Melanie Cawthon was working with people with intellectual disabilities when she discovered her calling. She saw that while many organizations exist to help people with specific disabilities, a person or their caregiver dealing with multiple disabilities would need to find three, four or more different agencies to get assistance. The city needed a unified community of service providers. That insight … Read More
Supporting veterans with personalized care
Military service sometimes comes at a personal cost for service members and their families. That’s why Endeavors, a San Antonio-based nonprofit organization, is dedicated to helping veterans and their families with personalized, comprehensive care. Hear from one of the SVPSA Fellows on their mission to support military and their families.
The Power of the SVPSA ConnNectwork
A car wash does not seem to be a very big deal. However, when a fledgling organization gets an unexpected communication offering the proceeds of a Haunted Car Wash to be held the weekend prior to Halloween, the wheels start to turn.
Fellowship with SVPSA Helped SOS Grow
VPSA Fellowship alumnus Amir Samandi remembers the “ah-ha” moment that triggered the thought to start Students of Service (SOS).
Nonprofits We Love: Pride Center San Antonio
The Pride Center San Antonio provides much-needed support to the city’s lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ+) community, who often face significant obstacles in their daily lives.
Refreshed Thinking Transforms Fellows’ Work
After each gathering of the SVPSA Fellowship, Texas Kidney Foundation CEO Tiffany Jones-Smith comes home with a checklist of action items. Paging through her notebook to the most recent entry, she reflects, “If I implemented five of the nine that are here, that’s transformative.”
Providence Place Addressing Generational Trauma
Founded in 1895, Providence Place began as a rescue mission for young unmarried mothers, evolving today to create innovative programs for women in crisis to address and end generational trauma. One fact has remained true: it is not the size of the program that matters, but the impact it makes in the lives of women and families.
Inspiration Came from Learning About the 990
Jasmin Dean, founder and executive director of Celebrate Dyslexia, always dreaded filling out Form 990, the annual filing that the IRS requires of nonprofits and charities. Dean saw the 990 as a distraction from the mission-critical work that she was doing to create community, offer resources and provide support for dyslexic students, their families, and the educators who serve them.
Fellowship provided a sense of community
In the early days of the pandemic, Pride Center San Antonio scrambled to deliver on its mission to provide services and support to the LGBT+ and ally community in San Antonio.
Program Profile: The Impact Guild
Sarah Woolsey established The Impact Guild five years ago because she saw a need in San Antonio for a network of support for entrepreneurs who want to be a force for community impact. She was exposed to social entrepreneurship in Austin and wanted to bring that to San Antonio.