Home02/2019Providing high-quality care for Lancaster locals in need
Providing high-quality care for Lancaster locals in need
While Dentsply Sirona’s reach is global, it partners with local organizations such as the Water Street Mission to serve and give back to the communities in which employees live and work.
Beginning in 1916, a small group of local Lancaster residents expanded their outreach to the local community by opening a temporary shelter for families to meet the needs of the homeless and hungry. The following year, the State of Pennsylvania recognized Water Street Rescue Mission as an official organization. The mission supported the local Lancaster community through the Great Depression and in the decades beyond. Today, Water Street is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization organization that provides housing, meals, medical and dental care, as well as job skills to those in need in Lancaster, PA.
For more than eight years, Dentsply Sirona has supported the Water Street Mission as their primary donor of dental consumables and equipment to their clinic, including a treatment center. Greg Kessler, Vice President of Health Services, Training & Education with Water Street spoke about the importance of the partnership with Dentsply Sirona: “Over the years, [the] relationship has allowed state-of-the-art care to be provided to our patients with supplies and equipment that is second to none. Their generosity and genuine care for the community is an example of how a benevolent partnership should work. Our ‘thank you’ cannot be overstated.”
Patients are typically homeless or are currently staying at the mission in one of their shelters, which provides health and dental services along with three meals per day. In addition to its own five-person team, Water Street Mission relies on the commitment of 11 local dentists who donate their time and provide free dental care to local residents. The clinic has four operatory rooms staffed by a caring group of people and is open Tuesday through Friday for four hours each day. Most of the dentists volunteer an average of 152 hours per year. In the first quarter of 2019, they had already worked with more than 350 patients.
Dentsply Sirona supports Water Street Mission by supplying dental care supplies and equipment to help needy and homeless people in the community of Lancaster, PA.
Thanks to its global reach, Dentsply Sirona and its employees work everyday to improve oral healthcare worldwide and make patients smile. This work starts in local communities just like Lancaster. Keith Clements, Vice President – US Distribution & Global Account Executive – Henry Schein remarked that, “We are honored to provide support to Water Street Health Services who also change the lives of people on a daily basis through their care and services. We look forward to continuing our support in the years ahead.”
Walking into Water Street Mission not only changes your outlook on life, it changes your heart. It is everything that’s still good about our broken world. Putting others first, serving those who are less fortunate, and loving our neighbors - Water Street lives this, and for their continued commitment to a greater purpose, all of us at Dentsply Sirona are proud to partner with them to impact lives within our community.