Spring Newsletter 2021
In honor of National Children’s Dental Health Month, Hygienists For Humanity followed through with our mission serving the students of a head start program in Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) in Virginia making quarterly deliveries in February and May – our first and second mission of 2021! We would like to thank our sponsors below for being our other wing on our missions!
Angel In Action
Outside of clinical practice, Tiffany Harrison, RDH, BSDH, thrives in volunteering and community service. She serves as Hygienists For Humanity’s Strategic Partnership Liaison and volunteers as a medic aid for Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad in Sterling, VA and will soon be pursuing her licensure as an Emergency Medical Technician (EMT).
Hello, fellow Angels! I am Tiffany and have been a dental hygienist for over 9 years and a proud graduate of Mount Ida College in Newton, MA. I currently reside in Sterling, VA but Maryland claims my home state. Outside of clinical practice, I thrive in volunteering and community service. I recently on-boarded as a volunteer with Sterling Volunteer Rescue Squad (SVRS) as a medic aid and will be attending EMT school in June through August. I enjoy learning about medical emergencies and how I can help prevent them in the clinic setting by educating healthcare providers on high quality Basic Life Support (BLS) CPR, documenting a complete health history including vital signs and developing a medical emergency response plan.
In addition to volunteering with SVRS, I am also an active executive committee member of Hygienists for Humanity since June 10th, 2020. I serve as the Strategic Partnership Liaison and help out in other tasks as needed. I first learned about Hygienists For Humanity through Maryland Dental Hygienists’ Association (MDHA) as Alicia Murria, RDH, MS(c) is recognized local and national speaker. At the time, I was Vice President and Community Service Chairperson of our local component and invited Alicia to speak to our community. Upon learning more about Alicia and the newly developed non-profit Hygienists For Humanity, I wanted to support her and the organization as much as I could. We share a common passion for public health and community service it just made sense at the time. I saw a Facebook post asking for volunteers and we reconnected with an application, an on-boarding session, and here I am assisting in building the foundation to help serve those who have barriers that I may never fully understand, but I’m willing to learn each day and bring ideas to the table to reach more communities each year.
Every volunteer in Hygienists For Humanity is known as an “Angel” and each angel has one wing connecting with others to complete their set to fly together. My other wing is not just one person but my family. We have an old saying in our family – ‘birds of a feather flock together’ and we stand by this. Each family member is a part of a team. Personally, we have had many setbacks and have questioned our purpose denied our strength at times. Nevertheless, we have always been the other wing for each other when it felt like our wings were broken and the feathers have been plucked resilience always finds its way.
Hygienists For Humanity is an organizational team developing into a well-oiled family machine ready to serve communities unlike any other oral health based non-profit. We are focused on prevention, quality services and selflessness. I would personally like to thank each individual that has helped us in any capacity grow to where we are today and hope to see more passionate members joining our team to be our other wing so we can fly higher together.
In Case You Missed It
Hygienists For Humanity Founder & CEO and Strategic Partnership Liaison, Alicia Murria, RDH, MS(c) and Tiffany Harrison, RDH, BSDH went live on Instagram. Watch their Instagram Live video, as they discuss what is new with Hygienists For Humanity and how you can get involved!
Executive Committee Corner
Hello, Angels! We hope you are well and thriving so far in 2021. Since our last newsletter, Hygienists For Humanity is continuing its growth and welcomes FOUR new executive committee members: Lauren Hapeman (Sustainability Partner), Kim Carpenter, RDH, BSDH (Volunteer Lead), Leslie Brown (Media Technology and Social Media Chair), and Margo Jordan (External Affairs/Events).
It is without a doubt COVID-19 has changed a lot for us. For Hygienists For Humanity, it may have changed how we can physically help the communities we serve, but it didn’t stop us. Thanks to our executive committee members, we found a way to still follow through with our mission and kicked off 2021 by delivering care packages to a head start program at Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS) in Virginia. Hygienists For Humanity are committed to serving the children at CCPS that they will be receiving oral home care packages on a quarterly basis, more recently in February and May. The children’s oral home care packages consist of toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and dental literature to help them develop and understand good oral hygiene habits. We would like to thank our sponsors: Young Dental, Crest, Sunstar, Dental Hygiene Nation, VOCO, Katie Melko, RDH, American Academy of Dental Hygiene (AADH).
As more COVID-19 restrictions are easing up around the country, we are continuing to have more volunteer opportunities available in 2021. Keep an eye and ear out on our social media to support vulnerable populations and/or volunteer from home. We look forward to working with you soon!
Thank You For Being Our Other Wing!