February 26, 2026 - Sonrisis Presentation 

Following our opening, we had an inspirational presentation from Sonrisas, our locally-founded dental care and education nonprofit, which has grown immensely since being founded here in 2001.  Presenters were Director of Dental Health Dr. Tory Rothstein and Director of Development Spandan Chakrabarti.  Sonrisas, as we know, mainly serves patients of lower income or more modest circumstances.  Rotarians Barbara and Kevin are past Directors.  In 2015, operations expanded to San Mateo, which is now the larger facility.  Sonrisas also takes non-Medi-Cal patients, and Barbara testifies that their rates are very reasonable. Seven ;languages are spoken at Sonrisas.  

 

The speakers focused on the devastating effects of health care spending cutbacks enacted in Washington.  A large number of patients will soon be without financial support from their former programs.  Sonrisas is hoping to shift many of them to a "graduated scale" program they have available for persons lacking public financial support for health care.

 

Sonrisas is a pioneer in several areas, among them its screening outreach fr children to "priority schools" and a newer program to "desensitize" persons with developmental disabilities so they can more easily accept treatment.

 

The organization's annual budget is about $6.8 Million, of which $2.8 M is from funders such as healthcare districts, Stanford and Sutter Health.  Sonrisas needs support due to the budget crisis, and there will be a fundraiser at La Nebbia Winery on April 18.  The funding gap impact on the Coastside is estimated to be $150,000.