Transformative Growth: My Journey through the SVP Fellowship Program Participating in the Social Venture Partners (SVP) Fellowship Program has been nothing short of transformative. As the Director of Community Engagement, I have always strived to expand my horizons, sharpen my leadership skills, and deepen my understanding of the nonprofit sector. The SVP Fellowship has not only met these aspirations but … Read More
Helping the homeless one life at a time
As the director of homeless services for Christian Assistance Ministry (CAM), Valerie Salas often feels like Batman putting on his cape.
She leads a team of five assisting one of the city’s most vulnerable and challenging populations: people experiencing chronic homelessness.
Most of them are not candidates for more conventional homeless services due to mental illness, physical disabilities or substance abuse issues. Salas’ team meets them where they are, whether it’s on CAM’s downtown campus or the streets. When they’re ready, CAM will help them with other needs, such as ID recovery, employment, housing, and other support services.
Restoring the lives of young women rescued from sex trafficking
Residents of the Youth Center of Texas are in many ways typical young women in their late teens and early twenties. They love music, clothes, doing their hair and nails and making plans for the future.
To look at them, you’d never know they are all survivors of sex trafficking in San Antonio.
They’re now receiving comprehensive care through YCOT, the only residential facility in Bexar County providing support services exclusively to young women aged 18-22 who have experienced sexual exploitation or trafficking.
SVPSA Announces the 2023-2024 Fellowship
Social Venture Partners San Antonio is pleased to announce Class 4 of our Leadership Fellowship, made up of 20 outstanding nonprofit leaders who begin in September. The Fellowship was developed out of conversations with nonprofits to address some of their professional development needs. We designed the day’s content to strengthen nonprofit executive level leaders to round out their skills. The 7 month program, that is held September – March of each year includes 6 full day sessions (we do not meet in December) with dozens of experts from all areas to share their experience and tools for success.
Helping children with disabilities soar
SVPSA Partner Sharon Krietzburg never intended to be the executive director of a nonprofit. She was working part-time for one when the founders decided to shut it down. Krietzburg, now fully committed to the mission, decided to continue the work she was passionate about: providing once-in-a-lifetime vacations to San Antonio for children with disabilities and their families from all over the U.S.
Advancing and engaging people with disabilities
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
Mission Visit to Promesa Academy
Upon arrival at Promesa Academy, Social Venture Partners received big smiles and high fives from staff and student leaders from the school, welcoming us on a sunny afternoon October 6th. The warm day was matched by an extraordinarily warm welcome by our host, Ambika Dani, the academy’s founder and Superintendent and the four students who led us through a tour … Read More
Kickoff to 2022 Fellowship
Nineteen nonprofit leaders began a journey with SVPSA on September 14th to strengthen their skills, learn from each other and build a community of support. The SVPSA Fellowship, under Lead Partner, Jennifer Moriarty, started with each Fellow telling their own story of how they began their nonprofit journey.