The Where I Live series aims to showcase our diverse city and region by spotlighting its many vibrant neighborhoods. Each week a local resident invites us over and lets us in on what makes their neighborhood special. Have we been to your neighborhood yet? Get in touch to share your story. If your story is selected and published, you will receive a $250 stipend.
Due to a health change in 2021 and surgeries back to back, I gained more health specialists than I needed in my life. My physical abilities became limited and my work status was changed by my doctor, along with going through a separation and divorce. God heard my prayers and I received a letter in the mail from Opportunity Home San Antonio, a local housing assistance program. I had a case worker that worked quickly to schedule an appointment with her to get vouchers for an apartment.
My older son Rodolfo and I started our search for a new home and we found Rancho Sierra Apartment Homes. It was further away than we wanted from family and friends but my father said, “Give it a chance!” It was a big complex and a different environment for us — people were walking their dogs, riding bikes with their children. I told my son, “I love it, let’s try it.”
We have bus stops on all sides of the complex, which are nice as an alternative option to our car if we ever need it. Our apartment has nine-foot ceilings, washer and dryer connections, two bedrooms, two bathrooms and a good sized patio on the first floor, which is helpful with my health disability.
Lisa Espinoza plays UNO with her children, 19-year-old Rodolfo and 9-year-old Nicky, in the kitchen of their Rancho Sierra apartment. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report
Having my morning coffee on the patio or getting to look up at the dark night sky lit up by bright stars at first felt unreal, like a dream. But it was real. This was our fresh new start, a place we can call home.
Rancho Sierra is fully equipped with a swimming pool, gym and a recreational center with activities run by a group of people called the Southside Collaborative, a group I later on joined.
Amanda Onochie, a former City of San Antonio employee, assists our apartment management in putting on holiday events at our complex. Let me tell you they are amazing. I ended up joining the crew and help plan events with them. Me and three other resident volunteers help the staff decorate and set up tables for activities. During Halloween we had a haunted house, we dressed up and passed out candy. In the summer we like to throw a pool party with food, drinks and music.
Lisa Espinoza and her two children Rodolfo and Nicky pose with staff members at the Resource Center at Villa Coronado, a city-operated resource center that provides the community with a food pantry, a free library, access to baby formula and a community garden, as well as community classes. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report
Then my friend Amanda introduced me to the Resource Center at Villa Coronado, run by the city with the nicest employees in the world. They provide services like a food pantry and a resource closet that includes diapers, wipes, formula and other resources for the community. In the summer they have a youth program. On Wednesdays from 1-3 p.m., the center hosts events where 15 or so members of the community come together for educational health activities. Sometimes we pick food from the fresh growing garden outside the building.
Every month at the resource center there is a neighborhood association meeting where we talk about growth and needed improvements in the area. (If you’re interested in learning more, stop by and check out what’s going on in the neighborhood or grab some of the fresh fruits and veggies they provide!)
The Resource Center at Villa Coronado is a city-operated resource center that provides the community with a food pantry, a free library, and access to baby formula, a community garden, as well as community classes. The resource center works in conjunction with the San Antonio Food Bank and many other community outreach groups to source goods and is the only of its kind in the United States. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report
My son Nicholas is a student at Gallardo Elementary School. I could say it is one of the safest schools that I’ve seen. They have Southside ISD school security officers patrolling the area and all campuses in the district. Even though the kids wear uniform colors, the school tries to make it fun for them by having dress up days — from hats to pajama day, it’s always a different event on the monthly calendar.
They make it exciting for the kids to want to come to school and see their fellow students and teachers dressed up. Ever since my son started at Gallardo, he wakes up at 6:40 a.m. every day. He never tells me he doesn’t want to go to school and never makes excuses, so I know they are doing something positive.
For the golf lovers out there, right across the street from our complex there is the Mission del Lago Golf Course. It’s open to the public. It caters to all skills and levels and has 18 holes. It’s a great place to unwind with friendly staff and a beautiful view of the sunrise or sunset, so stop and enjoy the view when you’re there! If you get hungry they have a little cafe on the spot called Rockin’ G Grill — don’t forget to try them on the way out!
Lisa Espinoza and her children check in with community members and volunteers who are doing yardwork and planting fruit trees at the Resource Center at Villa Coronado. Credit: Clint Datchuk for the San Antonio Report
We are down to my favorite spot, The Mission del Lago Trailhead, where people come from all over town to bike or run on the trail. Let me not forget to mention, it’s pet friendly.
My kids and I with our neighbors get on our bikes and hit the trails on the weekend just to enjoy the scenic routes. The sunrise or sunset over the golf course grass — it’s breathtaking I could say. One thing I could add is Mitchell Lake, which we pass along the trail, is known as a bird haven.
My kids and I put the tablets, phones and VR on off and get out. We wanted a fresh new start and God blessed us with this beautiful neighborhood and we wouldn’t have it any other way than living on the South Side and the Mission del Lago neighborhood.