The Good News
March 2020
A Message from Our CEO


Our Dear Neighbors, 

We are working hard to continue to meet the needs of our community. We have gone virtual and are engaging children, families, and seniors in programming through various social media platforms, text messaging, telephone calls and video conferencing.

We do not yet know what the next few weeks will bring, but we are anxious to resume normal operations soon. When that happens, Good Sam will be ready to continue serving in the manner most needed and desired by the community.

We are grateful for the commitment of our staff and Board for their mission-focused mindset and for moving forward even in these times of constant change. We are adhering to the shelter-in-place directives of the City and County. This does affect our traditional methods of outreach and service, but we have adapted. If you have any questions or need assistance, please email communications.admin@goodsamtx.org . We are here for you, our neighbors.

I invite you to read the rest of our newsletter to see how we can support each other as well as for updates on school closures, other resources, and more. I pray for you and your family's continued health and safety.

Most sincerely, 
Simón Salas
CEO
Good Samaritan Community Services
#BigGiveRelief
The Big Give event has been moved to September 10, 2020. In the meantime, the Big Give site has been re-purposed as an Emergency Relief Fund. Click the link below to donate and share with your networks, or create your own fundraising page to help support our neighbors in our Good Sam community.
10 Work Tips for #shelteringinplace
Free Meals
The San Antonio Food Bank is providing free meals at various distribution sites throughout the city for those in need of meals. Click the website link below for information on specific locations.
Also, several San Antonio School districts are providing free meals for students up to 12th grade at local schools. You can check out this map by NowCAST SA to find locations by school district where you can pick up free breakfast and lunch while schools are closed, as well as hours of meal distribution.
Online Learning Resources
If you have children staying home and are searching for educational sites for them to use to supplement their online school learning, you can check out the following links:

Online learning for PreK-12th grade: https://www.neisd.net/onlinelearning
Digital Stories and Magazines:
San Antonio, Edgewood & Brownsville ISD Closures
San Antonio and Edgewood ISDs will remain closed until April 24. Brownsville ISD classes also remain cancelled until April 13. Instructional support for all students will be provided through remote learning:



Share a Smile
Stolen from one of our Monday Motivations - during this challenging time, help keep your neighbors' spirits up. We will get through this.
Talking With Children About COVID-19
For a good resource for talking with your children about COVID-19, visit the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website.
Charter Communications (Parent Company of Spectrum) Offering Free Broadband, WiFi Access to Families with Elementary and College Students
Charter Communications, the parent company of Spectrum, announced that beginning on Monday it will offer free broadband and WiFi access for 60 days to families with elementary school or college students who do not already have a Spectrum subscription. The company is also waiving its installation fees for new subscribers. To enroll in the free broadband and WiFi program, you can call 1-844-488-8398.​
We are so grateful for all of our donors who give to our agency each month. Good Sam relies on the support of compassionate and caring individuals to help provide programs that empower our neighbors.