Located at 2318 Castroville Road, the Women’s Live and Learn Center includes supportive housing, workforce development and case management services for women ages 18 to 26.
The four-year supportive housing program will house up to 30 women and 20 children on premises. Its first cohort of residents move in starting late January. Another cohort of 10 will arrive in March and the final in August.
“YWCA is thrilled to open the doors to our Women’s Live and Learn Center, which will provide a stable home for women pursuing their dreams and serve as a beacon of hope for our community,” said Francesca Rattray, CEO of YWCA San Antonio.
Wraparound services for residents at the Women’s Live and Learn Center will include navigation to post-secondary education and degree programs as well as financial literacy, mental healthcare and home ownership training, among other resources, according to the YWCA website.
Affordable community childcare
The nine-acre campus also will provide on-site childcare at the Harvey Najim Early Childhood Education and Care Center, which breaks ground in January and is scheduled to open in September. The center will serve 48 children up to age 5.
Though residents of the women’s center get first dibs on the childcare slots, CEO Rattray told the Current that the daycare facility will be open to the public. The childcare facility is intended to “address a critical need for affordable, high-quality childcare for working families in San Antonio,” according to a news release distributed by the YWCA.
The campus will hold its ribbon-cutting ceremony Wednesday, Jan. 8 at 10 a.m., which will be attended by San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg, Bexar County Judge Peter Sakai, Precinct 1 County Commissioner Rebeca Clay-Flores, District 5 City Councilwoman Teri Castillo and philanthropist Harvey Najim, the childcare center namesake.
Though childcare costs were not publicly available at press time, Rattray said they would reflect the childcare pricing of the YWCA’s existing Olga Madrid Center, which she said is “one of the most affordable in the city.”
However, Rattray added that Olga Madrid is scheduled to raise its rates soon after years of “woefully undercharging for its services,” and that the Harvey Najim center would reflect the new pricing. To further defray costs, Rattray added that many families receive subsidies through San Antonio’s Early Head Start program and the Texas Workforce Commission.
More information can be found at the YWCA Women’s Live and Learn Center webpage.
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This article appears in Dec 26, 2024 – Jan 1, 2025.