Fort Wayne dentist Dr. Ellinwood is dedicated to providing quality dental care to his patients of record, but also feels strongly about giving back to his community and the world by volunteering his expertise and time.
He volunteers at the local Matthew 25 Health & Dental Clinic which fills a critical need in our community by providing free dental care to low-income residents of NE Indiana & NW Ohio.
Matthew 25 is the only full-time clinic in Allen County offering free medical, dental, vision and hearing services all under one roof. Most patients are uninsured and ineligible for Medicaid or Medicare. All are low-income, homeless, or uninsured with little means to pay for services. An estimated 25% - 30% of Allen County residents are uninsured.
He also provides free donated treatment to qualifying residents in the area at his office through Donated Dental Services/Dental Lifeline Network. The Donated Dental Services (DDS) program provides free, comprehensive dental treatment to our country’s most vulnerable people with disabilities, or who are elderly or medically fragile. These are people who cannot afford necessary treatment and cannot get public aid. The program operates through a volunteer network of more than 15,000 dentists and 3,700 dental labs across the United States. Since its inception in 1985, our DDS program has surpassed $330 million in donated dental therapies, transforming the lives of 117,000 people.
Dr. Ellinwood’s passion to do dental outreach is exemplified by his Sonrisas Siempre “Smiles Always” mission. As co-founder, Dr. Ellinwood's mission is to provide dental care for the less fortunate in Comayagua, Honduras, which improves the health and well-being of these individuals. This includes dental care and education, as well as suppling needed dental care items. The mission’s focus is mostly on the children, having a positive impact in their lives.
Sonrisas Siempre has been able to help establish a dental clinic in Comayagua with the Honduran Lions Club partners and have taken teams of 28 to 35 members over the last 8 years to this clinic. They continue to plan future annual trips. For Dr. Ellinwood this has become the fulfillment of a dream and he feels very fortunate to watch the mission have grown so successful. ”We have been blessed with great people to work and partner with. The experience is to improve the dental health of the people of Comayagua and Honduras as a whole. We also wish to enrich the lives of those we come in contact with. Sonrisas Siempre has had a positive effect on the Comayagua community and we hope to continue to change lives and improve the oral health long into the future.”
Dr. Ellinwood and his staff also like to help out in the community by doing collections for organizations which help others. He has provided food collections for Associated Churches Food Bank & held “baby showers” for their Baby’s Closet. The Rescue Mission is another local service that the office contributes donations to.
Dr. Ellinwood also participates in donating his time to other organizations who help the less fortunate, most recently Mission Of Mercy in Indianapolis at the State Fairgrounds. Mission of Mercy (MOM) events are large-scale dental clinics that provide free oral health care to patients of all ages who cannot otherwise afford or access care.
MOM events across America have helped more than 222,000 patients and have provided nearly $142 million in free dental services since 2000.
