TIMES COLONIST | timescolonist.com
SUNDAY, MARCH 29, 2015
ISLANDER
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V I TA L P E O P L E
PRODUCED IN CO-OPER ATION WITH THE VICTORIA FOUNDATION
Getting
to the
bottom
of things
SANDRA RICHARDSON
[email protected]
P
BRUCES STOTESBURY, TIMES COLONIST
Maddison Poulsen, 7, gets care from dentist Dr. Mitra Hashemi as part of the Oral Care for Children and Adolescents Dental Clinic Society.
Dental clinic serves kids in need
Treatment offered weekly at Sidney school
annex for those not eligible for free care
PEDRO ARRAIS
Times Colonist
More than 500 children from the
Saanich Peninsula and the Gulf
Islands will receive needed dental
care, thanks to a group of community-minded individuals who
recently opened a dental clinic for
children and adolescents from
low-income families.
The Oral Care for Children and
Adolescents Dental Clinic Society
started operations last month,
with the goal of offering dental
care to children from families
with income of less than $40,000
per year and no dental insurance.
Families earning less than
$21,000 are eligible for basic dental care under the B.C. Healthy
Kids Program.
“Some children do not get the
care they need,” said Heather
Burkett, board chairwoman of the
not-for-profit society. “It is
astounding to me that we have a
problem such as this in Canada. I
believe that all children have a
right to oral health care.”
The clinic is in the annex building at Sidney Elementary School.
Burkett estimates there are more
than 500 children just in the surrounding area who would qualify
for services.
Dental work is performed by
Dr. Mitra Hashemi, a dentist who
sits on the society’s board, and
other dentists who have agreed to
do volunteer work at the clinic.
Space for the clinic has been
provided to the society rent-free
for five years by the Saanich
School District. The clinic is fitted
with dental equipment donated by
several dentists, or provided
through grants and private donations.
The goal is to promote dental
health through a combination of
prevention, education and early
diagnosis. They also plan to have
oral-health workshops that start
with preschool-age children.
“The earlier, the better,” said
Burkett, a former district principal in School District 63. “We will
work with other social agencies to
get that information to their
clients.”
Burkett was inspired to create
the program by a boy who had
been referred to her because of
his behaviour challenges.
“He just grunted and was not
talking,” she recalls.
When she eventually persuaded him to open his mouth, she
was shocked to see it was black
from cavities and infection. It was
initially hard to find a dentist willing to treat him due to the work
involved.
But once the work was done, it
“virtually changed the boy’s life”
— he had a whole new attitude.
A grant from the Victoria
Foundation has allowed the fledgling organization to hire a clinic
administrator for six months.
“That is phenomenal. It means
that the children will deal with the
same person, earn trust and
develop a relationship,” said Burkett. “It’s positive for the kids and
their families.”
The clinic will begin operations
with one chair one day a week and
increase services as need and support permit. At least one dentist,
assistant and dental hygienist will
provide oral care.
The clinic is in the annex of the
Sidney Elementary School, 2281
Henry Ave., Sidney. For more
information, call 778-351-3393 or
go to orccadental.org.
Via Choralis on lookout for young members
PEDRO ARRAIS
Times Colonist
By giving everybody who wants
to sing a voice, Via Choralis helps
keep Canada’s cultural heritage
alive.
The mixed-voice community
chamber choir, founded in 1999,
performs a broad repertoire of
music, ranging from Renaissance
madrigals to contemporary Canadian songs.
The choir typically performs
three or four formal concerts
throughout the year. Members
will tackle one major work annually, such as Handel’s Messiah,
hiring a full orchestra to accompany their singing.
The Victoria Foundation is one
of several organizations that support the Saanich Peninsula-based
group.
“We would not be able to do
what we do in the community
without the support of our sponsors,” said Nicholas Fairbank,
artistic director of the group.
“The funds allow us to continue to
present our cultural heritage for
future generations.”
The group charges admission
to recover costs incurred to produce the public concerts, which
can run up to $12,000 in salaries
for the orchestra and other professionals to augment the choir.
The regular choir members
volunteer their time to perform at
community centres or retirement
homes. They also lend their voices
to other choirs and performing
groups when called upon.
“Thankfully, we live in a
chorally rich community.”
The choir draws on a roster of
between 45 and 50 singers, and is
always looking for new members
in all voice categories.
Informal auditions for prospective new singers are usually held
between early May and late
August, assessing skill level and
vocal range.
Auditions are short and handled in a gentle, non-threatening
way. Prospective choir members
should possess some previous
choral experience and basic sightsinging skills.
The average age of choir members is about 60, and a drive is
underway to attract more singers
under 30 by waiving the annual
membership fee.
The Young Soloists program
provides young students with an
opportunity to perform major
choral-orchestral works. A choralconducting mentorship program
includes private coaching and the
chance to conduct the choir during rehearsals and performances.
Fairbank sees the choir as an
ASSISTING LOCAL ORGANIZATIONS
TO INVEST IN THEIR FUTURE
The Victoria Foundation fulfills the crucial role of assisting charitable organizations
to build endowments that provide a steady stream of secure funding for on-going
operations, programs and special projects. The funds for these organizations are
‘hosted’ by the Victoria Foundation through our investment and granting services.
Over 90 organizations have entrusted their funds to the Victoria Foundation. By
working with us, these organizations are investing in their future, growing assets
and building capacity. Learn more about existing funds, or how to create your own,
at victoriafoundation.ca
opportunity for all members of
the community to come together
in song.
“We try to choose a repertoire
of music to keep the interest of
those who have musical skills,
while still not [being] beyond the
ability of those who are new,” said
Fairbank, who also teaches on the
faculty of the Victoria Conservatory of Music.
Regular membership is $200
annually; those aged 30 and under
are free. The choir rehearses at
the Saanichton Bible Fellowship
Church, 2159 Mount Newton
Cross Rd., Saanichton.
The group’s next performance
is at 2:30 p.m. on April 19 at St.
Elizabeth’s Church, 10030 Third
St. in Sidney.
Tickets are $15 for adults, $5
for students and free for those 12
and under. For more information,
go to viachoralis.ca.
eople often ask me if I
think we’re making
progress addressing the
issues affecting our community. Are we making any
headway? Or are we just “emptying buckets of water, while the
roof continues to leak”?
These are valid questions, and
ones that I ask myself regularly.
In some cases, I’m pleased to see
that we have made what appear
to be lasting impacts. In others,
though, we continue to struggle,
finding it hard to make much
advancement.
I could get discouraged when
it comes to the more entrenched
issues, but I prefer to look for
opportunities to improve our
odds of success. And in that
respect, I’ve been very interested to follow a promising trend
in philanthropy lately: addressing the root causes of social
problems.
This kind of approach differs
from conventional charitable
giving in that it focuses less on
acute issues, or “symptoms” of
problems, and more on what lies
behind the pressing issues that
require our attention.
For example, when it comes to
homelessness, conventional giving has supported those services
and goods that contribute to
things such as shelters and food
programs. These efforts are
commendable, for sure, and they
do address a very important
need. But they do little to stem
the tide of people continuing to
need such programs day after
day, year after year.
Tackling the root causes of
homelessness and trying to
effect change — permanent and
lasting change, ideally —
requires a different approach. It
also requires patience.
Locally, the Greater Victoria
Coalition to End Homelessness
has taken this “systems
approach” by advocating for
poverty-reduction strategies and
by adding programs that focus
on such things as prevention,
long-term housing and reintegration after homelessness. These
programs take longer to see their
effects, but such patience can be
— and has been — rewarding, as
evidenced by the ongoing successes of the coalition.
The Victoria Foundation is
taking a similar approach
regarding food security in our
region. While we certainly have
made and will continue to make
grants directed at alleviating the
acute symptoms of food insecurity, in 2013 we expanded on this
new approach.
Working in collaboration with
dozens of interested stakeholders — shelters, food banks,
health organizations and more —
we’ve set our sights on changing
the systems that are perpetuating a cycle of food insecurity.
That patience is paying off,
and already we are beginning to
see dividends in the form of the
Food Share Network that is
transforming the way food is distributed to vulnerable populations.
So we’ll keep emptying those
buckets of water. But we’re also
working on fixing that roof.