Kalgoorlie/Boulder Corps hosts free dental clinic for struggling residents
BY ANTHONY CASTLE
The Salvation Army in the Western Australian Goldfields city of Kalgoorlie/Boulder hosted a free dental clinic over the September long weekend to help people who cannot afford to visit the dentist.
Dentists, clinical staff and volunteers came from Perth and Brisbane to offer services for the Kartirti Ku Free Dental/Health Charity Clinic.
“It all started with an email from Ninga Mia Fellowship church [in Kalgoorlie] requesting the use of a church building to accommodate a free dental clinic provided by a team from the Tzu Chi Buddhist volunteer dental team,” said Major Shirley Spooner, Kalgoorlie/Boulder Corps Officer.
Ninga Mia Christian Fellowship is based in a small Aboriginal community on the edge of Kalgoorlie. It is a non-denominational church that caters especially to the homeless, people living on the fringes of town and Aboriginal people from across the desert.
“The weekend was particularly hoping to help children and adults living in poverty and First Nations people,” Shirley said. “We prayed about it and then sent an email offering the use of our wonderful corps building for free.”
Dental equipment and volunteers travelled to the Salvos facility for the weekend, with the local Goldfields Family Dental team providing their mobile dental clinic.
Services included examinations, scaling and cleaning, extractions, and fillings. The weekend’s focus was on offering services to people from Indigenous and remote communities, people experiencing homelessness, and those who have concession or healthcare cards.
“Our building was emptied by the volunteers and us, then everything was set up on the Friday afternoon into the early hours of Saturday morning,” Shirley said. “On the Monday, the building was back up as usual. The Sunday morning worship meeting was held in the Youth Shed to make the space available.”
About 80 people were assisted across the weekend, with 241 procedures and basic health assessments. Specialists available were doctors and nurses, a physiotherapist, a pharmacist, a maxillofacial surgeon, a paediatrician, and a neonatal nurse. Sandwiches were also provided for community members who were hungry.
“Overall, this was an amazing partnership that truly blessed our local community,” Shirley said. “We are hoping this will be an annual event which we gladly and proudly support.”
