However, the pediatric care room hardly offers space for the pediatric dentist, another employee and the parents of a child receiving care. Next to a wall with a new decal of a cartoon hippo brushing its teeth, a series of cabinets take up much of the floor space, sticking out like a sore thumb.
The coalition’s director of dental services, Dr. Carol Niforatos, would like to replace the cabinets with a sleeker storage system, a carpentry procedure she estimates at $10,000. It’s one of her future goals for a clinic that treats patients here and at two other locations in the Denver metro during the week.
In addition to the Stout Street Health Center, 2130 Stout St., the Colorado Coalition for the Homeless offers dental services at its nearby headquarters, 2111 Champa St., and at a shelter run by the Denver Rescue Mission at 4600 E. 48th Ave., Denver. Social workers from the Coalition, the city and other homeless advocacy groups refer patients to the clinics. Others come in looking for care.
Finding a place to live is key to improving a homeless person’s well-being, Niforatos said. Dental hygiene procedures, such as periodic cleanings, are often at the bottom of their shopping list.
“Their priorities are very different than those of the person being housed,” Niforatos said. “A lot of times they don’t even think about their teeth unless they do [there is] an emergency, some swelling, some pain. Than they think about their teeth.”
Tooth decay can necessitate fillings and extractions, the most common procedures in the clinic, she said. Its dentists also specialize in dentures, which are formed on-site at the centers on Stout and Champa streets. They take x-rays, place porcelain and stainless steel crowns and perform root canals.
Medicaid is a regular insurer, although the clinic says it has a sliding fee for uninsured patients and does not turn away those who cannot pay. Once a patient is seen, the clinic matches them with a case manager who can put them on a list for available housing, Niforatos said. The Colorado Coalition for the Homeless has housing programs for low-wage workers and homeless adults and families.
“Once you get housed, your priorities can really realign,” Niforatos said. “You can suddenly think about your mouth again.”
The reasons for homelessness vary widely. The trauma of living on the streets can cause patients to behave unpredictably in rare cases, Niforatos said. Her team is trained in nonviolent crisis intervention and can quickly summon behavioral health staff using special pagers clipped to their scrubs.
The trial is not intended as a punishment; the incoming patient is usually desperate for care, she said. Her team wants to help them, too, even if it means rethinking the expectations of a visit.
“You need to talk to that patient,” Niforatos said. “You have to make sure you are understood and that they are heard. And that only takes a few minutes more than the average population.”
Colorado Coalition for the Homeless
Address: 2111 Champa St., Denver, CO, 80205
In operation since: 1984
Number of employees: 834
Number of volunteers: 235
Annual budget: $121 million in revenue; $122 million in expenses
Number of customers served: 19,021
(Sources: Colorado Coalition for the Homeless’ 2024 Form 990; Colorado Coalition for the Homeless 2024 Annual Report)
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