Funded Partner Spotlight: ICare St. Pete
ICare St. Pete is a volunteer-run nonprofit dedicated to making healthcare more accessible. As part of the Florida Department of Health’s Volunteer Health Care Provider program, the group operates a mobile dental care bus that they use to bring free dental care and other medical services to local people who need it. They just received a Together With Our Community grant from the Foundation to support their work.
Child’s Park residents Kulmalee and Jose Alvelo founded ICare in 2023, after moving to the area during the pandemic. In her early days in St. Pete, Kulmalee was struck by the need she saw in the local community and felt compelled to do something.
When they created ICare, it was important to the Alvelos to offer people immediate assistance in a very hands-on way. In the beginning, they borrowed a dental bus from a nonprofit serving clients in North County. Eventually, they were able to purchase the bus they had been borrowing to expand their work.
While they group doesn’t have a fixed schedule, Kulmalee says she participates in or organizes community events to provide care whenever she can pull together a volunteer team as well as the funds to buy supplies.
At a standard event focused on dental cleanings, they can treat approximately 20-25 people in a 4-5 hour period. If they offer care beyond cleanings – like extractions or x-rays – that number goes down. Kulmalee also works with a volunteer nurse practitioner so that she can offer community members access to medical care alongside their dental cleanings.
The Foundation’s grant will help support ICare as it offers free dental cleanings, fluoride treatments, and medical care on Saturday, September 12th, at the Child’s Park Rec Center.
Visit icarestpete.org to learn more about this group or volunteer.