Our Work

We all want the children in our community to succeed. We want to open the vast potential of our future inventors, visionaries, and leaders. However, too many children are living in poverty and not receiving an opportunity to be successfully educated. They fail to start school on track, are not reading on grade level, and either do […]

The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program will host a kickoff event on Monday, February 4, at Claude Black Community Center to start the 2019 tax season, which runs through April 15. VITA offers free tax preparation for Bexar County individuals and families who earned up to $55,000 last year. During the regular 2018 VITA […]

Kim Lubel, 2018 United Way Campaign Chair and former chair, president and CEO of CST Brands, recently announced the 2018 United Way Community Campaign raised $46,010,000, exceeding the campaign goal of $41.25 million by $4,760,000! The announcement was made December 12 at a community breakfast held at Pearl Stable with over 300 people attending to celebrate the […]

Imagine receiving a cancer diagnosis without a reliable means of transportation. Knowing that your cancer is treatable, but if you’re unable to get to your appointments, it’s a death sentence. That was the situation for Retired Chief Petty Officer “Richard Pena” when he heard the news, “you have stage 3 prostate cancer.” Pena’s treatment included […]

As a medically retired veteran, Travis and his family saw an uncertain future ahead. Both he and his wife were searching for their next career steps that would help support their family. Like many veterans, Travis had difficulty finding a job in the civilian world after retiring from the military. He and his wife struggled […]

“Melody” enrolled at Healy-Murphy Center (HMC) in March 2015. She moved to San Antonio from Georgia with her eight-month-old daughter, “Kasey,” to live with her father and his girlfriend. Melody had attended two different high schools in Georgia, earning credit to reach the eleventh grade, but also earning a lengthy list of discipline referrals and […]

Toilet training is a challenge for many parents and their children. When you add developmental delays to that experience, the task can become daunting. Families sometimes work for years at this task, with seemingly no end in sight, and then something magical happens, the child goes to camp with the Children’s Association for Maximum Potential […]

Two years ago, Rise Recovery, a United Way nonprofit partner, hired “Jason,” a young person in recovery. At the time of his employment, he had achieved a little more than one year of sobriety. He had previously experienced the devastating effects of a heroin addiction, including homelessness and hospitalization. As a peer counselor with Rise […]

“Randy,” a military member, was attending a class at a local substance abuse facility when he admitted that he was addicted to methamphetamines. Over time, he was arrested for breaking into cars trying to obtain money to buy drugs. Upon his release from the Bexar County Substance Abuse Treatment Facility (SATF) residential program, Randy connected […]

Kathy and Bill Friend have been foster parents with The Children’s Shelter since 1997. They primarily foster infants, and unfortunately in many cases that includes infants born with controlled substances in their system, causing physical and cognitive delays and requiring extra support and specialized care. The Friend family understands that providing exceptional care requires working […]