AUSTIN PLASTIC SURGERY FOUNDATION AUSTIN SMILES
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Mission Statement
Austin Smiles – The Austin Plastic Surgery Foundation is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide sustainable surgical and post-surgical care to children born with cleft lip and cleft palate both in Central Texas and Latin America.
About This Cause
Austin Smiles, The Austin Plastic Surgery Foundation, is a nonprofit 501(c)3organization whose mission is to provide sustainable surgical care and support to children born with cleft lip and cleft palate both in Central Texas and Latin America. One in seven hundred babies are born with cleft lip and/or cleft palate, which is an incomplete closure of the upper lip and/or roof of the mouth. This causes a gap to occur in the affected area, involving the skin, muscle, bone, and the lining of the mouth. A cleft lip and/or palate can be unilateral, involving only one side of the mouth, or bilateral, involving both sides. A cleft lip often occurs in conjunction with a cleft palate; however, this is not always the case. Each year, Austin Smiles completes three medical mission trips in partner countries in Latin America, offering no-cost surgical and post-surgical care to 100-150 children born with cleft lip and/or palate who would otherwise go without treatment. Austin Smiles offers a continuum of care to children born with this condition on annual trips to El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Mexico, often treating the same children as they age into adulthood. In Central Texas, Austin Smiles closely collaborates with Dell Children’s & Texas Children's Centers for Craniofacial and Reconstructive Plastic Surgery, providing social-emotional program support, speech therapy, mental health supports, preventative dental care, nutrition services, and case management to patients and their families undergoing treatment. Austin Smiles hosts quarterly annual social and emotional programs for local children to be around their true peers, so they can build self-confidence, share their similar lived experiences and know they are not alone. Local programming is designed to decrease isolation and empower children to love their differences. We aim to foster emotional well-being through fun inclusive, community. Over Ninety percent of the funds raised by Austin Smiles are used to provide medical services and wrap around supports. Less than ten percent of the funds we raise are used for administrative or fundraising purposes.