> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.smdp.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Yvonne Goff: Her work will bring a smile to your face - URL: https://www.smdp.com/yvonne-goff-her-work-will-bring-a-smile-to-your-face/ - Published: 2005-08-15T15:00:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-23T07:35:05.000Z - Author: Guest Author - Tags: local, Santa Monica, #archive-import *By ROBERT FATURECHI Special to the Daily Press* Yvonne Goff’s life’s mission in Santa Monica is to brighten smiles. In the Caribbean, her life’s mission is to bring smiles to hundreds of impoverished children. Although the 50-year-old now works out of her second floor Santa Monica office, Goff took seven years off to return to her impoverished homeland of Belize. While in her Caribbean homeland, Goff’s stature skyrocketed, sparking numerous programs to raise dental health awareness and protect the nation’s fragile environment. “There were more poor people than rich people, and I would say that the poor got poorer and the rich got richer,” Goff said. “They were so happy to see me, and so glad I cared about them to come back.” Goff’s work in Belize did not go unrecognized, as the dentist earned top honors, including the position of chief dental surgeon and chair of the Belize Medical Council, an organization that sets national health practice standards. “In a country where there’s a lot of bureaucracy and everything is politically driven, it got to the point that I got less involved with the community work I wanted to do with people and more involved with politics,” Goff said, alluding to the reason she eventually left Belize. The newly remarried dentist started her life among Belize’s poor, though she said her parents never allowed her to realize their poverty. “It’s generally a poor country,” Goff said. “It’s considered a third world, now it is for sure.” By the time she was 15 years old, Goff and her family immigrated to the United States, but her tribulations in no way faded away with the change in scenery. Placed smack in the middle of what was then called South Central, Goff had to deal with teasing kids and a rough neighborhood before leaving to study at Cal State Dominguez Hills. After graduating in 1989, Goff spent a couple years practicing in the Bay area before leaving for Belize. Today, Goff, now with two stepchildren in tow, works and lives in Santa Monica. Though she’s called the beachside community home for only two years, Goff confidently characterizes Santa Monica as open-minded and welcoming. The Daily Press recently caught up with the dentist during her lunch break. What’s it like living in Santa Monica, compared to Belize? “What I like about Santa Monica is that the people are very open-minded. They’re very educated and what I like is that they accept me for who I am, just have a keen interest in me. I feel very comfortable with them as compared to some other affluent society like Beverly Hills. They’re very kind people.” What don’t you like about Santa Monica? “There’s not a lot because Santa Monica is a very wealthy city that provides for its citizens and they’re open indeed and they allow people from all over, even the street people, they accommodate them. I like the way Santa Monica embraces everyone.” How’d you get the opportunity to come to the United States? “My grandfather came a long time ago to work on the Panama Canal. He had an opportunity to come to the United States so he came and (our family followed). I pretty much grew up there, and I had a love for Belize. I always wanted to go back. In my mind I said ‘I’m coming back’ because I really didn’t want to leave at that time. So I had an obsession with coming back.” What was the transition to the United States like? “It wasn’t easy because I was different. I spoke differently, and kids teased me. More than anything else, I saw coming here as an opportunity to better myself, and I took advantage of that.” What was your childhood in Belize like? “We played a lot. Kids have a great time there. We didn’t know of poverty, we were happy. The health services are not that good, and it’s gotten worse now. The rich people, they fly to Miami to get their treatments. The government tries really hard to provide health care for the people, but they can’t afford it. It’s a country where we really depend on those not-for-profit organizations.” What was life like in Belize? “At that time Belize was a British colony so the education was more of that British Caribbean education, so it was very unique. We were highly educated people in that region. The British education system was handed down, so we spoke English and I was influenced by some Peace Corps volunteers who were in our schools. And I had an interest in biology from the very beginning, and I can think about that certain teacher that really influenced me. I think I had a great life as a child there. We were poor, but my family would provide for us and we got educated.” Where’d you get your education? “I went to Cal State Dominguez Hills, and right after high school I worked as a dental assistant. I applied to a few dental schools and I got accepted by a few, including UCLA, but I went to UCSF.” What was it like when you went back to Belize? “I had just gotten over a divorce, so I thought it would be good for me to go down there and spend two or three years, but I ended up spending seven years. I got very much involved in the health system and I couldn’t get away. When I first got there, I worked a lot with children. I would have tooth-brushing drills, and I made it really fun for them. Later on I got more involved with the ministry of health, and I was doing a lot of administrative work. Eventually I became chief dental surgeon, when the chief retired, and that was even more work, then politics changed. When there was a change of government, everything changes, and I guess they saw me as being aligned with the previous government, so when the new government came in they gave me a hard time. All the programs I started they wanted to change. They wanted to stop it, they wanted to move me out. And after a while I said, ‘Wait a minute, I don’t have to do this, I don’t have to put up with this.’” Was it hard leaving? “When I told the people I was leaving they said, ‘No, no, no, don’t leave. How can you leave? We’re so dependent on you.’ And it was more than that. It wasn’t just a political thing. In a country like that, a lot of their educated people have left. There’s a brain drain in Belize, not just Belize, in the Caribbean, all those countries. Educated people have left. They’ve had opportunities to go to other countries. And when they saw I was leaving, they begged for me not to leave.” What was it like when you were there? “It’s a small country, and everything is the same. You live like a little quagmire, in a fish bowl. It was very lonely for me because all my family were out here. After a while I got burned out. I worked so hard to implement some programs, and they came and wanted to change everything and I don’t believe you should step back. You should always step forward. And I felt like I was stepping back.” What’s your most vivid memory of the people? “At first I was a suspect, like ‘Who in their right mind would want to leave the U.S. and come live with us?’ and eventually they saw I was genuine about it. I’m just different. When I graduated dental school, it was just too much — getting into that school and just surviving. One thing I can say is that by going back to Belize, I learned patience, accepting people for who they are and realizing that some people have it and some people don’t have it, in terms of wealth and social status. There are a lot of poor people in Belize. And they can’t even dream of what wealth is here in America, and they’re happy there so I think it’s all relative.” Do you plan on going back? “I do plan to go back. As a matter of fact, there’s an orphanage I’m going to be going to in January. Just go and do some dental work, not get involved in all the bureaucracy. It’s very detracting, and the people don’t get the services they need. I plan to go and do one week of community clinics with my dental unit, and I’m hoping to get a few other dentists to go with me. They’ve already committed so its just a matter of planning. The best way to help them is to just offer my services. Where are you getting the funding? “I do plan to do this first one out of my pocket. Basically, I will take my supplies and dental unit and go down and do it. I may ask for support from the community, other dentists.” What kind of impact does your homeland’s poverty have on you today? “I feel a level of guilt. I’m living out here, and I know what’s going on there because I was there with them... Every citizen should have a sense of responsibility toward their country, and I feel that the people that are left back there now are not capable of being good leaders to lead the country out of their problems. I’m not the only one, there are lots of Belizeans in the United States who have gotten their education and not gone back. At least I’ve gone back. I gave seven of my best years, and I think there should be some sense of responsibility.” ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/55/9f/559f9abc-8372-4a2e-8c2d-27386da4e363/content/images/2026/10/081505-04_01.jpg) (Photo: Special to the Daily Press) *Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on August 15, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/081505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)