About 15 years ago, a young cook named Felipe was brought into the dentist office of Dr. Beatriz Garces.
Felipe was seriously ill with thyroid cancer but afraid to seek treatment because he was an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. His cousin had been deported after going to a hospital following a car accident.
Co-workers eventually brought him to Dr. Beatriz Garces. They cooked alongside her husband, Iron Chef and Philadelphia-based restauranteur Jose Garces. Though his cancer could have been treated, the disease had, by that point, spread, and Felipe died months later, at just 26 years old.
“Had he come to us or someone – a trusted doctor, a trusted person – when he started having symptoms, he would still be here with us today,” Dr. Beatriz Garces recalled.
The tragic death spurred her and Jose to start the Garces Foundation, a local nonprofit that now serves more than 1,000 people annually through a mix of health and education programs. Its clients are primarily recent immigrants, many from the restaurant and hospitality industry.
Beatriz Garces said the organization does not ask people about their legal status, and that commitment remains, even as President Donald Trump’s administration increasingly targets undocumented immigrants and those who aid them.
The issue is personal for Garces, who migrated from Cuba to the United States three decades ago.
“It’s been a welcoming place for many like me,” she said. “So I have a really soft spot in my heart for people who come here and contribute a lot to the country, and we want to make them feel valued and respected and like they matter a lot because they do.”
The foundation holds quarterly community health days for uninsured people at Old City’s Race Street Dental, where clients are screened for high-blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes, Garces explained.
“A lot of the patients that we see have been walking around sometimes with symptoms of certain diseases, but they don’t know where to go,” she added. “So many of them just continue to just suffer with the symptoms.”
If they require further treatment, the foundation will refer them to federally-qualified health centers and other organizations that accept patients without insurance. A case manager helps patients navigate the health system and handle language barriers, according to Garces.
Another focus is providing preventative care “before it gets to be an emergency and before it gets to be a lot more expensive,” Garces said during a Zoom interview in between dentist appointments for inmates at a Delaware prison, where she works.
Not surprisingly, given her profession, dental services are also available during the community health days. Clients can receive a full set of X-rays, an exam, cleaning and emergency tooth procedures.
In addition, the organization serves about 600 people a year through its educational programming, which includes English as a second language, computer literacy and GED classes, Garces said.
The Garces Foundation does not receive any federal or state grant funding, according to Garces. A “huge portion” of the nonprofit’s budget, she added, comes from an annual benefit, Latin Night Market, which is being held Thursday, May 8, at Live! Casino & Hotel, near the sports complex.
Dozens of prominent Philadelphia chefs will be serving food, and a craft market will feature goods from the city’s immigrant communities. Garces said the foundation aims to raise at least $300,000.
“This is a time where, unfortunately, people are afraid,” she told Metro. “And it’s a time to be courageous and really come out and support this vibrant community that contributes so much to our city.”
