2021 Impact Report:
Our previous daily resource center operated from 1999-2008. In 2008, Haven for Hope began to be built, and Corazón scaled back our services as a result. But the COVID-19 pandemic showed there was a daily need for the type of service Corazón offers, where all are welcome and there are no qualifications needed to receive services. So, our team worked with the City of San Antonio’s Department of Human Services, Centro, and others to stand up a temporary daily service hub at San Fernando. The hub provided hot meals, access to primary health care, dermatology services, clothing, personal hygiene products, recovery and spiritual support, warm showers, ID recovery and creative art activities.
After operating for over a year- and following many conversations with our partners- we decided to seek a permanent location for our daily services center. On July 5, 2021, Corazón opened the doors to our new Day Center and Resource Hub. At the new Center, clients receive warm meals, clothing and hygiene items, access to hot showers, ID recovery support, haircuts, shelter from weather, and safe, private places to meet with outreach workers and case managers. They also receive referrals to partners as appropriate, including Haven for Hope.
The HUB meets the holistic needs of those we serve, functioning as a single point of entry for clients to receive a continuum of services. Our case managers and peer recovery coaches have lived experience with homelessness and/or substance use issues. They are trained in providing culturally aware, peer-based education at each client encounter.
In 2021, these efforts have transitioned 300+ people to shelter, housing/sober living, or detox/treatment. We know through years of engagement that many clients are resistant to accept services like transitional housing, and that an effective way to make this progression is through offering consistent, low-barrier services and building meaningful relationships.
In November of 2021, we started The Harm Reduction & Drop-In Center to aid clients that are suffering from drug addiction and other forms of chemical dependencies. We have 6 Certified Peer Recovery Specialists that take pride in their ability to assist those in need by providing guidance into the many pathways of recovery available today. Our team provides safe needle exchange, safe cooking kits, safe sex kits, STD and Hep C testing, counseling, education, and referrals to treatment. Harm reduction tactics (verses form of traditional abstinence programs) help improve the chances our clients accept forms of treatment, detox, or recovery and greatly lower the percentage of HIV and Hep C transmissions. Learn more statistics Here or Here.
Corazon revamped and took ownership of the Deborah’s House sober-living home where women can be safely housed, guided and mentored.Six women had a safe, supportive place to live after completing in-patient programs for substance use disorders, providing these women (all at risk of homelessness) with a safe space to reestablish their lives.
Other key results from 2021:
1) We provided 450-600 healthy meals weekly. This includes 9,266 meals provided at the permanent Day Center in the first five months of operations, and an additional 2,000 meals provided Sundays at Travis Park Church during the same period.
2) We distributed over 5,500 hygiene kits this year, including kits distributed at the Resource HUB (in partnership with the City of San Antonio) and the Day Center. These kits included toiletry items, PPE, and sanitizing supplies.
3) Through our shared mobile shower unit partnership with Christian Assistance Ministries, we provided between 30-40 individuals with hot showers each week.
4) Our free, volunteer-led medical clinics served 781 patients in 2021, with 1,906 medical encounters. Individuals were provided with basic preventative and acute care and free medications as needed by 330 medical professional volunteers.
Offering low-barrier options for accessing essential services and building trust through a trauma- informed approach is critical to help the chronically homeless and unsheltered individuals we serve deal with crisis situations, manage chronic conditions, and take steps towards stability.
We are only able to offer these services thanks to the generous support of partners like Travis Park United Methodist Church Foundation. Thank you for your ongoing support of Corazón and our work in service of San Antonio’s most vulnerable community members!
Corazon Ministries, Inc. is historically a leader.
Corazón Ministries (DBA Corazón San Antonio) has been proud to serve those in need in the San Antonio community since 1999, when a group of individuals from Travis Park United Methodist Church began providing meals on Sunday mornings to anyone who was hungry. The group soon realized that most people lining up for breakfast were unhoused, living on the streets in the adjacent park. Within months these dedicated volunteers were serving 75-80 meals every Sunday. The leadership of the church began listening and responding to additional needs; by 2004 Corazón was established as an independent 501(c)(3) dedicated to serving hundreds of San Antonio’s most vulnerable residents each year with a wide array of services.
Aggressive advocacy by CMI and others inspired city leaders to build Haven for Hope, which opened in 2010. We know one organization cannot do this work alone, and we are glad to continue to serve in the heart of downtown San Antonio. With unconditional love and justice, we provide programs that develop mind, body, spirit, creativity, and community. We provide hot meals, access to primary health care, dermatology services, clothing, personal hygiene products, warm showers, ID Recovery and creative art activities. Community is offered and shared four times a week with group discussions.
During the 2020 Covid-19 Pandemic we revamped our program to better serve our clients in downtown San Antonio. In partnership with the City of San Antonio, we helped launch the Resource Hub program to help serve meals, provide street outreach, and daily respite. Since the start of the program we have served 80,000 meals, offered showers, medical care and ID recovery to 1000s, and helped find 100’s of our clients temporary or permanent housing.
Please join us for one of our many activities and be a part of our community. All are welcome!
