The City of San Antonio, during budget discussions, can certainly take a better look at how we support young people whose futures hang in the balance, our guest columnist writes.
Billy Calzada/Staff Photographer
San Antonio is being forced to address a tough question: What do we value enough to pay for and support?
This question became very real for the city as it grappled with canceling a massive Fourth of July celebration, rising costs, possible tax increases and a projected $158 million budget shortfall.
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Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones said it best: When money is tight, taxpayers deserve to know what their dollars are supporting.
This debate hit a high point when the mayor questioned why the city continues to fund outside organizations that charge admission, including the San Antonio Botanical Garden. City staff proposed reducing the organization’s $1.2 million funding to $1 million, but the mayor said she wanted to take it to zero, noting that the organization has ticket revenue and fundraising events that could support its work.
This does not mean that the botanical garden in unimportant.
In fact, this civic asset serves hundreds of thousands of visitors and is an oasis for locals. Public support helps keep programs, access and maintenance going.
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Even so, Jones is on point. If San Antonio is looking at cuts to nutrition centers, public health, libraries and other basic services, then every subsidy, event and partnership should be measured against more urgent needs.
Over the past nine months as CEO for THRU Project, which serves young adults aging out of foster care, I have seen one of these needs up close.
These young adults have little to no support for what’s next. They are becoming adults without the housing, mentors, family networks and safety nets many of us benefited from when we were starting.
Among these young San Antonians, 20% will experience homelessness after aging out of the foster care system. The challenge is real, but it is also clear and solvable. When these young adults get consistent support, they graduate, find work, lead and give back.
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This is why this current budget discussion should not just be about what gets cut; it should also be about what we protect.
If San Antonio can take a hard look at a million-dollar subsidy to a cherished and beloved civic institution, debate support for festivals and major events, and ask philanthropy to help close public gaps, then we can certainly take a better look at how we support young people whose futures hang in the balance.
San Antonio has always seen itself as a city of compassion. This moment asks us to make those values real in the budget.
As we decide which institutions can “figure it out,” as the mayor said of the botanical garden, and which must be protected, we should not forget the young adults leaving foster care who are trying to build a future without the support most of us had.
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If the question is what San Antonio values enough to pay for, then their futures belong near the top.
Leonard Brennan Rodriguez is the CEO of THRU Project, which serves young adults aging out of foster care.
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