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An Exclusive Newsletter for the Residents of The Points Communities • April 2020
Way To Go, Neal Family!!!
Making A Difference On Their Trip To Mwanza, Tanzania “It was incredibly fulfilling to be able to use our gifts, talents, and time to help others, but I think we gained more from the beautiful people of Mwanza than we gave. Seeing people so weak yet so credibly full of genuine happiness was life-changing.” –Michelle Neal Cover Photo By: Jennifer Winter
Your Stories. Your Photos. Your Community.
family spotlight
and opened his own practice called Neal Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in Kirkland. He was also able to work with his father in his North Seattle location while building his practice. Since then, he has added a third location in downtown Seattle and has gained two partners, renaming his practice Neal, Leonard, and Sorensen Implants, Facial and Oral Surgery. In 2016, Michelle and Craig were attending a dental meeting and saw Loree Bolin of the Health and Hope Foundation receive the Washington State Dental Association Citizen of the Year Award. Dr. Bolin, a retired dentist from Edmonds, founded the Health and Hope Foundation, a nonprofit committed to breaking the cycle of poverty for women and children in underserved communities around the world, particularly in Tanzania. The foundation provides healthcare, micro-loans and business development tools for women and tutoring and after school programs for orphaned children.
The Neal Family Reflecting On Their Humanitarian Trip to Tanzania
T
wenty-one years ago, orthodontist Michelle Neal moved from her native Louisiana to Seattle, leaving her new husband behind as he completed his residency to open her orthodontic practice where she specializes in both braces and Invisalign treatment. She had recently graduated from Louisiana State University earning both her undergraduate degree and a doctorate in dentistry and completed her residency in orthodontics. During her second year at the LSU’s School of Dentistry, Michelle met Craig Neal, a native Seattleite who attended University Prep, Whitman College, and University of Washington Dental School. He was in his first of a sixyear program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery where he earned his medical degree as well. They were married in 1998 in the heart of the Garden District in New Orleans. After completing his residency, Craig joined Michelle, who had already opened Neal Smiles Orthodontics,
38 The Points Living • April 2020
how amazing our kids are. It was refreshing to see each other in a new light and appreciate the talent and value that each of us brought to the mission,” she said. “It was amazing to see our kids love on the kids at the Tumaini Tutor School. We all know our kids are entitled and that we live in this beautiful little bubble called Bellevue, but it was so wonderful to see them thrive in a harsh environment where they were out of their comfort zone. They worked incredibly hard,” she added.
Inspired by Loree’s speech and passion for helping others, The Neals decided to gather the Cave and Audia families – who are all dentists, have kids the same age, and with whom they’ve been friends for 20-plus years – and head to Africa. Three years later they arrived in Mwanza, Tanzania, a city of over 2.7 million, to help those in need. The group opened a makeshift dental office in a local church with concrete floors, tin walls, and erratic electricity using lawn chairs for patient beds. They had limited equipment and much of it didn’t always work. All three families performed tooth extractions, fillings for cavities and cleanings, and also gave oral hygiene instruction and placed fluoride varnish on the kids who are a part of the Tuamani Orphan Tutor School which the Health and Hope Foundation developed and supports. The other volunteers, most of whom have been on multiple missions with the Health and Hope Foundation, were the core group that Loree usually brings to assist her. They performed women’s health screenings and vision care, and assisted the dentists with set up and sterilization of the instruments. Because this mission boasted seven dentists and both Franco (Audia) and Craig are oral surgeons, the amount of dentistry that was done was exponentially greater than Health and Hope’s typical mission trip. Craig was an “extraction ninja” with his expertise and speed, a testament to how well he was trained during his days at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. The three families’ kids helped give eye exams and got the dental stations assembled and cleaned. They also held cups for the patients to spit in since there was no suction available, comforted patients when they were afraid during a procedure, and went to the tutoring school where they played sports and developed friendships with the kids in the community. Water testing for E. coli was also a part of the experience and the kids at the local school were taught about bacterial levels and how they can make sure their water is clean. Michelle found a renewed respect and admiration for her husband and a great pride for her children, Collin and Calleia, and all of the kids and parents involved. “The kids definitely rose to the occasion, and all of the parents had a new appreciation of just
You often hear about what happens when people are “in the trenches” together. The brotherhood of camaraderie that occurs is so strong. The Neals’ experience is a perfect example of this concept, along with a heartwarming success story of working together as a team with family, lifelong friends, and new friends developed through the mission trip. “The trip was incredibly fulfilling because we were able to use our gifts and talents and made time to help others, but I think we gained more from the beautiful people of Mwanza than we gave. Seeing people so poor and underserved, yet so incredibly full of genuine happiness, was life-changing.”
April 2020 • The Points Living
39
family spotlight
In 2016, Michelle and Craig were attending a dental meeting and saw Loree Bolin of the Health and Hope Foundation receive the Washington State Dental Association Citizen of the Year Award. Dr. Bolin, a retired dentist from Edmonds, founded the Health and Hope Foundation, a nonprofit committed to breaking the cycle of poverty for women and children in underserved communities around the world, particularly in Tanzania. The foundation provides healthcare, micro-loans and business development tools for women and tutoring and after school programs for orphaned children.
The Neal Family Reflecting On Their Humanitarian Trip to Tanzania
T
wenty-one years ago, orthodontist Michelle Neal moved from her native Louisiana to Seattle, leaving her new husband behind as he completed his residency to open her orthodontic practice where she specializes in both braces and Invisalign treatment. She had recently graduated from Louisiana State University earning both her undergraduate degree and a doctorate in dentistry and completed her residency in orthodontics. During her second year at the LSU’s School of Dentistry, Michelle met Craig Neal, a native Seattleite who attended University Prep, Whitman College, and University of Washington Dental School. He was in his first of a sixyear program in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery where he earned his medical degree as well. They were married in 1998 in the heart of the Garden District in New Orleans. After completing his residency, Craig joined Michelle, who had already opened Neal Smiles Orthodontics,
38 The Points Living • April 2020
how amazing our kids are. It was refreshing to see each other in a new light and appreciate the talent and value that each of us brought to the mission,” she said. “It was amazing to see our kids love on the kids at the Tumaini Tutor School. We all know our kids are entitled and that we live in this beautiful little bubble called Bellevue, but it was so wonderful to see them thrive in a harsh environment where they were out of their comfort zone. They worked incredibly hard,” she added.
and opened his own practice called Neal Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery in Kirkland. He was also able to work with his father in his North Seattle location while building his practice. Since then, he has added a third location in downtown Seattle and has gained two partners, renaming his practice Neal, Leonard, and Sorensen Implants, Facial and Oral Surgery.
You often hear about what happens when people are “in the trenches” together. The brotherhood of camaraderie that occurs is so strong. The Neals’ experience is a perfect example of this concept, along with a heartwarming success story of working together as a team with family, lifelong friends, and new friends developed through the mission trip. Inspired by Loree’s speech and passion for helping others, The Neals decided to gather the Cave and Audia families – who are all dentists, have kids the same age, and with whom they’ve been friends for 20-plus years – and head to Africa. Three years later they arrived in Mwanza, Tanzania, a city of over 2.7 million, to help those in need. The group opened a makeshift dental office in a local church with concrete floors, tin walls, and erratic electricity using lawn chairs for patient beds. They had limited equipment and much of it didn’t always work. All three families performed tooth extractions, fillings for cavities and cleanings, and also gave oral hygiene instruction and placed fluoride varnish on the kids who are a part of the Tuamani Orphan Tutor School which the Health and Hope Foundation developed and supports. The other volunteers, most of whom have been on multiple missions with the Health and Hope Foundation, were the core group that Loree usually brings to assist her. They performed women’s health screenings and vision care, and assisted the dentists with set up and sterilization of the instruments. Because this mission boasted seven dentists and both Franco (Audia) and Craig are oral surgeons, the amount of dentistry that was done was exponentially greater than Health and Hope’s typical mission trip.
“The trip was incredibly fulfilling because we were able to use our gifts and talents and made time to help others, but I think we gained more from the beautiful people of Mwanza than we gave. Seeing people so poor and underserved, yet so incredibly full of genuine happiness, was life-changing.”
Craig was an “extraction ninja” with his expertise and speed, a testament to how well he was trained during his days at Charity Hospital in New Orleans. The three families’ kids helped give eye exams and got the dental stations assembled and cleaned. They also held cups for the patients to spit in since there was no suction available, comforted patients when they were afraid during a procedure, and went to the tutoring school where they played sports and developed friendships with the kids in the community. Water testing for E. coli was also a part of the experience and the kids at the local school were taught about bacterial levels and how they can make sure their water is clean. Michelle found a renewed respect and admiration for her husband and a great pride for her children, Collin and Calleia, and all of the kids and parents involved. “The kids definitely rose to the occasion, and all of the parents had a new appreciation of just April 2020 • The Points Living
39