For kids and adults in Cripple Creek, free dental care is coming in September. Dr. Stephenie Kaufman is leading the project to open the clinic in the Cripple Creek Victor Junior/Senior High School.  Outreach of Colorado Mission of Mercy, a nonprofit based in Greeley, the clinic has attracted 20 0 dentists who will volunteer to offer dental care during the 2-day clinic. “We invite dentists in the fellowship who have demonstrated outstanding leadership,” said Kaufman, who has a private practice in Woodland Park.  “I have been trying for 10 years to get the mission of mercy up here in Teller County. “The community needs this,” added Kaufman, who is on the board of the organization and a regent for the International College of Dentistry. Faced with the negatives, the doubts, the critical need for the infrastructure for a clinic and up to 1,000 volunteers, Kaufman was on it. Visiting seven possible sites, the Cripple Creek Victor School Jr. Sr. High was the ideal.  She then gained the support of Superintendent Dan Cummings and the school board. “They are heroes. They have opened their doors in say ‘come on in!’” she said.  “We’re doing over $1 million in care.” The goal is to treat 1,300 patients during the two days. Launched in 2007, the Colorado Mission of Mercy treated patients in Loveland, Colorado Springs, Alamosa, Canon City and Greeley. “But this is the first time we’ve been in a small rural community,” she said. To sell the idea of Teller County, and a clinic in the mountains, Kaufman gave the board a pep talk. “We are Teller Strong up here; you don’t know these people; we are a force to be reckoned with,” she said to the officials. “And I want to demonstrate that. I want this to be the best dental clinic they’ve ever had.” The four-day operation begins Thursday, Sept. 24. “The CMOM truck comes in packed with equipment to set up the clinic and comes back on Sunday to tear down,” she said. “It’s a fine-tuned machine.” Funded by donations, many from corporations and some in-kind, such as forklifts, generators, air compressors and extension cords, the organization seeks local buy-in. “That’s where businesses in the local community can step up,” she said. Of the 600-1,000 volunteers needed for the clinic, a few are traveling volunteers. “They know where everything goes, who the volunteers are – they take over their departments, oral surgery, pediatrics,” she said. “All these people are not getting paid; they’re here because they care. There are no questions asked.” Patients pay nothing but their time, she said. “We take a medical screening, a blood pressure check; some people have their sugar checked if they’re diabetic. We have to take good care of people,” she added. “Everybody gets a set of x-rays. Our lab capabilities are all top-notch.” To spread the word, Kaufman is her own billboard, talking to other nonprofit organizations, county and city officials and will soon be going on the road. “My goal for the Cripple Creek clinic is for the whole mountain area,” she said, adding that the clinic targets residents in Lake Goerge, Buena Vista, Salida, Pueblo, Cotopaxi, each part of the Rio Grande Dental Society. The clinic is scheduled for Sept. 25 and 26 at the school, no appointment necessary. For information, check cmom.org. ...read more read less