RMYA creates brighter futures for children in crisis by promoting individual success and healthy relationships in a safe, healing environment, giving children and families the tools to end the cycle of abuse.
“Family style breakfast” is a big deal on Saturday mornings at RMYA’s La Puerta Emergency Shelter residential facility. Many of the young residents of La Puerta were rescued from human traffickers or are at high risk of being trafficked, so a comfortable sit-down meal with friends is a piece of normal that has been rare in their lives.
Breakfast got even better when a 2018 $100,000 grant from Impact San Antonio funded the renovation of RMYA’s kitchen, almost doubling the number of meals served per year from 24,000 to 43,000.
The kitchen serves not only the residents of La Puerta, but also the RMYA Centro Seguro Drop-In Center and Bridge Emergency Shelter. The efficient, improved kitchen allows the preparation of family style meals with new appliances and storage facilities and better use of space, to provide more room to move around. The young residents learn cooking skills to add to other basic life skills taught at RMYA.
On a recent Saturday morning, two La Puerta residents, a boy and a girl, asked to be woken up early so they could help make breakfast for their fellow residents. The night before, the residents decided they wanted a hearty breakfast consisting of French toast, scrambled eggs, bacon and/or sausage, and orange or apple juice to drink. With help from RMYA staff, they worked as a team to get everything prepared, and were proud of what they were able to accomplish. 
RMYA CEO Bill Wilkinson stressed the importance of the new kitchen for the young residents of the facility. “We cannot help these kids heal from their trauma if they’re not having their basic needs met,” he said.
RMYA was established in San Antonio in 1976 and was originally known as the Bridge. Roy Maas, who had worked at a children’s home in Fort Worth, was hired as executive director of the Bridge in August 1976. Two years later, the agency’s name was changed to Youth Alternatives as its services expanded. In 1993, the name was changed to Roy Maas Youth Alternatives in honor of the director, who was battling cancer. He died the next year.
Today, RMYA serves up to 150 young people a day in its residential facilities, in addition to providing counseling to community families with children in crisis. For more information, go to www.rmya.org.
Now, more than ever, our community needs the generosity and commitment of the women of Impact San Antonio to continue our legacy of improving the quality of life for all our neighbors. We’d love to have you. To join or renew, go to:
www.impactsanantonio.org
