Health Services South San Antonio ISD Head Start plays an important role in promoting the health and safety of children by helping them to establish lifelong healthy patterns. Healthy students are better learners, and academic achievement bears a lifetime of benefits for health.

Our Head Start program staff ensure that our children are up to date on immunizations, their state’s Early and Periodic Screening Diagnosis and Treatment (EPSDT) schedule, and learn healthy eating habits. The program also promotes the physical, social, and emotional well-being of children and their families. Staff members work diligently to assist families in finding and engaging quality medical and dental care, including in some cases access to affordable-to-no-cost community resources.

Education:

• Individualized Learning
• Quality Child/Staff Ratios
• Develop School Readiness Skills
• Culturally Diverse Activities
• Fostering of Each Child’s Independence
• Follows the district calendar and is a full-day program.
• It offers every child a quality, comprehensive preschool experience in a nurturing and safe environment.
• Effective early education programs improve the learning and development of all children.
• Provide developmentally appropriate teaching methods and instructional materials for its young learners.

Disability:

• Serve Children with Disabilities, Including Severe Disabilities
• Screenings and Ongoing Assessments
• Individualized Activities
• Individual Education Plans
• Coordination with contractual and district resources
• Parent Advocacy and Training

Health and Safety:

• Medical and Dental Case Management
• Clean and Safe Environments
• Family Style Eating
• Nutritious Meals

Family Support Services:

• Promotion of Cultural Diversity
• Promotion of Self-Sufficiency through Partnership Agreements
• Assistance with Accessing Community Resources and Services
• Transportation may be Available for Children Meeting Eligibility Criteria
• Opportunities for Parent Engagement Activities

SSAISD knows that parents are a child’s most important teachers and is committed to building strong relationships with parents to enhance and enrich the development of children.

Eligibility requirements:

• The child must turn 3 or 4 before September 1 of the current year.
• The child's family must meet the Federal Poverty Guidelines and reside in Bexar County.

The child and/or child's family must also meet at least one of the following conditions:

• The child to be enrolled is in foster care.
• The family is receiving benefits or services through the TANF Program.
• A family member living with and supported by you is receiving Supplemental Security Income benefits (SSI).
• The family is homeless.

A Point Priority assistance is given to children from low-income families and children with a disability, including a severe disability. Income eligibility requirements for Head Start may be waived if your child has a current Individualized Education Plan (IEP).

Your Family Service Facilitator will ask for current copies of the child’s well exam, dental exam, and immunizations.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Head Start programs provide a learning environment that supports children's growth in the following domains:

• language and literacy;
• cognition and general knowledge;
• physical development and health;
• social and emotional development; and
• approaches to learning.

Head Start programs provide comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social, and other services determined to be necessary by family needs assessments, in addition to education and cognitive development services.

Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage.

Head Start emphasizes the role of parents as their child's first and most important teacher. Head Start programs build relationships with families that support:

• family well-being and positive parent-child relationships;
• families as learners and lifelong educators;
• family engagement in transitions;
• family connections to peers and community; and
• families as advocates and leaders.

Eligibility requirements:

• Child must be 4-years old on or before September 1 of this year.
• Child may qualify based on the following criteria: Income-based, active duty military, limited English, special learning needs, CPS involvement/foster child

Head Start is a federally funded program provided at no cost for qualifying families.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Free.

Provides senior adults, 60 years and older, and spouses, in Bexar County, with a nutritionally balanced lunchtime meal in a congregate setting with supportive services consisting of:

• Companionship
• Nutrition Education
• Basic Health Screenings
• Social Services
• Outreach activities
• Recreation and Dance
• Computer Classes*
• Arts and Crafts
• Exercise Classes*
• Transportation*

*Not available at all centers.

The SNP is funded by the City and the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) through the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG), and currently offered at various senior centers throughout the City.

Age 60+ and spouse.

Free.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Head Start programs provide a learning environment that supports children's growth in the following domains:

• language and literacy;
• cognition and general knowledge;
• physical development and health;
• social and emotional development; and
• approaches to learning.

Head Start programs provide comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social, and other services determined to be necessary by family needs assessments, in addition to education and cognitive development services.

Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage.

Head Start emphasizes the role of parents as their child's first and most important teacher. Head Start programs build relationships with families that support:

• family well-being and positive parent-child relationships;
• families as learners and lifelong educators;
• family engagement in transitions;
• family connections to peers and community; and
• families as advocates and leaders.

Eligibility requirements:

• Child must be 4-years old on or before September 1 of this year.
• Child may qualify based on the following criteria: Income-based, active duty military, limited English, special learning needs, CPS involvement/foster child

Head Start is a federally funded program provided at no cost for qualifying families.

Provides senior adults, 60 years and older, and spouses, in Bexar County, with a nutritionally balanced lunchtime meal in a congregate setting with supportive services consisting of:

• Companionship
• Nutrition Education
• Basic Health Screenings
• Social Services
• Outreach activities
• Recreation and Dance
• Computer Classes*
• Arts and Crafts
• Exercise Classes*
• Transportation*

*Not available at all centers.

The SNP is funded by the City and the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) through the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG), and currently offered at various senior centers throughout the City.

Age 60+ and spouse.

Free.

St. Vincent de Paul parish hosts a city-sponsored nutrition program for seniors, 60 years of age and above, and the disabled. The program includes a hot meal, served in the Parish Center five days a week. Activities such as bingo, line dancing, card playing, and dominoes are also provided.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Free.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Head Start programs provide a learning environment that supports children's growth in the following domains:

• language and literacy;
• cognition and general knowledge;
• physical development and health;
• social and emotional development; and
• approaches to learning.

Head Start programs provide comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social, and other services determined to be necessary by family needs assessments, in addition to education and cognitive development services.

Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage.

Head Start emphasizes the role of parents as their child's first and most important teacher. Head Start programs build relationships with families that support:

• family well-being and positive parent-child relationships;
• families as learners and lifelong educators;
• family engagement in transitions;
• family connections to peers and community; and
• families as advocates and leaders.

Eligibility requirements:

• Child must be 4-years old on or before September 1 of this year.
• Child may qualify based on the following criteria: Income-based, active duty military, limited English, special learning needs, CPS involvement/foster child

Head Start is a federally funded program provided at no cost for qualifying families.

The Senior Luncheon is held the second Thursday of each month at 11:00 AM in the O'Brien Center. A meal is served followed by a rousing game of Bingo. Gatherings reach 100 people in attendance!

Seniors.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Free.

Offering San Antonio and Bexar County seniors 60+ comprehensive resource facilities.

This center provides programs to help seniors lead active, independent, and engaged lives. This is done through comprehensive nutrition, wellness, and education services.

Services include:

• A daily lunchtime meal
• Transportation services to eligible seniors living within a 5-mile radius of the center 

Programs and activities include:

• Caregiver support services
• Certified fitness advisor
• Evidenced-base education programs
• Fitness classes
• Health screenings
• Social services

To become eligible to attend this center and participate in services, individuals must reside in Bexar County and meet one of the following criteria:

• 60 years and older
• Under 60 years married to a 60+ participant who attends the center and accompanies the participant to the center
• Under 60 years, disabled, and resides with a 60+ participant and accompanies the participant to the center (only applicable to the HEAL Meal Program)

• Online Safety Classes
• Computer Skills Classes
• Free Wi-Fi

Provides senior adults, 60 years and older, and spouses, in Bexar County, with a nutritionally balanced lunchtime meal in a congregate setting with supportive services consisting of:

• Companionship
• Nutrition Education
• Basic Health Screenings
• Social Services
• Outreach activities
• Recreation and Dance
• Computer Classes*
• Arts and Crafts
• Exercise Classes*
• Transportation*

*Not available at all centers.

The SNP is funded by the City and the Texas Department of Aging and Disability Services (DADS) through the Alamo Area Council of Governments (AACOG), and currently offered at various senior centers throughout the City.

Age 60+ and spouse.

Free.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Free.

San Antonio Jewish Senior Services is happy to purchase and deliver challah to older adults in our community. We hope to make Shabbat and holidays special for everyone in the community.

Thank you to all our SAJSS volunteers for delivering with smiles, without you we wouldn’t be able to do what we do!

Click here to request Challah delivery.  

This program is for older adults.

This center provides programs to help seniors lead active, independent, and engaged lives. This is done through comprehensive nutrition, wellness, and education services.

Services include:

• A daily lunchtime meal
• Transportation services to eligible seniors living within a 5-mile radius of the center 

Programs and activities include:

• Adaptive equipment to support independence
• Arts and crafts
• Fitness and dance classes
• Health resources
• Health screenings
• Recreational games

Amenities:

• Computer station lab
• Dining hall
• Exercise and dance studio
• Full gym
• Multi-purpose classrooms

To become eligible to attend this center and participate in services, individuals must reside in Bexar County and meet one of the following criteria:

• 60 years and older
• Under 60 years married to a 60+ participant who attends the center and accompanies the participant to the center
• Under 60 years, disabled, and resides with a 60+ participant and accompanies the participant to the center (only applicable to the HEAL Meal Program)

• Free Wi-Fi
• Free Computer Use

Provides senior adults, 60 years and older, and spouses in Bexar County with a nutritionally balanced lunchtime meal in a congregate setting with supportive services consisting of:

• A daily lunchtime meal
• Companionship
• Nutrition Education
• Basic Health Screenings
• Social Services
• Outreach activities
• Recreation and Dance
• Computer Classes*
• Arts and Crafts
• Exercise Classes*
• Transportation to and from the center for eligible seniors living within 5-miles of the center

*Not available at all centers.

Age 60+ and spouse.

Free.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Head Start programs provide a learning environment that supports children's growth in the following domains:

• language and literacy;
• cognition and general knowledge;
• physical development and health;
• social and emotional development; and
• approaches to learning.

Head Start programs provide comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social, and other services determined to be necessary by family needs assessments, in addition to education and cognitive development services.

Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage.

Head Start emphasizes the role of parents as their child's first and most important teacher. Head Start programs build relationships with families that support:

• family well-being and positive parent-child relationships;
• families as learners and lifelong educators;
• family engagement in transitions;
• family connections to peers and community; and
• families as advocates and leaders.

Eligibility requirements:

• Child must be 4-years old on or before September 1 of this year.
• Child may qualify based on the following criteria: Income-based, active duty military, limited English, special learning needs, CPS involvement/foster child

Head Start is a federally funded program provided at no cost for qualifying families.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

free

Our Summer Meals For Kids campaign aims to fill the summer meal gap by providing no-cost nutritious meals, groceries, and snacks for children over the summer. When kids eat great, they can play great!

Kids 18 and under are eligible to access no-cost summer meals from any of the Summer Meal sites.

Children do not need to be enrolled in a specific San Antonio Food Bank program to receive a meal.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Free.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Free.

FreeFood.org is about helping people. We created this website as a resource for users to find and add free food resources locally and nationwide.

This free food resource list is by no means all-inclusive. We are always looking for more resources.

If you know of a food resource that is not included here, please submit new food pantries, food coupon resources, and food banks to our database by ADDING A LISTING. Please provide full information.

Head Start is a federal program that promotes the school readiness of children ages birth to five from low-income families by enhancing their cognitive, social, and emotional development.

Head Start programs provide a learning environment that supports children's growth in the following domains:

• language and literacy;
• cognition and general knowledge;
• physical development and health;
• social and emotional development; and
• approaches to learning.

Head Start programs provide comprehensive services to enrolled children and their families, which include health, nutrition, social, and other services determined to be necessary by family needs assessments, in addition to education and cognitive development services.

Head Start services are designed to be responsive to each child and family's ethnic, cultural, and linguistic heritage.

Head Start emphasizes the role of parents as their child's first and most important teacher. Head Start programs build relationships with families that support:

• family well-being and positive parent-child relationships;
• families as learners and lifelong educators;
• family engagement in transitions;
• family connections to peers and community; and
• families as advocates and leaders.

Eligibility requirements:

• Child must be 4-years old on or before September 1 of this year.
• Child may qualify based on the following criteria: Income-based, active duty military, limited English, special learning needs, CPS involvement/foster child

Head Start is a federally funded program provided at no cost for qualifying families.

Our Summer Meals For Kids campaign aims to fill the summer meal gap by providing no-cost nutritious meals, groceries, and snacks for children over the summer. When kids eat great, they can play great!

Kids 18 and under are eligible to access no-cost summer meals from any of the Summer Meal sites.

Children do not need to be enrolled in a specific San Antonio Food Bank program to receive a meal.

Our Summer Meals For Kids campaign aims to fill the summer meal gap by providing no-cost nutritious meals, groceries, and snacks for children over the summer. When kids eat great, they can play great!

Kids 18 and under are eligible to access no-cost summer meals from any of the Summer Meal sites.

Children do not need to be enrolled in a specific San Antonio Food Bank program to receive a meal.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety..

Free.

The Mobile Loaves & Fishes, Inc. (MLF) program began in 1998 as an outreach ministry at St. John Neumann Catholic Church in Austin, Texas. It was founded on the guiding principle of "providing permanent, sustainable solutions for the chronically homeless, with compassion, love, and dignity." From its humble beginnings with six St. John Neumann parishioners who delivered 75 sack lunches per day, Mobile Loaves & Fishes has grown into a nation-wide movement that includes 16 meal trucks and 17,208 volunteers in Massachusetts, Minnesota, Rhode Island, and Texas. To date, the Austin-based MLF program and its affiliates have served over 4.4 million meals.

In 2006, the St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church Mobile Loaves & Fishes core team approached St. Francis of Assisi parishioners with a proposal for establishing a new MLF ministry. The promise of seed money and organizational support was bolstered by the Austin-based MLF program's donation of a catering truck. Recognizing the plight and ever-growing problem of hunger in the San Antonio area, St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church excitedly joined the MLF ministry in January 2007.

The initial St. Francis of Assisi call for volunteers brought over 500 parishioners into the ministry. In the intervening years, the MLF ministry has involved over 450 parishioners and other volunteers from area businesses, churches, and civic groups including: Episcopal Church of the Holy Spirit, Holy Trinity Catholic Church, Newcomers of San Antonio, NuStar Energy L. P., and the San Pedro Presbyterian Church. From an initial goal of serving only supper seven days a week, the MLF program expanded to include lunch and supper every day of the week. The program provides various services to 16 San Antonio area locations, including House of Prayer Lutheran Church, Guadalupe Community Center, Interfaith Welcome Coalition, St. Vinnys Bistro, refugee communities near the Medical Center, and several parishes on the South and West sides of the city.

With homelessness and hunger posing a major problem throughout the world and in San Antonio, it is our goal to help alleviate some of that suffering. From 2007 to December 2022, MLF volunteers have served 800,000 meals to 21 San Antonio area locations.

The St. Francis of Assisi Mobile Loaves and Fishes ministry has adopted the following mission statement: "to provide food, clothing, and dignity to our brothers and sisters in need."

With the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, our MLF ministry has been forced to alter our normal meal delivery schedule and limit the overall number of locations served.

To view the newly revised Meals Serving Schedule, click the Calendar link.

Click here to see the various San Antonio locations served by the St. Francis of Assisi Mobile Loaves and Fishes ministry.

Here’s how Safe Place works:

Step One – A young person enters a Safe Place and asks for help.

Step Two – The site employee finds a comfortable place for the youth to wait while they call the licensed Safe Place agency. For the greater San Antonio area that is Roy Maas Youth Alternatives (RMYA).

Step Three – An RMYA staff member will talk with the youth to get more information and explain that an SAPD officer can escort them to the RMYA Bridge Emergency shelter.  If the child is agreeable, the RMYA staff will contact SAPD to transport the youth to the shelter. 

Step Four – Once at the Bridge, direct-care staff and counselors meet with the youth and provide support. Agency staff ensures the youth and their families receive the help and professional services they need.

This program is for youth under the age of 18 in need of immediate help and safety.

Free.