DEPARTMENT: Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Melody Woosley
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: All
SUBJECT:
City Council consideration of a resolution of support for applications by the Alamo Colleges Foundation and Goodwill San Antonio for the 2019 Wells Fargo and U.S. Conference of Mayors CommunityWINS grant program
SUMMARY:
This resolution indicates the City of San Antonio’s support for applications by the Alamo Colleges Foundation and Goodwill San Antonio for the 2019 Wells Fargo and U.S. Conference of Mayors CommunityWINS grant program. With Council approval, the Mayor will provide a letter of support for each nonprofit agency, in accordance with the requirements of the grant program’s application process.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Wells Fargo CommunityWINS program awards grants to nonprofit entities with the sponsorship of mayors in communities that participate in the U.S. Conference of Mayors. The 2019 program will make a total of eight awards nationally, two per population size category. San Antonio is in the largest population category, over 500,000, with potential award amounts of $300,000 and $100,000. The grants are one time awards and funds must be spent within one year if awarded.
Applications for this grant opportunity are due from nonprofits by March 22, 2019 and must include a letter of support from the Mayor. Applications must fall into one of the following three categories:
• Neighborhood Stabilization - projects designed to stimulate growth, stability, and assist in removing blight and rebuilding communities
• Economic Development - projects designed to promote business development
• Job Creation - projects to aid in local job creation or assist in job training
The City contacted workforce development delegate agencies to assess interest in applying for this grant opportunity. Alamo Colleges Foundation and Goodwill San Antonio indicated interest in applying, and staff reviewed their applications.
ISSUE:
A nonprofit’s application to the 2019 Wells Fargo and U.S. Conference of Mayors CommunityWINS grant program, must include a letter of support from the mayor of the city in which the nonprofit operates. A city may nominate up to three eligible organizations with proposals to assist the city in promoting economic growth. The City received application proposals from two nonprofits, the Alamo Colleges Foundation and Goodwill San Antonio. Staff reviewed the proposals and recommends supporting both applications, which are summarized below.
Alamo Colleges Foundation proposal
San Antonio is faced with the challenge of fostering an educated, diverse, and competitive workforce that will fuel the economic vitality of the region. Educational attainment levels, labor market outcomes of the area, and access to affordable higher education present key areas for alignment across government, philanthropy, higher education, school districts, college access networks, and advocacy partners. College affordability is a social and economic issue related to poverty, equity, opportunity, and access. However, with approximately 275,000 adults 25 years old or older with some college and no degrees and 169,000 13-18 year olds in Bexar County, there is a unique and urgent opportunity to change the community and address systemic challenges through higher education. Access to affordable higher education for all students is imperative as education impacts individual earnings five times more than any other demographic factor according to the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Alamo Colleges Foundation is driven by the need to increase college affordability and higher education attainment within the community and to provide greater access to economic mobility by meeting workforce demands. For this funding opportunity, the Alamo Colleges Foundation is working in partnership with SA Works, P16 Plus Council of Bexar County, Family Service, San Antonio Education Partnership, and local Independent School Districts.
With this funding opportunity, the Alamo Colleges Foundation introduces Alamo Promise, a new scholarship opportunity that will ensure free tuition at any college within the Alamo Colleges District (ACD) for students from limited-income schools regardless of high school grade point average. The promise to participating students is affordability, support, and pathways during their educational journey via funding for the full cost of tuition for up to three years or 60 credit hours within the ACD, academic support, and job placement assistance to approximately 22,500 graduates from limited-income high schools from throughout San Antonio and Bexar County. Students will be provided with a College Access Coach and College Success & Career Coach beginning at the end of senior year continuing through college completion. This opportunity will be available to students provided they attend one of the five Alamo Colleges, maintain at least a 2.0 GPA, and complete at least six courses (18 semester-credit-hours) per academic year.
Providing students of San Antonio’s limited-income schools with this scholarship opportunity paired with academic and job placement assistance will continue to build upon ongoing workforce development efforts and providing additional targeted support to those with greater need. This strategy will help build San Antonio’s workforce to ensure labor demands of the business community are met in an inclusive manner where all can benefit from a growing economy.
Goodwill San Antonio proposal
The CommunityWINS (Working/Investing in Neighborhood Stabilization) grant program focuses on promoting long-term economic prosperity and quality of life in local communities, an objective which parallels the Goodwill San Antonio mission of helping change lives through the power of work. In San Antonio, almost a fourth of employed adults have to work multiple jobs in order to earn a living wage, meaning that there is a critical need for employment offering sustainable wages. In 2007, through the thousands of individuals helped annually in Goodwill’s Good Career Centers, Goodwill identified a critical need in the community: clients cycled through jobs and needed assistance finding jobs within just a few months of being placed into employment. Research shows a lack of soft skills is the leading cause of termination within months of acquiring employment. Goodwill identified that the solution was not to just provide a job, but to supplement job placement services with soft skills and job readiness training to encourage retention and wage growth. The Good Career Pathway program provides soft skills and job readiness training to clients seeking employment through two tracks: job placement programs and affordable vocational training programs. Both tracks offer case management services that address the unique needs of this population, overcoming potential barriers to successful employment such as low literacy and numeracy skills, or lack of access to housing or transportation.
The Goodwill Career Pathways program serves a low-income, high-needs population, 18 years or older and residing throughout San Antonio. Goodwill career centers work with job seekers who have life barriers which significantly narrow down the type of work they can obtain and retain successfully, such as those with disabilities, facing life crises, little or no education, non-violent ex-offenders, and those experiencing chronic poverty. Roughly 40% of clients have a criminal record, 20% have been unemployed long-term, 15% have a history of substance abuse, and 10% struggle with homelessness. All of these factors contribute to where 70% of clients live under the federal poverty line and 90% are currently unemployed, contributing to neighborhood stress and decline. In order to meet clients where they are, Goodwill offers six career centers, located in central, west, east, north, and two in south San Antonio, as well as one in New Braunfels. Goodwill also works with individuals interested in moving onto a career path through a vocational skills training program. These students are struggling to move beyond a minimum wage job, if they are employed at all. The Good Career Academy’s population is 90% minority, 45% under 30 years of age, and 92% hold a high school diploma or less.
The Good Career Pathways program provides an economic advancement model that leads to family-sustaining wages, moving clients of poverty into economic self-sufficiency through two tracks: job-seekers in economic crisis, needing immediate employment and equipping individuals as they pursue career advancement through vocational certification programs. Both tracks provide wraparound case management to address the barriers the entire family faces, as well as soft skills and job readiness training to ensure long-term success.
ALTERNATIVES:
City Council could choose not to approve a Resolution supporting applications by the Alamo Colleges Foundation and Goodwill San Antonio to the CommunityWINS grant program. Without Council support, the Mayor would not be able to sign a letter of support, and the organizations would not be able to fulfill the application requirements for this opportunity.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this resolution of support.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends approval of a Resolution supporting applications by the Alamo Colleges Foundation and Goodwill San Antonio to the 2019 Wells Fargo and U.S. Conference of Mayors CommunityWINS grant program.