterans First door, Line Volunteers will distribute folders to the veterans, matching the individual veteran’s folder to his/her armband number. Each Veterans First participant will receive his/her Registration Record, and a clipboard.
All Veterans First participants must be seen again in Medical Triage on Friday. Upon clearance in Medical Triage, veterans will be escorted to Dental Routing and then to the clinical waiting area or directly to a treatment chair.
When treatment is completed, each veteran will be escorted to the Patient Exit Interview station for processing.
Please join us in saluting our veterans at Illinois Mission of Mercy in Peoria!