Milpitas Teen's Nonprofit Delivers Over $100,000 in Free Dental Care to Veterans
Sanaah Pande, a 17-year-old from Milpitas, founded HopeWorks, a nonprofit organization that has provided over $100,000 in free dental care to veterans across the Bay Area. HopeWorks focuses on costly procedures like dental implants, root canals, and crowns, which are often not covered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) for most veterans. Pande, who grew up in a military family, was inspired to create the nonprofit after an interview with a Navy veteran who suffered from severe tooth pain and lacked access to dental care. The organization operates with a team of volunteers and has a mobile dental office to reach veterans who cannot attend events. HopeWorks recently held an event where three dentists donated their time to perform approximately $15,000 worth of services for five veterans in a single sitting. The nonprofit aims to address the structural gap in VA dental coverage, which largely restricts full outpatient benefits to veterans who are 100% disabled, former prisoners of war, or those with s... 
