Symba Center Client Highlight

by Joshua Botello

Dr. Shawn Smith and Dr. Brian Nyamwange are the Co-founders of Symba Center, a non-profit free clinic that provides care for people who do not have insurance. As a graduate of Loma Linda University, Shawn saw firsthand the disparities of Loma Linda and neighboring San Bernardino. “Dr. ‘Bowtie’ Brian and I were healthcare professional students asking ourselves, 'how can we address the health needs in this community?”

When Shawn started working at Western University of Health Sciences he found some resources that may be able to help get his idea off the ground. “I immediately went to our Innovation Center at WesternU and they were pretty excited about it,” Shawn recounted. The innovation center focused on technology and commercial applications instead of philanthropic ventures. The staff said “There is a small business development center locally at the University of La Verne. We’ve heard a lot about the great work they are doing and I can put you into contact with the director (Sean Snider).” Shawn was able to make an appointment the next week after contacting the University of La Verne SBDC.

Symba Center’s first challenge was incorporating and creating a non-profit entity. Without the non-profit status, the Symba Center would not have access to funding or the tax benefits to start the mission they established. The other challenge was funding. “Nonprofits are funded by grants and individual donations; sometimes you get contracts and you can get some capital funding, but it’s really hard to get funding for 501c3s,” Shawn said.

Applying for 501c (non-profit status) was the first challenge for their advisor Sean, but was not too knowledgeable on the exact process. Luckily, Sean connected the Symba Center founders with a client that became a resource that guided them through the process and paperwork. “That client happens to be someone who helps people file their 501c3. She created an organization and business to help people with their nonprofit status so they can do the work they want to do in the community,” Shawn explained. 

Another Advisor Mark Hicks guided Symba Center through the business plan process to budget for their start-up and identify the initial funding they were requiring. Meanwhile, their advisor Sean was also able to get access to a grant portal for Symba Center, “We basically got sent grants (notices) every day. I was sifting through those grants every day to see what we qualified for,” Shawn continued.

“I would tell anyone who has a great idea and wants to pay for consultants ‘Before you do that, really consider the small business development center’ who is going to give you the services that you need for very low or no cost.”

 

With help from the University of La Verne SBDC on the nonprofit status and the daily grant notices, Symba Center was awarded 10 grants, “We raised over $100,000 in the first 9 months, which definitely met our needs,” Shawn explained. Symba Center was able to engage in consulting for COVID-19 compliance at homeless shelters, food banks, and community colleges, to supplement their grant fund and continue to help the community. Symba Center was able to hire an administrative assistant and a consultant to manage the grant funding. 

Along with their most recent hires, Symba Center has about 25 students working on a rotating basis at their location, “The students help write the grants, provide COVID-19 prevention services and the students have been involved with it since the beginning.” Symba Center has also started providing its primary care services for patients who need assistance with healthcare. Shawn described what Symba Center does, “We currently operate two days a week and we provide free healthcare for those without insurance. That includes appointments, lab work, medications, vaccines and we also have a referral network, so if some need to see a specialist, we have that as well.”