For many of the 59 veterans living at Mana House, a transitional veteran-only shelter run by Catholic Charities, getting medical help through the VA is part of their process of getting the help they need in their process to get back on their feet. But when it comes to their teeth, they’ve been largely on their own.
That changes this week.
Western Alliance Community Foundation is providing a $100,000 grant to launch a new dental care program for veterans at Mana House, partnering with the AZDA Cares Foundation, the charitable arm of the Arizona Dental Association, to bring volunteer dentists and full dental screenings directly into the facility’s recreation room.
“Many of them haven’t had access to dental care in years,” said Rachel Mash Perez, community engagement coordinator at Catholic Charities’ Mana House. “A lot of them have lost their teeth… If they don’t even have access to maintaining oral hygiene care, how can they be successful in finding housing?”
Veterans at Mana House often receive healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs, but dental care is not included unless they are rated 100% disabled. That leaves many with untreated pain, infections and missing teeth — problems that can derail efforts to secure work, regain stability and move into permanent housing.
Perez said veterans frequently share that while they’ve finally gotten benefits to address their physical and mental health, their dental issues remain untouched.
“So many veterans have just told me and confided in me with their own horrible oral issues,” she said. “It’s hard to know that they’re receiving all that great health care, but not for their own mouth.”
The idea for the program grew out of a simple question from a representative from Western Alliance Bank, who toured Mana House and asked Perez what unmet need she saw most often among veterans trying to rebuild their lives.
Perez didn’t hesitate: dental care.
“They asked me, ‘What’s an unmet need that you’ve witnessed that veterans do not have access to and really need in order for them to be successful?’” Perez recalled. “And I said it was their teeth.”
That answer set off a chain of conversations inside Western Alliance. Tim Boothe, chief administrative officer for Western Alliance Bank, said the bank had been looking for a way to deepen its support for veterans, one of three core community pillars alongside low-income housing and early childhood development.
Through their research he discovered the gap between healthcare and dental care within the veteran community.
“You can treat the infection, but you can’t treat the tooth,” said Boothe. “This will help be able to fill that void.”
He says Western Alliance is dedicated to becoming a long-term solution.
“We want to make it a sustaining program so it’s not a one-and-done kind of thing,” Boothe said. “We want to be able to look at it on a multi-year basis and not just say it’s a one-time thing.”
Mana House’s recreation room will temporarily transform into a small dental clinic
Volunteer dentists, coordinated through the AZDA Cares Foundation, will provide screenings, cleanings, fillings, extractions and other necessary care at significantly reduced cost, stretching the impact of the $100,000 grant.
“We found the Arizona Dental Society that would be able to come in and provide the services at a very low cost, so that the donation that we’re making can go much further,” Boothe said.
Perez said more than 20 veterans have already signed up, and organizers expect that number to grow. Many are simply excited at the prospect of a basic cleaning for the first time in years.
“They are over the moon… ‘Wow, I can finally get my mouth checked and possibly get some brand-new teeth,’” Perez said. “Many of them are just excited, ‘Wow, I might even get a cleaning after five-plus years.’ Just the smallest things can really benefit the veterans here.”
For Dr. Diana Batoon, director of the AZDA Cares Foundation, the initiative aligns directly with dentistry’s core mission.
“The profession of dentistry is such a caregiving type of profession, and most people in our profession want to help our patients as much as we can,” Batoon said. “But unfortunately, especially in the state of Arizona, there are many people that don’t have access to care.” [0:13:28]
Batoon, who describes herself as a “Navy brat” born in Portsmouth, Va., said serving veterans carries personal meaning.
“I really appreciate the people that serve our country, and there’s no reason why they can’t deserve oral health care just to promote overall health and wellness,” she said.
She emphasized the link between oral health and broader systemic health — and how delayed dental care can turn small, manageable problems into major, costly ones.
“The longer you wait,” Batoon said. “It’s going to ramp up and create more work and maybe more financial burden for that person.”
Through the foundation’s work, Batoon said, veterans won’t just get a one-time visit; many will be connected with a “dental home” — a dedicated dentist in the Valley who can provide ongoing care.
“We can ensure that they’re going to build a long-term relationship with that veteran and get the care they need,” she said.
For veterans working to restart their lives, the benefits of this program go far beyond a brighter smile. Mana House is a transitional program, not a permanent shelter. Its goal is to help veterans stabilize, secure employment and move into long-term housing.
Boothe said the grant is funded directly by Western Alliance Bank’s profits, not employee donations, and framed it as part of the bank’s responsibility to the community it serves.
“We strongly believe that we need to give back to the communities in which we operate,” he said, encouraging other businesses to do the same. “We’re all in this together, and the more that we can do to support the veterans… we don’t enjoy the freedoms that we get without the veterans and what they do.”
