Purpose Prize

Marc Freedman Portrait

The Latest from CoGenerate

Lasting Impact

Lasting Impact

CoGenerate Co-CEO Marc Freedman’s most recent book, How to Live Forever, was published by Hachette/Public Affairs in 2018, generating a lot of great attention. And it’s not over yet! Every week, the New York Times Sunday Opinion section includes a print-only feature...

Check Out Our Signature Event On Cogenerational Activism!

Check Out Our Signature Event On Cogenerational Activism!

On May 22, more than 1,100 people registered to learn more about the important cogenerational work our 2023 Innovation Fellows are doing. These 15 leaders are bringing generations together to solve problems and bridge divides. And each one has a unique and inspiring...

*

Terry Dickinson

Virginia Dental Association/Missions of Mercy
Purpose Prize Fellow 2008

Providing free dental care to the underinsured, uninsured and the working poor.

In 1996, Terry Dickinson decided he needed to leave his successful private dental clinic because staying “would not fill my soul for the rest of my life.” In 1999, he was offered the opportunity to run the Virginia Dental Association. He accepted the job, and was immediately struck by the appalling condition of dental care in rural and impoverished Virginia communities. In 2000, at age 58, Dickinson launched the Missions of Mercy (MOM) Project under the auspices of the Virginia Dental Association Foundation, the first mobile oral health care outreach program of its kind in the state. Volunteer dentists and advanced dental students create a “service site” for two to six days in under-served areas, treating the working poor, elderly, disabled and uninsured residents. Since July of 2000, MOM has provided 28,423 Virginia MOM patients more than $13.2 million worth of free dental care. Ten other states have copied the model, serving more than 67,000 patients with $27 million in free care, and two more states plan new programs in 2009. “I am often asked about how much money I have ‘lost’ by taking this job. My answer is – and always will be – ‘It isn’t what I lost by leaving, but rather what I would have lost if I had stayed.'”