About the Face To Face Foundation
The Face to Face Foundation was created to help families and individuals bear the on-going financial cost of cleft lip and/or palate and other craniofacial anomalies. Most private and government insurance does not adequately cover the on-going specialized care required to treat these patients properly. Many craniofacial birth differences can cause issues with speech, feeding, dental and boney development. Patients may experience emotional and social issues related to their facial differences. In addition to helping patients access medical care our grants can help a family access important mental health support if needed as well.
The Face to Face Foundation aims to keep funds raised in our local community close to home by sponsoring families in our greater Charlotte area that are in need. Watch our video for more information!
What Is The Future For These Children?
If patients with craniofacial birth differences have full access to multi-disciplinary team care, they should have every expectation of living happy, normal lives. When access to specialized care is limited by financial constraints, it can have negative lifelong effects. Our goal is to help families afford the highest level of care possible so that those smiles shine no matter how young or old the patient.
Face to Face Foundation Non-Profit Board of Directors
The administration and distribution of the funds are overseen by the Face to Face Foundation Board of Directors, who will accept and review applications for funding on a quarterly basis. All Foundation Board Members are local professionals who volunteer their time.
Whitney Kapitan
Dr. Rick Kapitan
Dr. Kapitan is a Board Certified Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon specializing in cleft and craniofacial surgery, bone grafting / regeneration, and complex implant-based jaw reconstruction for children and adults with congenital conditions and other facial defects. He is a partner in Carolinas Center for Oral & Facial Surgery, Chairman of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery at Novant Medical Center, and a member of multiple cleft, craniofacial, and maxillofacial surgical associations, including the American College of Surgeons, and the American Academy of Pediatrics. Dr. Kapitan is currently volunteer adjunct faculty in OMS at the Louisiana State University and has held similar roles with the University of Florida, and with the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. In addition to educating surgical residents and fellows, Dr. Kapitan continues to lecture nationally and internationally, is the founder of an implant-surgery based educational consulting company and is the co-founder of a national annual cleft/craniofacial symposium.
A strong believer in the importance of humanitarian and philanthropic endeavors, Dr. Kapitan is the founder of the Face To Face Foundation, a Carolinas-based non-profit that awards medical grants for cleft-affected patients and families. As career-long international surgical volunteer, Dr. Kapitan has been on dozens of humanitarian trips to provide free cleft and craniofacial surgeries for patients throughout Central America, South America, and Africa. He is on the Board of Directors of the Free To Smile Foundation, and serves as a volunteer for the CURE Hospital network, and for the World Medical Mission; a division of Samaritan’s Purse.
Dr. Kapitan is married with four children and lives in Charlotte, NC. He and his family are member of Carmel Baptist Church, and in spare time, he enjoys multiple outdoor pursuits, and entertaining family and friends.
Dara Larson
Dara is a family law attorney working in Charlotte North Carolina handling divorces, child custody, and adoption cases. Dara owns her own firm, Duncan Larson Law, PLLC. She has been practicing law for over ten years and is licensed in both North Carolina and California. Dara was drawn to the foundation after becoming aware of the large gap between insurance coverage and the actual cost of treatment. While many of these cases are categorized as “elective” by insurance companies, within our own families and for our own children not taking action would never be an option.
In her free time, Dara enjoys spending time with her husband Dan and dog Mikaela. She enjoys cooking, traveling, and watching sports, especially Formula One Racing. Dara is a pseudo native Charlottean and attended East Meck high school. After spending time around the country and around the world, Dara and her husband moved to Charlotte to settle down and start her law practice.