By Mike Finney

DOVER — There is a lot of heavy lifting and behind-the-scenes work involved in trying to organize an application to bring an Innovative Readiness Training mission into town.

However, City Councilman David Anderson and others witnessed the benefits that such a program can bring to less fortunate families and individuals in the city during the nine-day Central Delaware Partnership for Hope’s Innovative Readiness Training mission that took place in Dover in August 2021.

Councilman Anderson, Councilwomen Tricia Arndt and Julia Pillsbury, and 2024 House of Representatives candidate Donyale Hall, led a small gathering at City Hall on Monday night that met to plant the seeds in bringing a similar Innovative Readiness Training mission back to Dover.

Kay Sass, the emergency management coordinator for the city, volunteered at the 2021 Innovative Readiness Training mission event and said it was remarkable for the community.

“My main reason for coming back for this was just the really feel-good feeling that you walk away with, knowing that we were able to offer opportunities to people who otherwise didn’t have it and the appreciation of those individuals was very touching,” Ms. Sass said.

In total, 3,217 people were assisted in 2021 with health services at North Dover Elementary School, Towne Point Elementary School and South Dover Elementary School.

A total of 18,050 medical procedures were performed — 1,217 of them dental and 2,000 requiring eyeglasses — leaving an impact of $1,384,000 in fair-market value as a savings to the greater Dover community.

The concept of Innovative Readiness Training started when former President Bill Clinton was on the campaign trail in 1992. He challenged Americans, with his “Rebuild America” initiative, to find innovative programs that would serve communities and provide “realistic military training benefits.”

At Dover’s training event in 2021 an average of 357 individuals per day were provided no-cost medical, dental, vision, behavioral health and nutrition services.

Over the course of the initiative, members of the National Guard and Reserves arrived in Dover from different areas of the country, including Montana and Georgia, to serve the state capital’s citizens. Many members of the Delaware Guard also participated.

Innovative Readiness Training is a Department of Defense military training event, exclusive to the United States and its territories, that delivers opportunities to increase deployment readiness and provide key services with lasting benefits to American communities.

“Volunteering, I was able to meet several constituents who came in to gain access to care that they simply cannot afford (and) many who have insurance but, between premiums and copays, care was still unattainable,” she said. “Everyone was made to feel welcome and comfortable regardless of their financial situation.

“We were all there to serve our community, and I was fortunate enough to play a small role in a mission with a very large impact.”

Application marks first steps

The first step toward possibly attracting another Innovative Readiness Training mission back to Dover is putting an application together — one that is different from the one that was accepted the last time.

“This was a tremendously heavy lift (last time), and the more muscle we have to lift it all I think it will be a reasonable turnaround time to get this done in the next six months,” Ms. Hall said.

Councilman Anderson managed the application process last time but is hoping for a concerted group effort this time around.

“At the end of the day what we’re focusing on is basically the application and the application process, because six months from now is the application deadline and we have a lot of things that we need to divide and conquer,” he said. “It’s going to be easier this time because we’ve already done it and that makes this a whole lot easier because we know where to get certain information and what sources to go to.”

Councilman Anderson suggested perhaps partnering up with a neighboring town to share in the benefits, such as Smyrna or Camden.

“That way, it’s not the same application coming back,” he said. “Instead, it’s like this was so successful that we’re expanding, and I can almost guarantee it would be approved. I can’t guarantee that if we re-run the same application that they won’t say, ‘Well, we’d love to, but there’s people all over the country trying to get this resource,’ and you already did it. You already had your shot.”

Mr. Anderson says these medical services are needed in the city, where about 75% of the population earns less than $50,000 annually and about 40% of the population earns less than $25,000.

“In short, a lot of working people in Kent County are being left behind,” he said. “They work hard, play by the rules, but after rent, they can’t afford eye care or dental care insurance or service traditionally.”