But God Ministries has been in Jonestown for two years and trying to meet a wide range of needs throughout the community.
One of those physical needs is making sure all residents have the opportunity to receive dental care.
But God Ministries, in partnership with the state, dental hygienists and assistants, is bringing a mobile dental unit to Jonestown.
Kelly Sayle, Mississippi Delta community manager for But God Ministries, said But God Ministries worked with 80 partners to get the mobile dental unit up and running.
A celebration of the new mobile dental unit will be at The Timothy Burrell Multi Purpose Building at 6 p.m. Thursday.
Patients, by appointment only, will receive care at the mobile dental unit located at 414 Second St, in Jonestown beginning at 9 a.m. Friday, Nov. 16 and Friday, Nov. 30. They will check in next door at The Timothy Burrell Multi Purpose Building to do the proper paperwork.
“The idea is the clinic will be able to be open on Fridays because we found out some dentists are off on Fridays, so we thought, ‘Cool, this might work,’” Sayle said.
Dr. Lance Dillon from Madison will be present along with dental hygienists and assistants to treat patients.
The operation will be launched with 16 patients on Friday, while others are on the waiting list.
How much time everyone will be there will depend on how much follow-up care is needed. There are two working chairs in the mobile dental unit.
Cleaning, filling and extraction will be the three main services provided.
“We’re really excited to be able to really kind of bring back to life this mobile dental unit that has been in Jonestown many years before our ministry, But God Ministries, came into Jonestown,” Sayle said. “We’ve been here two years now and one of the first things that we wanted to do was really be able to meet physical needs of the community.
“We’ve been spending the last year and a half really working with them in just renovating it, bringing it back up to date, making sure everything was clean, as it should be, making sure our processes were in order.”
Those who would like an appointment may contact the LifeCenter facility on Main Street in Jonestown at 662-500-7030 and ask to speak to Linda McGrew.
The company Henry Schein Dental originally built the mobile dental unit for post-Katrina dental care.
“Through God’s intervention, however that works, somehow it landed in Coahoma County, in Jonestown as it made its way throughout the state. It’s been in other places, but it has been in Jonestown for what we found at least the last 10 years,” Sayle said.
