Our Mission
The mission of the American Friends of DVI is to promote oral health, prevent suffering, provide access to care among at-risk populations and to promote international volunteerism and cross-cultural understanding.
Through fundraising and volunteer recruitment efforts in the United States, AFDVI supports the work of Dental Volunteers for Israel at the Trudi Birger Clinic, which provides free dental care and oral health education to Jerusalem’s underprivileged regardless of racial, ethnic, or religious background.
What We Do
American Friends of DVI organizes fundraising and volunteer recruitment efforts here in the United States on behalf of Dental Volunteers for Israel. DVI depends on the generosity of donors and volunteers from the US and around the world to continue to serve Jerusalem’s poorest children.
About the Clinic
Dental Volunteers for Israel operates the only free dental clinic of it’s kind in Israel, and has been serving the needs of the underprivileged children and youth of Jerusalem for more than 39 years. Today, more than half of Jerusalem’s children are living in poverty, and more than 83% of low-income families cannot afford dental care for their children. DVI cares for these children and youth in need, regardless of racial ethnic, or religious background. Each year, volunteer dentists from around the world provide more than 11,000 treatments to children and youth in need.
In September 2016 the clinic expanded its services to provide free preliminary care and dentures to needy seniors, including Holocaust survivors. The Smiles for Seniors program provides free dentures to over 100 seniors in need, half of them Holocaust survivors, each year.