Funded Partner Spotlight: Community Council of South-Central Texas, Inc.
Since 1995, Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. has provided over $1 billion to improve the well-being of the least served through its clinics, programs, and strategic partnerships. Methodist Healthcare Ministries is proud to partner with organizations that share similar missions and organizational objectives of increasing access to care for uninsured and economically disadvantaged individuals and families across South Texas.
In the months following November 1963, just after President John F. Kennedy’s assassination, President Lyndon B. Johnson carried on Kennedy’s plans to alleviate the burdens of Americans living in poverty. Later the next year, Congress passed the Economic Opportunity Act, which established and funded Community Action Agencies and Programs. By 1968, there were over 1,600 agencies across America serving the country at a local level.
One of these Community Action Agencies, the Community Council of Comal County was established in 1965. In 1981, the change in funding from the federal government to state Block Grant funding led the organization to be renamed the Community Council of South-Central Texas (CCSCT).
Almost 60 years later, CCSCT has expanded to serve 31 counties across South, Central and West Texas with the objective of promoting and delivering much needed services to low-income families in their service area. Case by case, CCSCT uses their network of over 1,000 partner nonprofits and programming to help families on their journey to becoming fully self-sufficient.
In 2023, Methodist Healthcare Ministries (MHM) provided $100,000 in grant funding to CCSCT to fund their housing support programs across their service area. The grant also supported the renovation of a new public outreach facility in Karnes County, where unhoused individuals can come for connections to resources, as well as use printing and computer services.
“It (the grant funding) has been instrumental in providing assistance to low-income families when funding is low or when we are unable to serve that population,” Carol Delgado, program officer at CCSCT, commented. “MHM funding has allowed us to provide assistance that we normally wouldn’t be able to provide.”
The grant provided by MHM will also, in part, go towards the building of a new outreach facility in Karnes County with the hopes of providing basic resources such as a computer lab, breaking down transportation barriers, as well as directing clients to much-needed programs offered by CCSCT.
“A homeless person or unhoused person is not going to be able to travel to our Seguin office or our Jourdanton office so they can go through the front door [at our Karnes office],” Kenneth Loy, Program Manager and Veteran’s Resource Coordinator, commented. “It allows people down there to have a local place to help address an unhoused issue.”
One of the programs CCSCT provides is home and rental assistance in the form of the Tenant-Based Rental Assistance program (TBRA) which offers security and utility deposits as well as rental subsidies for up to 24 months while the household engages in a self-sufficiency program. Securing safe and secure shelter as well as food and water is key to facilitating access to healthcare and other needs for unhoused populations.
CCSCT also provides support for eligible former members of the military through their Veteran’s Financial Assistance program. The program is supported by a grant from the Texas Veteran’s Commission Fund for Veteran’s Assistance and provides short-term services such as one-time utility payments and one-time rent or mortgage payments.
The ERA2 program is an initiative set forth by the U.S. Department of the Treasury to assist eligible families with financial assistance and housing stability. It’s through this program that CCSCT has been able to receive funding to help transition families and individuals out of homelessness and into permanent living spaces. CCSCT has seen a 40% success rate with transitioning eligible households from temporary and semi-permanent living areas and into permanent housing.
“The two basic needs that people look for are food and shelter,” Loy said. “And so, when you address food and shelter, you allow a person the freedom to do other things like pursue healthcare.”
If you or a loved one would like to contact the Community Council of South-Central Texas, visit their website and find a location near you to get in contact with a representative today.
CCSCT Website: https://www.ccsct.org/
