Nonprofit Spotlight: SA Youth

Lisa Hutchinson, SA Youth Site Coordinator

What is your role at your organization, and what does it entail?

I may be a bit biased, but I believe I have the best role at SA Youth as a Site Coordinator in our Elementary Out-of-School Time (OST) Program! Our OST Program provides a safe place with engaging programming at times of the day when juvenile delinquency is the highest— after school and before parents get home from work. As Site Coordinator, I have the opportunity to give back to San Antonio by creating meaningful relationships with our students and their families. I get to assist them in their learning and emotional development through our curriculum, which includes STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics), reading, math, and physical education activities.

Describe your organization’s mission in your own words.

At SA Youth, we strive to provide a fun and safe environment for our students to reach their maximum capabilities, In the Spotlight: SA Youth

all while providing exceptional educational programming. We empower our students with the tools they need to develop their character, strengths, talents, and skills to exceed their potential, both personally and academically. We accomplish this through our programs, Out-of-School Time (OST) and Youth Development, a dropout recovery program that is designed to build competitive workforce skills for students ages sixteen to twenty-five.

What is a common misconception about your organization or the mission you serve?

Most people generally assume that we are just an afterschool program, but we are so much more than that! Our OST Team strives to connect with every student and their family members on a personal level, in many cases following the family all the way through the student’s high school graduation. We truly work hard to get to know our community so that we can provide much-needed support and resources whenever needed.

What does $100 support when giving to your organization?

Every dollar counts at SA Youth, and $100 means so much to our organization! With $100, we can provide materials and supplies to support our curriculum and our classrooms.

What is an upcoming way to get involved at SA Youth?

Currently, our OST team is planning for Lemonade Day on July 15! One of our key initiatives is providing our students with skills beyond what the classroom can provide. Because of this, SA Youth was handpicked as the exclusive City Sponsor for San Antonio’s Lemonade Day. Lemonade Day gives our students the opportunity to learn about creating and executing a business plan, financial literacy, and developing a brand while building a lemonade stand! Anyone can invest in our student’s lemonade stands this summer by heading to our website:

www.sanantonioyouth.org

Nonprofits are the heartbeat of our community.

Nonprofits are the heartbeat of our community. Behind each organization is a dedicated team driven by a unique mission to provide a necessary service to our city. In fact, San Antonio is home to over 12,000 registered nonprofit organizations that employ almost 68,000 San Antonians each year (San Antonio Nonprofit Economic Impact Study, 2020). What are these organizations, and whom do they serve? Who are their employees, and what work do they do? Nonprofit Spotlight will shed light on a local organization, a member of their team, and a peek behind the curtain to understand what it takes to serve our community.