OUR HISTORY
For Reverend Frank Diaz, the poor and homeless were a constant presence at El Buen Pastor, many of whom were young men asking for baby food. Assuming these men had children to feed, the Reverend quickly found that he was wrong. “[These men] would smile but they had no teeth.”
The local hospital had up to a six-month wait, and many suffering from severe toothaches could not endure the pain. Realizing these individuals felt the only option was to pull their own teeth, Rev. Diaz and Roland Castaneda, an elder at El Buen Pastor, chose to open the doors of Manos de Cristo in 1988, to give the impoverished community a humane, dignified option for dental care. Manos made an immediate impact in the Central Texas community and in 1990 formally opened a Dental Clinic on the central east side of Austin.
Through grants and support from Austin-area churches and organizations, Manos’ founding principle to service by reaching out with compassionate concern, continues today. Manos now has headquarters and programs in north central Austin, serving our community through an 11-chair dental clinic, adult education services and basic needs. Manos’ reach has continued to grow through a Back-To-School program, computer, citizenship and English classes.
CLIENT STORIES
Virginia, Manos Patient
Dental Clinic
Ruben, Manos Student
Education
OUR BOARD
GARY MCINTOSH, CPA, CFF, Weaver, LLP
Board Chair
KRYSTAL PATEL, Rackspace
Vice Chair
NEAL SHAH, DDS, Austin Dental Arts
Secretary
NATE GROVES, Deloitte
Interim Treasurer
GLENN DUKES, Synopsys
Immediate Past Chair
HEATHER BOBB, DDS, FICOI
AMANDA BONILLA, Bonilla Law Firm
GARY CASH, DDS
MATT FLETCHER, Amherst Pierpont Securities
MILTON HIME, AIA, Studio8 Architects
ANNE LYON, DDS, FAGD
DICKSON MCGUIRE, DDS, MSD, Central Endodontic Specialists
RON OLIVEIRA, Oliveira Public Communications
TONY PACHECO, JR., DDS, PA
KELLIE RASTEGAR, Rastegar Property Company
HANNAH REED, N2 Publishing
JULIE SLUDER, Altrua HealthShare
JEFF WHITMIRE, The Serengeti Trading Co.
OUR STAFF
JULIE M. BALLESTEROS
Executive Director
(512) 628-4194
[email protected]
KENDRA SANDOVAL, D.D.S.
Director of Dentistry
(512) 628-4208
[email protected]
GABRIELLA RAMIREZ
Director of Dental Operations
(512) 628-4209
[email protected]
JESSICA GARDINER
Director of Foundation Relations
(512) 628-4201
[email protected]
CARL FLOTO
Director of Finance
(512) 628-4195
[email protected]
DIANE RIEHS
Director of Development
(512) 628-4203
[email protected]
LILY LOMBARDI
Donor Relations and Communications Coordinator
(512) 628-4202
[email protected]
MARIA PALACIOS
Co-Director of Education
(512) 628-4197
[email protected]
KARIN ZAMORA
Co-Director of Education
(512) 628-4196
[email protected]
MARIA GAMEZ
Basic Needs Coordinator
(512) 628-4199
[email protected]
Not sure who to contact? Email [email protected]
We’ll make sure the right person gets it!