05 Feb 2021 Southwest Florida Community Foundation approves first impact investment of $220,000
With additional investment of $50,000, a total of $270,000 will be invested in wellness center/pharmacy for Dunbar community
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, with the collaboration of Catalyst Community Capital, Inc. has approved its first impact investment of $270,000 to fund a wellness pharmacy in Dunbar.
This is the first impact investment from the Community Foundation’s new revolving loan fund. Money that is repaid from these investments or loans is recycled to help other nonprofit and for-profit social entrepreneurs.
The loan has been awarded to Total Healthcare Alliance, LLC d.b.a. Sozo Wellness of Dunbar, to de-risk starting a business in an underserved community and to provide structured opportunities for further investments in the pharmacy’s growth. Sozo Wellness is operated by Dr. Shadreka McIntosh, a fifth generation Dunbar resident who has always dreamed of bringing a pharmacy to her community.
Sozo Wellness Pharmacy is a lifestyle brand which provides solutions that lead to wholeness in mind, body and spirit. Dr. McIntosh strives to help her community identify their “why” for wanting to live healthier and provides culturally relevant options to assist in development of a journey to wellness. Sozo’s focus is on improving healthcare and social outcomes in underserved communities, through exposure to integrative approaches to healing.
Dr. McIntosh is a Doctor of Pharmacy and has a Master of Science in Integrative Medicine. She is passionate about the use of mind-body medicine and conventional medicine, where appropriate, to close the gap in healthcare disparities of chronic diseases that plague minority communities.
“Owning my own pharmacy has been a dream so that I can help even more people in many more ways,” said Dr. McIntosh. “It is important to me to open Sozo Wellness Pharmacy in the Dunbar community because it is the place that contributed so much to who I am today.”
When Sozo Wellness Pharmacy opens it will fill a gap that has long been present in this area of healthcare services. There is no pharmacy within a two-and-a-half mile radius of the 33916 zip code.
Growing up, Dr. McIntosh remembers regular trips to the pharmacy with her grandmother, who was a diabetic and suffered from every complication of the disease and was a double amputee, had vision problems, as well as heart and kidney issues.
“Those visits to the pharmacy were frequent and I got to observe how much my grandmother trusted the pharmacist. From as far back as I can remember, I have always wanted to help others be at their best,” she said. “The opening of this pharmacy has the potential to ultimately improve the health and economic outcomes of the community for generations.”
“We are so excited about this first investment from our revolving loan fund for social enterprises. We believe the Foundation should play a role in supporting inclusive economies,” said Sarah Owen, president and CEO of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. “The support for this funding also aligns with the aim to create as many sources of capital as possible to support our community. Impact Investing provides another tool in our kit to provide funding. Many donors are interested in this expanded option to impact change through socially focused businesses.”
According to Owen, the Foundation started exploring and researching impact investment tools in 2013 as they began to search for additional ways to support communities outside of grantmaking and donor advised fund allocations. That’s when the concept of investing in organizations through loans and financing began to emerge.
Two years ago, they decided to invest in economic development and inclusive economies as a strategy for impacting the community and providing capital to minority entrepreneurs and underserved communities and they also sought out ways to increase the flow of capital to the region.
Kinective, a local program of SecondMuse, a global collaboration agency that focuses on developing business leaders and building connected 21st century economies, brought Sozo Wellness to the Community Foundation’s attention after they participated in the program’s Entrepreneur Cohort.
“Based on emerging as a promising and mission aligned startup, Sozo was chosen to enter our Gingras Global due diligence process,” said Owen. “Dr. Shadreka McIntosh powered through the rigorous due diligence and assessment process with elegance. We knew we had met someone special.”
Funds will be used for leasehold improvements, equipment, inventory, marketing, reserves and general working capital.
This represents ‘filler’ (de-risking) capital which is help that SOZO could not receive elsewhere,” said Romy Kochan, president and CEO of Gingras Global. “To qualify for an impact investment, the business must have a mission-aligned measurable social impact, and a financial return so that the business has the ability to repay the loan with interest.”
Joe Bonora, founder, president and CEO of Catalyst stated, “This pharmacy and wellness center will not only lead to improved health and quality of life for residents of the Dunbar community, it will also create jobs and help stimulate economic development within this important area of Southwest Florida.”
Leigh Scrabis, Catalyst’s Director of Community Development also added, “A wellness center and pharmacy could lead to decreases in premature death and preventable hospital stays, increases in flu vaccinations, fewer days where adults report poor mental and physical health and more. Another impact of this neighborhood small business would be on jobs and economy, especially in the areas of increasing business activity in an underserved community and increasing equitable employment.”
Catalyst Community Capital, Inc. is a 501 (c)(3) based in Tampa with a mission to create jobs and improve the lives of those living in low- and moderate-income communities and under-served populations by providing access to capital, quality affordable housing and mentorship for small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.
“With this funding, through our partner Gingras, we will be providing capacity building and will also walk alongside Sozo and Dr. McIntosh to help ensure their success” said Owen. “Our role is to develop our fragile ecosystem, which has a vital role in local and regional economic development, but we need to be the ‘first mover’ because no one is willing to invest in its high-risk initial phase. And we are doing it in a responsible manner.”
Sozo Wellness is located at 3510 Dr. Martin Luther King Boulevard, Suite 1 in Dunbar, an area of Fort Myers that has no pharmacy. Its location is a mile and a half from the Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s headquarters at Collaboratory.
About the Southwest Florida Community Foundation
The Southwest Florida Community Foundation, founded in 1976, cultivates regional change for the common good through collective leadership, social innovation, and philanthropy to address the evolving community needs in Lee, Collier, Charlotte, Hendry, and Glades counties. The Foundation partners with individuals, families, and corporations who have created more than 400 philanthropic funds. With assets of more than $134 million, it has provided $83.7 million in grants and scholarships to the communities it serves since inception. The Southwest Florida Community Foundation’s regional headquarters are located in the historic ACL Train Depot at Collaboratory in downtown Fort Myers, with a satellite office located in Hendry County. For more information, call 239-274-5900 or visit www.floridacommunity.com