Contacts: San Antonio, TX
We would like to thank all of the organizations and contact people below for welcoming our group of faculty. Each meeting was expertly planned, and our trip participants benefitted from the contacts that were made.
Back to Organiztion InformtionSites Visited
Making Connections (Edgewood Family Network)
Making Connections is a 10-year investment by the Annie E. Casey Foundation from Baltimore, MA. They focus on imporving outcomes for families and children in tough and isolated neighborhoods. To do this, they partner with many community and social service agencies working toward economic empowerment, poverty reduction, improved health conditions, etc. Encompassing most of the city's west side, it works to help improve conditions for more than 130,000 residents living in some of the nation's most disinvested neighborhoods. Five neighborhood "sectors" serve as a base for a range of family strengthening and community building activities.
Intercultural Development Research Association
Throughout its history, IDRA has been a vocal advocate for the right of every student to equality of educational opportunity. It was founded in 1973 by Dr. Jose A. Cardenas. Today, it is directed by Dr. Maria "Cuca" Robledo Montecel. IDRA is a leading policy group that studies educational policy, trends, and issues facing minority students (particularly inner-city Hispanics). It offers professional development, research and evaluation, policy and leadership development, and programs and materials development.
Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center
The Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center was founded in 1980. Located in the heart of San Antonio's west side, it is the largest community-based, multidisciplinary organization in the country. Its mission is to preserve, promote, and develop the arts and culture of the Chicano/Latino/Native American peoples for all ages and backgrounds through public and educaional programming in the six disciplines: dance, literature, media arts, theater arts, visual arts, and Xicano music.
City South
Historically, the south side of San Antonio has been underdeveloped while the city's north side has experienced explosive growth. City South is an organization devoted to envisioning and carrying out the economic master plan for development of San Antonio's south side (an 80-square mile area bordered by Loop 410 on the north, IH-37 on the east, IH35 to the west, and an area up to 5,875 feet south and parallel to the Medina River). Former Mayor Ed Garza and other city leaders are committed to balancing San Antonio's growth by promoting the south as a new direction for the city's new future. The south is a blank canvas that offers master planned communities, affordable homes, reasonable commute times, and healtheir and safer neighborhoods.
Texas A&M System Office
The Texas A&M University System is having an increasing presence in San Antonio. Numberous research efforts are underway by various agencies of the System. There are longer-term plans for expanding this effort to better serve the needs of residents of San Antonio and south Texas.
The Social and Health Research Center
The Social and Health Research Center is committed to the social and health well being of pupulations as risk. In 1992, it conducted the Mexican American Metabolic Study, a community-based study aimed at analyzing implied relationships between diabetes and sociological factors. Among other programs, it operates The Bienestar Health Program in low-income neighborhoods, in English and in Spanish, to decrease dietary fat, increase physical activity, prevent obesity, and prevent diabetes.