Social Services

Boys & Girls Club of San Antonio – May’s Family Clubhouse

January 5, 2017 by

The Boys Clubs opened in San Antonio in 1939, in a small facility on Dolorosa Street. Over the years the clubs grew in stature, membership and facilities, so much that in 1963, Congressman Henry B. Gonzalez presented then President John F. Kennedy with a gavel and handmade box created by the members in their woodworking shop. In 1976, girls were invited to become members and the name of the clubs was officially changed in 1991 to the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio.

Through the decades the programming and facilities have improved but the mission has remained the same. Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio’s mission is to enhance the educational, social, and moral development of San Antonio’s youth ages 6-18, especially those most disadvantaged by providing a fun, safe place full of age appropriate activities and opportunities. Through the professional staff, thriving facilities, dynamic volunteers, and strong links to the community, the clubs provide professionally designed youth development programs.

Today, BGCSA serves more than 9,200 Club members annually, ages 6 – 18, and operates seven branch locations in the city of San Antonio. Membership is open to all children in San Antonio for nominal annual membership dues ($50). No child is turned away due to an inability to pay. The majority of the club’s membership is comprised of minority children (95%), from single parent / grandparent families (62%) and receives some form of federal assistance (75%). The clubs’ impact is undeniable: 99% of members stayed in school and successfully progress to the next grade level, 100% of graduating teen members pursued higher education 71% made notable progress in character development and 99% improved their grades in basic skills courses (math, science, reading).

At the venerable age of 75, the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio reached a crossroads: aging facilities had becoming inadequate for the needs of the organization, and an expansion was necessary to maximize the Club’s impact on San Antonio’s at-risk youth population. In early 2015, the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio decided to launch an $8.8 million capital campaign to build the May’s Family Clubhouse in the Lone Star neighborhood.

On January 5, 2017, Crescent Growth Capital worked with the Boys & Girls Clubs of San Antonio to close a $7,267,118 NMTC financing for the new May’s Family Clubhouse, utilizing NMTC allocation provided by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, NMTC equity investment provided by Capital One, and a capital campaign bridge loan provided by Frost Bank.

The May’s Family Clubhouse is located in a neighborhood that offers youths few opportunities for success, and as a result, the neighborhood has suffered: the Lone Star neighborhood has the highest juvenile crime rate in San Antonio, and nearly double the City’s average child abuse and teen pregnancy rates. The proposed branch at 829 Nogalitos is anticipated to have 650 members and daily attendance of about 225 youths, utilizing a state-of-the-art facility that features a learning center, multi-media centers, an art studio, a teen center, a teaching kitchen and a game room. The May’s Family Clubhouse will also be situated at the trail head for the San Pedro Creek development.

Family Service Association – The Neighborhood Place

December 15, 2016 by

Family Service is a nationally accredited, private, non-profit, non-sectarian agency funded by the United Way, and operating under fee-for-service contracts with a number of San Antonio’s largest outreach programs, including the Assistance League of San Antonio, the Alliance for Children and Families, and the Methodist Healthcare Ministries.

Family Service provides high quality services on more than 60 school campuses, in 8 agency offices, and within client homes. For the past 110 years, Family Service has been characterized by four traits that drive all agency programs and services: (1) an abiding dedication to families; (2) innovative research-based approaches; (3) responsible fiscal management; and (4) collaboration with community stakeholders.

Family Service has been a leader in San Antonio’s impoverished communities for decades, providing a full continuum of life supporting services including behavioral health counseling, crisis counseling, youth development, school & community engagement programming, workforce and financial empowerment, child care resource and referral, and Head Start early childhood education.

Family Service has been recognized by both Federal and State organizations as a leader in the implementation of evidence-based models, including, but not limited to the SAMHSA Science to Service Award, Best Practices Award Winner as well as serving as a research host site for multiple national level evidence-based curricula, including Multi-Dimensional Family Therapy, ACC/ACRA, Families and Schools Together, Parents as Teachers, Nurturing and Strengthening Families. Family Service is one of only ten nationally accredited child care resources/referral service centers and the only one in the state of Texas.

Located in the former H.K. Williams Elementary School, the repurposed Neighborhood Place is a collaborative community concept providing a comprehensive array of more than 40 programs and services designed to address troublesome community needs and improve outcomes for children and families.

The facility also represents a new and unique model for revitalizing an impoverished urban community, by focusing on services that strengthen families. The multi-tiered collaboration at the Neighborhood Place leverages resident leadership and public-private partnerships to deliver program services that help families work, earn, and save their way toward self-sufficiency. This model places a specific emphasis on improving the overall health of children within the family, through programs aimed at stemming child abuse, providing healthy food alternatives, and helping families better prepare children to succeed in school.

In 2014, more than 60 organizations utilized The Neighborhood Place to provide a diverse array of services to the community, including the City of San Antonio, VITA tax preparation services, H.E.B., Texas Veterans Commission, Twogether in Texas, Texas A&M, UT San Antonio, Positive Choices, Odyssey, Antioch Baptist Church, Bexar Area Agency on Aging, UT Health Science Center, Project MELD, Boystown, Immaculate Conception, Girls Inc., KLRN, Texas Council on Family, Superior Health, Holy Cross, Ballet Folklorico, AVANCE, Hispanas Unidas, Girls Scouts, Head Start, Alliance for Veterans, etc.

The majority of the people who visit The Neighborhood Place each year come from the surrounding neighborhoods, which are predominately Latino, and are extremely impoverished: 32% of all residents, and nearly 44% of households with children, live below the federal poverty line. Among adults in the targeted zip codes, fully 47% do not have a high school education.

Despite all the programs and services Family Service Association provides out of The Neighborhood Place, the facility was in drastic need of repairs, including an upgraded HVAC system, asbestos remediation, electrical upgrades, additional restrooms, security, as well as upgrades to parking, flooring and perimeter fencing.

In December, 2016, CGC and Family Service Association closed on a $6M NMTC financing to provide the financing necessary to renovate The Neighborhood Place, utilizing NMTC allocation provided by Enhanced Capital and Wells Fargo.

Los Barrios Unidos – Family Health Center

December 22, 2015 by

The mission of Los Barrios Unidos Community Clinic (LBUCC) is to proudly provide quality care to all people, creating a safe, affordable, and accessible healthcare experience. In 1972, the residents of several West Dallas neighborhoods united to open a community clinic in a portable building to serve a population disenfranchised from the economic and social services of the city due primarily to language and cultural differences.

LBUCC has flourished tremendously since its opening. 93% of LBUCC’s 21,000 patients are Hispanic and 74% are uninsured. Nearly 30 clinicians provide 70,000 patient visits each year. Patients are drawn from all parts of Dallas County although West Dallas, Oak Cliff and Grand Prairie are the core market areas. LBUCC proudly provides top-notch care to all people regardless of race, ethnicity, place of residence or even the ability to pay.

There is no shortage of need for affordable primary care in Dallas County, which is the second largest Metropolitan area in Texas in terms of size and population , and ranks ninth in the nation. 18.7% of Dallas County’s 2,368,139 residents or over 443,000 individuals live below 100% of the Federal Poverty Level (Census 2010).

In late 2014, Los Barrios Unidos engaged Crescent Growth Capital to facilitate the NMTC financing of its new Family Health Center, a new 21,400 square foot clinic offering 15 exam rooms, 3 open Team Stations with 4 modular workstations each, a large ground floor laboratory, a phlebotomy area, a massive 75-seat waiting area and plenty of storage.

In December, 2015, LBUCC and CGC closed on a $7MM federal NMTC financing, providing the funding necessary to construct the Family Health Center, using NMTC allocations provided by Primary Care Development Corporation and Capital One Bank. The NMTC subsidy drastically reduced LBUCC’s cost of capital, greatly reducing the ongoing debt burden for a non-profit FQHC whose patient base is nearly 3/4’s uninsured, while creating 24 new FTE jobs in one of Dallas’ most impoverished areas.

Omaha Early Learning Center – Gateway Project

May 6, 2015 by

Inspired by the Educare Learning Network, the Omaha Early Learning Centers (“OELC”) provide early childhood education programming to the most needy children in Omaha – a population that has grown significantly over the past decade. In the ten years ending in 2011, the Midwest saw a 40% increase in childhood poverty, the greatest such increase in the US. Studies have shown that children living in poverty start school 2-3 years behind their peers in terms a educational development, and are seven times less likely to graduate high school. Furthermore, a November, 2009 study concluded that every dollar spent on early childhood education equates to a 7-10% rate of return: poverty-stricken children that enroll in early childhood development programs are better prepared when they enter the school, more likely to graduate from high school, more likely to earn a higher wage, and are less likely to resort to public aid, or turn to crime.

In January 2014, Congress appropriated $500M to expand the number and quality of early learning opportunities for infants and toddlers through the Early Head Start – Child Care Partnerships grant program. OELC, in partnership with the Buffett Early Childhood Fund, found itself in a unique position to combat Omaha’s alarming rise in poverty by leveraging these Federal dollars into new early childhood programming. That program needed a home, though, so in mid-2014, OELC engaged Crescent Growth Capital to facilitate the NMTC-financing for two new early childhood development facilities in Omaha.

In May 2015, OELC, the Buffett Early Childhood Fund and CGC closed on a stacked $10.26M State/$3M Federal NMTC financing to construct the Gateway ELC, utilizing NMTC allocation provided by Enhanced Capital. The new 16-classroom facility will include a full kitchen and multi-purpose room, that will serve up to 96 infants and toddlers, and 68 pre-kindergarten students. The project is anticipated to create 38 full time jobs, and an additional 10 jobs for contracted service providers. Using the Educare model as its inspiration, the Gateway center will focus enrollment on the most impoverished children first, thereby maximizing its impact on those most in need of help.

Educare of Lincoln

October 21, 2014 by

Educare is a research-based program that prepares young, at risk children for school; a specially-designed place that nurtures early learning and sends a bold message about the value of investing in the first five years; an innovative partnership between the public and private sectors to create a more efficient, more effective early learning program; and a compelling platform to drive change among policymakers, business leaders and early childhood providers by showing what quality early learning looks like.

Educare of Lincoln opened in February of 2013 with 100 students and 35 staff. Educare of Lincoln represents a unique public-private collaboration among several community partners, including: Lincoln Public Schools, Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders Counties, the University of Nebraska, the University of Nebraska Foundation, and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund. In the typical Educare model, private funds build the facility and public funds are braided to support operations.

As with every Educare Early Childhood Learning Center, Educare of Lincoln specifically targets the most impoverished children first. By providing crucial early childhood development to the most needy children, and developing a culture of parental involvement, Educare’s model is set up to affect lasting change in the lives of Lincoln’s most at-risk children.

In October, 2014, Educare of Lincoln, Buffett Early Childhood Fund and Crescent Growth Capital closed on a $10MM State QEI. Using Nebraska NMTC allocations provided by Enhanced Capital Partners and Stonehenge Capital, the financing will provide nearly $1MM of net NMTC subsidy to the existing operations. This subsidy will allow Educare to double its capacity to 191 students and increase employment to 50-60 full-time staff, putting the program in position to positively impact the lives of Lincoln’s poorest families for years to come.

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