MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Off of Third Street at Riverside Missionary Baptist Church, a South Memphis mother was fed up on Friday.
“It’s just enough. It’s enough. It’s enough,” Tara Jordan, who lives in Westwood, said.
Jordan had been in pain for months.
“I have a tooth in the back of my mouth that has been bothering me for quite some time now,” Jordan explained.
The Christian Mobile Dental Clinic, originated by Bellevue Baptist Church in 2009, was there to fix her problem.
“The dental need here in Memphis is overwhelming,” Jennifer Teed, Executive Director of the Christian Mobile Dental Clinic, said.
“It is hard for them to go to doctors,” Doretha Staples, with Riverside Missionary Baptist Church, said. “Some of them do not have the money.”
The goal is to help families battling poverty by taking the van into some of Memphis’ toughest neighborhoods.
The clinic offers free dental care to those with little to no income.
“I’m a mother of 5 and so to take care of them and myself — it is challenging,” Tarsha Brewer, who lives in Whitehaven, said.
For people like Brewer, the clinic has exams, cleanings, fillings, and extractions.
“Oh, it means a great deal because there are so many people that can’t afford dental care and it is so expensive,” Brewer explained.
“Even though to some of us $100-$150 might seem a reasonable price, to a lot of our patients it might as well be several thousand,” Teed said.
“We feel like this is a way to help them with the dental issues that they have,” Staples explained.
Church members told WREG having the mobile clinic on their campus is not only about meeting physical needs but spiritual ones too.
“Just to remind them that God loves them most of all and that God is concerned about their needs and so are we,” Minister Annette Lee, with Riverside Missionary Baptist Church, said.
A free dental event called Mid-South Mission of Mercy will be held February 26-27 at Bellevue Baptist Church in Cordova.
Doors will open at 6:00 a.m., but services are first come first serve.
