Monday evening’s Spring Fling brought nearly 200 women together to celebrate our collective impact! Held at The Veranda, the event was our first large gathering in 14 months. The warm smiles and cheerful greetings illustrated how much we’ve missed each other’s company.
The biggest highlights of the night included hearing from seven of Impact San Antonio’s current and past presidents and a current UTSA student who is serving as a peer mentor in the university’s Fostering Educational Success Center — a program that empowers youth who have a history of foster care.
Each past president shared a personal story about one of our funded agencies and the experiences that they forever carry in their hearts. Guest speaker Caroline Nolen, who is graduating this month from UTSA, described the challenges that foster youth face when applying to and navigating college. Imagine filling out college applications, searching for affordable campus housing and getting help if you become sick or injured, all without having a trusted adult in your life to give you guidance and support. Impact San Antonio awarded a 2019 High Impact Grant to UTSA’s Early Start Experience, a six-day program for incoming and transferring students with a history of foster care. Ms. Nolen praised the program for the help it has given her and other students with similar backgrounds.
Ms. Nolen also shared her desire to join Impact San Antonio someday so she can help others in our community find success and a path forward. Upon hearing this, our seven presidents joined together to fund a membership for Caroline!
And speaking of memberships, we added 25 new memberships or renewals to our roster as a result of Spring Fling!
You can find photos on our Facebook page. Thank you to everyone who attended. For those who could not be with us, we look forward to seeing you in person later this year!
