G-2108-17147

Suwannee River Area Health Education Center is the fiscal sponsor for Floridians for Dental Access, a coalition comprised of 65 national, state, and local advocacy organizations which was founded in 2017.

FLDA would be a first-time grant recipient if awarded this year. This proposal describes a collaborative awareness and community engagement campaign that will feature media publications, coalition convenings, and regular education and discussion around legislative opportunities in Florida.

This proposal was received under the Strengthen Community Voice and State Advocacy within the Advancing Equity through Oral Health Program Area. FLDA anticipates that the Florida legislative leadership will change in 2023 and present them with more favorability inclined to support dental therapy legislation.

The work proposed for this grant exists in three key areas – communication, community engagement, and advocacy – and the organization has established strategic partnerships within the state to carry it out in the next year. Work will include aggressive media campaigns designed to raise awareness and understanding around dental therapy, several focus groups and convenings among partner organizations and communities to capture and better understand their needs, and consistent engagement with key legislators. The organization is also planning to continue its partnership and collaboration with Florida Voices for Health (FVH), Florida Institute for Health Innovation (FIHI), and the Urban League of Jacksonville (JUL) by way of engaging their respective consumer bases for data and story collection.

A grant from CareQuest Institute for Oral Health, as requested, would make up essentially the entirety (98.7%) of the organization’s budget since FLDA are not an independent 501(c)3 yet. Those funds would be largely allocated to their strategic communications partners at Red Hill Strategies ($60,000), their community partners at FVH ($6,000), FIHI ($6,000), and JUL ($23,000), as well as their legislative advocates at the firm Metz, Hubband and Daughton ($12,000).