Theresa Adams Draws from a Well of Compassion and Lived Experience to Help Others
Theresa Adams '24 knows that real impact is best measured by the number of lives made better.
A Mohawk grandmother and single mom who worked for nearly 30 years at Kanonhkwa’tsheri:io, the Akwesasne Dental Clinic, Adams was hesitant to pursue her lifelong dream of completing an advanced degree in higher education. A decade after she had first been accepted to SUNY Potsdam and hoped to complete a teaching degree—and instead shelved the dream to help her sons complete college—she wasn’t sure her own plans fit into the mix any longer.
“I honestly envisioned I would end up retiring from my long-term position at the dental clinic in Akwesasne. But when COVID hit the world and we had a chance to sit back, gather our thoughts and think hard about our future, I knew it was time to dive in headfirst and complete a task I believed was not achievable. Majoring in Public Health was the best thing I could do for myself.”
Very little about this challenge has been easy. The daughter of a man who was removed from his home to a residential school before he was old enough to know what was happening—and surviving by his wits after running away—Adams knew she too would have to fight her way. But she had the tools of grandmothers and a mother who had held worlds together. On the road to SUNY Potsdam, Adams earned the role of district chief in Akwesasne and worked for several years as a public safety dispatcher. While attending classes at Potsdam, she has worked two jobs, and her dental projects with First Nations people span two internships.
As Adams steps forward to receive her diploma this spring, she can be sure that, among the many academic and personal milestones she has met and examples she has set, she has helped improve dental care for First Nation people who don’t easily receive it in the remote, underserved region of Canada they call home.
Adams was drawn to pursue this SUNY Potsdam service-learning project by a mystery she observed during her job at the Adolescent Treatment Centre in Akwesasne, working among youth who had traveled to the center from the northern remote First Nations communities Cree Territory in Nunavut.
“The game changer for me was when the youth were assessed for a dental exam, and several cavities were detected —every tooth was involved,” Adams said. “I was set back on how and why these children are being neglected. There are dentists, hygienists, nurses flying into these communities monthly. I could not figure out the answers.”
The limited availability of resources and lack of funding for community programs and facilities negatively impact the oral health of the Indigenous peoples in Canada, Adams found. Many programs operate on uncertain year-to-year funding cycles. Adams knew she must roll up her sleeves and go deeper into the heart of the matter.
“I know the only way to become effective to these youth, I must change my path and become an advocate for the remote First Nations communities—identify the prevalence of cavities with the First Nations children, then identify the waiting time the population must endure with pain as they await treatment,” she said.
Besides assessing needs using virtual meetings and discussions, Adams is working with Sleep Clinic for Kids to create dental education materials for high-risk students in under-resourced areas. She has met virtually with dental health practitioners in Nunavut while planning for an in-person visit to the community, where she will host dental health promotion events, assist with data collection from screenings, and help draft a plan for future care of the children of Nunavut—including the possibility of mobile dental care units traveling across the territory.
The value of applying learned skills, solving real-world problems, and witnessing tangible results is fairly well incalculable—and so important that it drives basic philosophies underpinning Potsdam’s emphasis on applied learning. While Adams’ wealth of lived experience helped her identify and navigate her chosen challenge, hundreds of other Potsdam students find their own projects help prepare them to be engaged citizens in ways they had not imagined.
As she looks ahead to a bright future helping others experience fuller living through better health, Adams is excited to pursue her master’s degree in Public Health, work with policy makers, and focus her efforts on under-resourced areas and populations. Intending to take an interdisciplinary and practical approach, Adams has identified key tools—including needs assessment, collaboration, and partnership building.
It is big work. When she needs to, Adams finds strength woven through centuries, down her mother’s line, and draws particularly from her mother’s sense of the wisdom found in kindness.
“My long-term goals are to be a Public Health facilitator,” she said. “My plan is to facilitate health education and empower individuals to take charge of their health. For 30 years, I have been teaching the community on oral health initiatives, and the importance oral hygiene has on the overall health of a person. I want to go a step further and be able to identify the consequences of bad oral from mental, physical, and even spiritual perspectives. Public Health is where I can be a community advocate.”
Article by Bret Yager. Portraits by Jason Hunter, slideshow images by Ayisha Khalid '24