Meet the Innovators: CovidSMS
The CovidSMS team are members of the Social Innovation Lab’s 2020–21 Cohort. The CovidSMS team founders are Hannah Chiu, Serena Wang, Andrew Zheng, and Matt Figdore. Advisor Christina Wong is also participating in the Accelerator program.
To learn more about SIL and the cohort, click here. Join them at our virtual SIL Innovators’ Showcase event on April 27th, 4–6 p.m. RSVP here.
SIL: Tell us about CovidSMS. What are you working on?
CovidSMS is a text-based platform that aims to provide local news and resources to low-income individuals. We believe that text messages are an accessible form of communication, and we work with trusted community leaders and non-profit organizations to create customized numbers for them to share information with their desired audience. Currently, we are in the process of forming additional partners.
SIL: Why did you decide to start this? Where did the idea come from?
With the pandemic, we saw that the existing digital gap was exacerbated. We also identified that local information and resources were not being disseminated effectively because of shelter-in-place orders, and the reduced ability to rely on public Wi-Fi spots and information received through word-of-mouth.
SIL: What would you consider success for CovidSMS? How will the world be different when you are successful?
Success is low-income individuals receiving relevant information and resources through text messages. Even if members of this population do not have a smartphone or lack Internet access, they would still be able to access food resources, mental health assistance, Covid statistics, testing sites and vaccination information. This is not to say that we want to replace personal relationships and communication, but with the world’s transition to a digital space, we believe there should be greater equity in accessibility to information and news.
SIL: What have you accomplished so far?
We have expanded our team to 30 students, allowing us to form over a dozen partnerships. These have included partnerships with San Marino City, San Jose Virtual Local Assistance Center, Sommerville Winter Farmer’s Market, and Visalia Family Crisis Center, to name a few. These organizations all differ in the communities they target, spanning from food resources to local health information. We have over 3,000 users who utilize our platform to receive information, resources, and statistics. In addition, we were finalists in the JHU CBID Design Challenge and for the Robert Wood Johnson Emergency Response Challenge.
SIL: How can people get involved in supporting you in your venture?
We are always looking to form more partnerships so that we can reach new communities and create a customized SMS number for them. Additionally, we hope to fund these numbers for any community who is unable to afford it, so any monetary support is greatly appreciated.
We also encourage you to learn more about the existing technology gap to better understand our hope and mission. We have some existing information on our social media accounts and on our website but talking to community leaders who struggle with communication can also be an easy way to learn more. Finally, you can always text our free number at 888–414–5539 to see our service for yourself!
SIL: What have been some of the biggest challenges in scaling your venture during the pandemic?
Since all our partnerships have been formed over Zoom, we typically only interact with community leaders online. We are not able to visit these communities ourselves and learn more about the individuals that they serve, so it has been difficult connecting with the main text-user base. As states begin to reopen, we hope that our team will be able to personally meet our users to learn more about how they utilize their number.
SIL: What do you like most about the Baltimore entrepreneurial community? What would you like to see more of?
Baltimore’s entrepreneurial community has always been supportive of CovidSMS — from giving us advice to expressing their support to providing us with the network and connections we need to grow. We constantly feel inspired by others’ compassion for us and the overwhelming amount of mentorship we have received.
SIL: What advice do you have for would-be social entrepreneurs thinking about starting a venture?
Take the ideas that you are passionate about and just hit the ground running! Sometimes, the safest thing to do is to continue planning and brainstorming, but until you execute your idea, you can never predict the good and bad things that will come. Resources, mentorship, and opportunities to grow will be made clear after the initial leap of confidence needed to create the first tangible version of your venture.
SIL: Why did you apply to SIL? What attracted you to SIL?
At the time that we applied to SIL, mentors and faculty at JHU had provided us with a lot of support. But aside from others working in the same field as us, we were also seeking support from other cohorts and were very interested in learning from projects that were very different from ours. As a group of students mainly interested in healthcare and technology, we also looked for a way to learn more about business and entrepreneurship, and SIL has provided us with great resources to do so.
