Partners make care possible

Health Plan of San Mateo’s (HPSM) partnership has been invaluable for Sonrisas and our patients. HPSM members constitute the majority of Sonrisas patients, and our two organizations have partnered to innovate on treatment, referrals, care coordination, and more. Recently, an HPSM partnership enabled Sonrisas to credential our Community Health Worker program – one of the first for a dental provider in California.

The partnership also allows for billing for CHW services for HPSM members, allowing Sonrisas to access much needed programmatic funding to serve community members.

Sonrisas and Puente de la Costa Sur, a core agency in the south rural coast of San Mateo County, have co-operated a once-a-week pop-up dental clinic for farmworkers since the early 2000s. With community needs for a more permanent solution and more frequent service for low-income rural neighbors growing, Sonrisas and Puente collaborated in 2025 to raise funds for a new dental clinic, housed in a fully equipped RV and mobile. We hope to take delivery and begin operations in the summer!

We are grateful to partners like HPSM, Stanford Medicine Children’s Health, the Atkinson Foundation, Irwin Foundation, Sunlight Giving, and others for their support!