Dr. Natalie Proffitt Lesinski ’09: A Decade of Brighter Smiles at HOPE

Though Dr. Natalie Proffitt Lesinski ’09 loved studying science and volunteering for HOPE at Colorado Academy—the school’s largest service organization—while she was a Mustang, she could hardly have imagined that a decade and a half after Commencement she’d still be volunteering and doing science on the CA campus, helping to provide free dental health services that continue to expand HOPE’s impact in Denver more than 30 years into its history.

A CA “Lifer” who’s now one half of the team leading Link Dental in Centennial, Lesinski recalls with a laugh, “When I was a HOPE volunteer in high school, I’d go around to hotels in the area and ask for donations of toothpaste and toothbrushes.”

Her work with the organization has come a long way since then.

Founded in 1993, HOPE began as a donation drive and holiday-season event to offer high-quality clothing, baby essentials, toiletries, school supplies, toys, and a traditional holiday meal to neighbors in need in southwest Denver, serving thousands of families on campus over the years. 

In 2015, when Lesinski was a student in the School of Dental Medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz, HOPE’s student organizers and faculty advisors were seeking a way to broaden the offerings beyond donated goods; they had just added vaccines as a new, free service for guests.

As the Vice President of the American Student Dental Association at the time, Lesinski was passionate about becoming more involved in community outreach with her fellow dental students. It was perfect timing, she says: “I had been doing oral cancer screenings at another organization, and I thought, ‘Why not go back to Colorado Academy and reach out that way?’”

“We knew,” she goes on, “that many in the community had hardly had any exposure to dentists—something that many of us just take for granted. Even just having the opportunity to teach someone how to floss, how to follow basic oral hygiene practices, could make a huge difference.”

That first year marked the start of what has now become a decade-long commitment. It also turned out to be a great way for Lesinski and her volunteer colleagues to keep tabs on any oral health issues that might need followup among HOPE families, not just cancer. They were able to refer many patients to local dentists, sometimes at no or reduced cost.

Today, dental screenings at HOPE have become a perennial offering families depend on, alongside vaccinations, heart health screenings, voter registration, community resource services, and, of course, donated goods and fun and games for kids. Working with a growing roster of volunteer doctors who are either CA alumni or the parents of CA students and graduates, Lesinski notes, “We’ve actually started to develop relationships with the patients we see year after year.”

She and her colleagues, she adds, have seen children grow taller, more confident, and less fearful of doctor visits. To help ease anxiety—especially for younger guests—the dental area now includes coloring books, stuffed animals, and a welcoming atmosphere that makes care feel safe, approachable, and comfortable.

There’s even an educational component: Lesinski has started to recruit younger CA alumni considering careers in dentistry as volunteers. “I give them tips on how to speak to our patients, and I show them how important oral health can be for these families. A healthy mouth allows you to communicate with your loved ones and the people you meet, to smile confidently, eat comfortably, and really extend and enhance the quality of your life.”

Dentistry, she continues, is a unique field that allows students interested in science and medicine to pursue surgical training as well as diagnostic experience. It is also unique in that it allowed her to help her own mother, whose second language is English, to start a new chapter as a dental assistant.

“My parents were born in Poland,” she recounts, “and once they came here, they put all of their resources and energy toward my education—sending me to Colorado Academy, where I could grow and flourish and find an amazing community that I still call home.”

Lesinski is not only the first college graduate in her immediate family; she is also the first doctor. 

“It has been really incredible to take what my parents provided for me and turn it into something that now lets me provide for my own family and for others.”

Like what she’s learned from her parents, the lessons of HOPE are sure to keep Lesinski involved with CA for many years to come. 

“Giving back to your community was always a focus of so much energy in my CA experience,” she explains. “And seeing it now, after all those years—all the clothing piled up in the gym, the smiles that just warm your heart, the excitement that the students bring to the organization—that’s just something that sticks with you.”