Family Service Association has been in San Antonio so long that Covid-19 is actually their second pandemic. The agency, which opened in March 1903, also weathered the 1918 flu pandemic.
While little information exists on how that went, the agency today has changed its procedures to address a variety of needs in our community through both in-person and online services. Those include education, counseling, senior services, job training and financial stability, and parent and community involvement. They have four locations in San Antonio, plus one in Uvalde and another in Crystal City. They also have 19 Head Start and five Early Head Start programs in schools and serve clients in a 14-county areas of South Texas.
“We have 28 direct service programs that serve over 56,000 clients every year,” said Catie White, vice president, development and donor engagement. “The challenges are not one-dimensional. We are helping create long-term sustainable change in their lives.”
The agency is one of only a few that have received two High Impact Grants from Impact San Antonio: one in 2016 to upgrade the security monitoring equipment at the facility used by their Kidshare supervised visitation program, and another this past fall to replace the aging air conditioning units at their main location on San Pedro Avenue.
Like other nonprofits, Family Service has seen a large uptick in the number of clients since the pandemic began, White said.
“Fifty percent of our families have lost jobs or had reduced hours,” she said. “We saw an 800 percent increase in emergency assistance requests.
“During the pandemic, first and foremost, we have remained open the entire time. We have more online services, but we still have in-person counseling sessions because our clients need it. We wear masks and abide by strict protocols for safety.”
One major issue, White said, is that many of the agency’s clients don’t have Internet access in their homes.
“Our Best Buy Teen Tech Center expanded its hours for online learning, and with Head Start, we worked quickly to make sure families had access to hot spots or some way to get their children online. We have a computer lab at our Neighborhood Place on the West Side as well. And we started weekly telephone check-ins with our clients to make sure they stay connected to us.”
The security system that our 2016 grant funded at the Kidshare site has been especially important during the pandemic, White said.
“It has made things so much better for our families,” she said. “Before we had the cameras, parties could stalk and harass others outside the building, and we couldn’t see it. It was taxing on our staff to make sure our families were safe. Now, the front desk staff can monitor all exterior areas. We couldn’t be more grateful.”
The 2020 grant to replace their HVAC unit will save the $60,000 annual cost of keeping the old, inefficient unit running, and that money will be plowed back into programs, White said.
“We want to give a huge thank you to the ladies of Impact SA,” she said.
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