Our Team

Linda has devoted over 30 years advocating for low-income veterans and seniors. She worked at the University of Nevada, Reno for 10 years in a Senior Outreach Program where she discovered 60 low-income veterans living in subsidized housing in dire need of dental care. Linda soon discovered that the vast majority of our veterans (90%) do not qualify for dental care at the VA because the qualifications are so restrictive. This seriously unmet need for dental care became the driving force for Adopt a Vet Dental Program (AAVD) which Linda and her husband, Wayne, founded in April 2010.

AAVD recruits dental professionals to provide critical dental care for low-income veterans in Northern and Central Nevada. To our knowledge, there is no other program like ours in the United States that harnesses the goodwill and skills of dental professionals to help low-income veterans. AAVD received the Newman’s Own and Fisher House Award in 2014 for our innovative approach to providing dental care to low-income veterans who cannot qualify for dental care at the VA or afford to see a dentist.

This program is dedicated in memory of J.C., a veteran, who could not find affordable dental care for his decayed and abscessed teeth. He died when the infection went to his heart – he was only in his 40’s.

Demetrio (Deme) Gonzalez is a retired US Navy Senior Chief Hospital Corpsman. Deme Retired from the Navy in December 2012 after 24 years of Honorable service. While in the Navy he was stationed on the U.S.S. Kitty Hawk and the U.S.S. Essex as well as different shore commands throughout the continental United States and Japan.

Deme has been deployed multiple times to the Middle East as an individual augmentee in Embedded Teams in support of combat operations throughout different regions. While Deployed at the same time to Afghanistan, his brother was killed by an improvised explosive device. He dedicates his time in any capacity that he can assisting Veterans in memory of his brother’s sacrifice.

He has held several positions that include the Department Head of Patient Relations, Chief Main operating Room, Senior Enlisted Advisor for the Directorate for Professional Education, Chief Dental Prosthetic Laboratory, and Exam Writer for the Hospital Corpsman Rating at Naval Medical Center, Southwest in San Diego, California. As a volunteer and then volunteer coordinator for San Diego’s Veteran Stand Down since 1993 that supports thousands of Veterans every year, he brings a vast amount of knowledge and leadership to the Adopt a Vet Dental Program.

Deme holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology and Criminal Justice from the University of Texas and a Science Degree from Vincennes University. Deme is married to Jamie Gonzalez and has 4 boys and 2 girls, Damian, Caleb, Logan, Levi, Noelle, and Ari.

Heather Borkowski is the Executive Director for the Adopt a Vet Dental Program. She has been with the Adopt a Vet Dental Organization since 2017. She started out as a volunteer, was a contracted dental assistant for the program, and then was hired on as the Dental Clinic Manager. In 2020, Heather was promoted to Assistant Executive Director and in 2024 was promoted to the Executive Director position.

Before joining AAVD, Heather was a contracted dental assistant for the Navy on Camp Lejeune Marine Corps Base in Jacksonville, North Carolina, and credits her experience working within the military setting as the foundation for her continued career in the dental field. During her time serving the military men and women at Camp Lejeune, she found the need to be part of a greater cause and believes that veterans deserve great, extensive care for the service they provide to our country. Upon moving to northern Nevada in 2016 Heather took a job at the Northern Nevada Correctional Center where she was in charge of running the dental clinic. After that, she also spent some time working alongside a local oral surgeon, furthering her experience in the field.

Working with Veterans holds a special place in Heather’s heart. Her grandfather was a Marine stationed at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station in the 1950s, where he worked on the aircraft rescue and firefighting squad. He was very proud to be a Marine and held on to all his memories of his time in service until the day he passed in July 2013.

When Heather’s not serving our Veterans, she spends time with her husband and two daughters. They spend as much time outdoors as possible, enjoying Northern Nevada.

Sonya is AAVD’s Dental Program Manager where she works to help place and monitor the care of our veterans and recruit new dentists willing to participate in our program. As a passionate advocate for our veterans, she also helps bring little known industry practices into the open so that AAVD’s Veterans get the best care possible.

Over her twenty-year career, Sonya has worn many hats. She was driven to work in dentistry because it offers patients a new lease on their wellbeing. She began her career working as a Dental Assistant for an orthodontist but with an education in finance and engineering she quickly found herself creating a successful office environment ripe for growth. This combination of passion for caring for people and analytics would help her grow her career into specializing in developing successful growth strategies for practices needing revitalization. She would go on and grow the first practice she worked with in to having seven locations nine years later. The second practice she worked with would go on to grow into a regional dental practice spanning 13 locations by the time she left. Now with AAVD she is helping to develop a stable foundation for future growth.

In coming to AAVD, Sonya brings a passion for service that was inspired by her family’s history of service. She grew up listening to the stories of her uncles being in World War II and Vietnam and her older brother serving in the Air Force. In working with AAVD, she is grateful to be able to give back and enjoys seeing the difference our Veterans experience when going through our program.

Outside of work, her tireless nature shines and she aims high. With her caring heart, she volunteers with Compassion Dental to help to revitalize their program and giving back to the Washoe County Sheriff deputies who her late husband worked with until his retirement in 2015. In what remains of her free time she is often out spending time with her boys and future daughters in law or up in the air getting the flight hours she needs for her pilot’s license.

Eduardo Martinez is a strategically minded professional with 7 years of experience in the Public Relations arena. With the AAVD Team he is responsible developing and implementing their communications strategy.

His work history has focused on increasing awareness of veteran benefits and services through his work in the United States Senate and until recently at the Nevada Department of Veteran Services. While in the Senate, he was also the lead for Hispanic Outreach in Northern Nevada for his office where he helped craft relationships with many businesses, community groups, and resource channels. As a result of his work, he was recognized in the Nevada Latin Chamber’s Influencers Magazine in December 2018.

Eduardo is a graduate of Fordham University where he received his Masters in Strategic Marketing & Communications.

Now that he again has free time, he enjoys being up in the mountains with his wife Dani and their two Shibas and traveling around the country trying to hit all 50 states.

Grace is the Business Development Manager for Adopt a Vet Dental Program and is thankful to be able to combine her passion for dental care with her love for giving back to the community. She is enthusiastic about reciprocating the service to our Veterans having seen the toll service takes on many of her friends and family members. 

She began her career working in the dental field in 2002 as a Recall Specialist. By 2005, she became the Office Manager for a dental office, helping manage the practice’s scheduling, billing, and treatment planning. She later moved to California to pursue her college degree in Criminal Justice but felt called to return to the dental industry. She was one of the first hires for Absolute Dental (Artistic Orthodontics) in Las Vegas. Whether it was mentoring new hires, or marketing, she was constantly networking with prospective patients, she created results for the organization.  Over her 13 years with Absolute Dental, her grit, perseverance, and knack for building lasting relationships would help grow the practice from only having two locations to nearly three dozen across the state.  

In her spare time, she often travels with her family and fur babies looking for the most pristine beaches. She is also a “Foodie” and love to find unique eateries around the world. So if you know of a good place to eat at make sure to let her know if you ever come across her. 

Grachy is a northern Nevada native who grew up in a family emphasizing service. Her family includes members of the Air Force, Marine Corps, law enforcement, and emergency medical services. Grachy met her fiancé in high school while participating in Robert McQueen High School’s JROTC program, where she also helped paint two murals in the JROTC hall.

Grachy’s first introduction to nonprofit work was raising funds for the Junior Diabetes Research Foundation and Veterans’ Guest House through her position as finance officer for McQueen’s Lancer Battalion. Afterward, she joined the Compassion Dental staff before joining the Adopt A Vet Dental Program.

Grachy is graduate of the ATS Northern Nevada Dental Assisting School and is also pursuing a history degree at Truckee Meadows Community College.

In her free time, Grachy enjoys playing video games like Fallout and Street Fighter. She also enjoys recreating animation cells and comic book panels in her sketchbooks.