AREA PROVIDER WINS NATIONAL CHILD CARE TEACHER AWARD

Susan Turner, childcare provider at Wee Care Daycare in Steelville, recently won a national childcare teacher award from the Tylenol and Terri Lynne Lokoff Child Care Foundation (TLLCCF).

As a part of this honor, Susan received a $1000 grant; $500 in recognition of her dedication as a teacher of young children and $500 to the daycare.  They will use the funds to purchase and install a listening center to enhance the children’s literacy skills.  We are really proud of Susan and Wee Care!

TLLCCF, formed in 1994, has awarded almost $300,000 to a deserving childcare teacher over the past nine (9) years.

Wee Care is currently working towards accreditation with the assistance of The Partnership’s Early Care and Education Program.     

Smile Mobile completes its first year!

During the Smile Mobile Dental Van’s first school year, Dr. Matt Ausmus and his two assistants, Sylvia Dees and Michelle Gidcumb, have provided dental services to more than 1500 children who otherwise may not have seen a dentist. Fifteen school districts provided the location for these services by providing a parking space and additional supports to the Smile Mobile.

“Dear Dr. Matt, Thank you so much for pulling my tooth.” wrote one second grader. “It was bothering me so much.” “Thanks for all you (sic) done. Now my teeth are nice because of you.” another child wrote, “I’m brushing my teeth every night and day. I am really glad because of you. You did so much to make me and other people glad.”

“This program is meeting a huge need in this region. Dental care is the most common cause of school absenteeism and the fact that we now have a certified pediatric dentist available to provide not only services but also prevention is a big deal. There are very few dentists in a fifty square mile range that accept Medicaid so this is significant to families who have not been able to afford dental care for their children,” says Jodi Waltman, Director, Phelps/Maries County Health Department

The Smile Mobile, a self contained dental office on wheels, provides dental services to students on Medicaid, MC+, and those who are uninsured and unable to access care in five south-central Missouri counties – Phelps, Dent, Laclede, Gasconade, and Pulaski. The services provided by the staff range from cleaning, fillings, sealants, and promotion of preventative dental practices. For extreme cases – and there have been several -- Dr. Ausmus has privileges at PCRMC where he can do surgery.

The Smile Mobile Dental Van is made possible through the collaboration the Phelps County Regional Medical Center, the Phelps County Health Department and the Phelps County Community Partnership. Working together, they obtained a 1.15 million grant from the Missouri Foundation for Health, a philanthropic organization whose vision is to improve the health of the people in the communities it serves. According to Partnership’s Director, Amy Beechner-McCarthy, support from the MFFH means that “…the Smile Mobile will be here for years to come.”

Adds Kay McMurtrey, superintendent, Phelps County R-III Schools, “This is the most important thing the Partnership Board has ever done. The need is enormous and the Smile Mobile is doing an incredible job of meeting that need.”

If you would like more information regarding The Smile Mobile Dental Van, please contact the Partnership at 573-368-2849 or email us at info@thepccp.org.

NEWBURG SPONSORS BIKE RACE

Pictures taken from the Hellbender’s Bike Race.

More than 100 cyclists participated in the Hellbender Bicycle Race in Newburg last weekend.

As a part of Rolla's annual Summer Fest, the Newburg Caring Center,
hosted the turn around for Saturday's bike ride, the Pedal to the
Piney.  On Sunday, they hosted the start and finish of the Hellbenders
35 miles ride through the Ozarks.

The event was organized by Morgan Bearden and members of the Newburg community assisted in the preparation. The Houston House served as race headquarters.