About Us

Our Mission

Our mission is to provide Philadelphia’s immigrant population the healthcare, education, and support that they need to improve their lives and empower this community to reach its potential.


We advance this mission through four lines of programs, largely directed at, but not exclusive to, the immigrant population in Philadelphia. First, we provide English language instruction, tailored to the service industry. Second, we run Community Health Days (CHDs), which provide free dental and medical care services to all immigrants. Third, our dental programing provides dental care to those in need at low or no cost through our partner dental clinic. Fourth, we run additional occasional programs to serve the acute, changing needs of our community.

Our Vision

Our vision is a city in which everyone, including recent immigrants, have the support they need to enjoy the highest possible quality of life and contribute meaningfully as members of the community.


Not everyone has the support and resources that they need to live healthy lives, fulfilling their potential as people, as Americans, and as Philadelphians. This truth stands out in particular relief when it comes to recent immigrants, who not only lack the support structures that so many later-generation Americans take for granted, but also face systematic cultural and economic barriers that undermine the equitable allocation of opportunities in our communities.

Our Story

In 2010, a young man named Felipe came to Dr. Garces, thin, tired, and dying of thyroid cancer.


He had been working as a butcher at Tinto, and for months, his coworkers watched his health deteriorate. Despite their concern and questions about his well-being, Felipe waved them away insisting that he was fine, himself convinced that it was nothing and would pass. Finally, after standing through work shifts on one leg because of the pain, two coworkers brought him to Dr. Garces’s dental office. They didn’t know where else to go.


Years earlier, Felipe’s cousin had been in a car accident and had sought help at a hospital emergency room. Because he did not have his papers, he was promptly deported back to Mexico. Scared that this may also happen to him and unaware of where to seek help, Felipe suffered through a long and painful illness that spread from his thyroid, to his bones, to his other vital organs.


Dr. Garces could see right away that Felipe was terminally ill. She took him to the emergency department at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where Dr. Steve Larson, the founder of Puentes de Salud, helped admit and care for him. For a year, Dr. Garces stayed by his side, through surgeries, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, doing everything she could for him.

Unfortunately, it was too late for 26-year-old Felipe. A disease that could have been treated with a thyroid removal procedure had gone unseen for too long because of limited access to proper medical care for immigrants. Felipe and his community didn’t know where to find the resources to get help or if there even were such resources. In July 2011, Dr. Garces helped Felipe return to Mexico where he could be with his family and see his ten-year-old daughter once more before he died.


The Garces Foundation was founded in memory of Felipe with the purpose of ensuring that the immigrant community has access to and knows where to find the resources they deserve to live healthy, educated, nutritious lives. We believe everyone should have access to the affordable healthcare and educational resources they need.

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