to the domestic violence survivors at the House of Peace in Lake County.
The beautiful smiles spread across the faces of the domestic violence survivors at the House of Peace in Lake County are a testament to the pro bono dental services provided by Dr. Gerald Mackey.
For four years, Dr. Mackey and the team at his Gurnee dental office have treated more than 30 women who sheltered at Catholic Charities’ House of Peace. He brings smiles to the faces of women who have endured physical, mental, and emotional abuse.
“Dr. Mackey has been a godsend,” said Aida Segura, Site Director at the House of Peace. “His work is really transformative.”
for lunch, said his work has been transformative for the women she serves.
Since 2011, the House of Peace has been serving women and children who have escaped domestic violence, often with only the clothes on their backs. The program features a six-month residency for six families at a time, allowing participants to recover from trauma and abuse, while encouraging a sisterhood of shared experience and support. While living at the House of Peace, mothers find jobs and safe, affordable housing. This time of transition also allows mothers to focus on their own needs, and with Dr. Mackey’s help, improve their dental health.
Dr. Mackey and his team provide a full range of comprehensive dental services to improve the women’s overall dental health and aesthetics. He treats the women like any other patient with care and compassion. The office team conducts an exam and completes X-rays. He then formulates a treatment plan, reviews it with the women and completes the necessary work. His Spanish-speaking dental assistants prepare the women for the procedures with open communication and by answering all of their questions, explaining the process step by step.
“I love that I can literally translate everything for them. I make sure I communicate exactly what we’re going to do, and tell them everything is going to be OK,” said Nicole Salgado, dental assistant. “It’s beautiful to see from the beginning to the end. Some of these women don’t have the money to get their teeth fixed so being able to have that done is amazing.”
Challenging dental work
What Dr. Mackey and his team witness among the women of House of Peace sometimes challenges their expertise, but they know their work is necessary.
“We’ve had some recent cases that have been kind of alarming,” Dr. Mackey explained. “One girl came in and she had a hole between her two front teeth. She had infections and missing teeth.” He extracted her unhealthy teeth, created a temporary bridge during the healing process and soon, she’ll have a permanent partial denture.
“She’ll have no more infections. Teeth that she can smile and be confident with. She will be able to chew without pain,” Dr. Mackey said. “When you have holes in your teeth, you don’t really want to be smiling, so it alters the personality.
“It’s not only a health thing, but the appearance and social acceptance of not being looked at or talked about that builds their confidence.”
He also relies on specialists to provide additional dental services for the women of the House of Peace, including an oral surgeon who extracted impacted wisdom teeth on a resident.
“He’s not worried about that could have made X amount of dollars, he just said, ‘Send her over, we’ll get her in,’” Mackey said.
Aida said his network of doctors is so accommodating because of the person Dr. Mackey is, always paying close and careful attention to others.
High-altitude missions
Dr. Mackey said his work at the House of Peace is a natural extension of his volunteer work he started 15 years ago in pro bono healthcare when he joined Mountain Medics International. He travels to Peru and Nepal on mission trips where he developed his passion for providing care for people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to care. During his work with Mountain Medics International, Dr. Mackey hikes into the mountains and provides dental services to the residents of the mountainside communities. Next year, he plans to travel to Honduras to provide care to people in remote villages there.
Aida, who is Peruvian, felt a special connection to Dr. Mackey when she learned of his work in serving so many people in the remote areas of her home country.
“Knowing this was a man who has walked these parts of the world bringing his care and being responsive to the needs of others, it was such an honor and privilege to have him do it again here with such joy and dignity; it’s very inspiring,” Aida said. “He welcomed our moms, made them feel respected. They are seen and they are restored.”
A life-long connection
Dr. Mackey first connected with the House of Peace through one of his patients who asked if he wanted to contribute Christmas gifts to the women and children. He later asked his patient if the women at the House of Peace would rather have dental care, and that’s when it all began.
“I just want to say thank you to the doctor for all the hard work that he did for me,” said Anna, a House of Peace mother who recorded a video Aida shared with the doctor. “Thank you very much for your kindness and for all that you and your team are doing for us. Please don’t stop doing this, and don’t stop changing the lives of the people [at the House of Peace].
“Thank you for giving me this beautiful smile,” she grinned.
His dental team said they witness the transformation of these women who after treatment, leave happy with a new lease on life.
“I just love that we can recognize them,” said Tammi Zavala, who works the front desk. “They come in, they’re not super smiley and they have a lot going on, but when they leave, at least we give them that piece of dignity back, and they build confidence. Hopefully with what Dr. Mackey does, it kind of spirals and snowballs into bigger and better things for them in life.”
“It’s not like we did something great and special; it’s just us being us,” Dr. Mackey said, adding he was hesitant to be interviewed for this story because he didn’t want it to be all about him. “But then I thought, what if someone reads this then they think, ‘Hey, maybe I know somebody who can provide this service or maybe I could provide those services, especially in the world of medicine.
“This work is important because I know there’s a need that isn’t being fulfilled,” Dr. Mackey said. “When Anna said, ‘please don’t stop doing it,’ I say, don’t worry, I have no intention of stopping.”
