Maria Benavidez

Maria Benavidez is the President & CEO of SA Youth. In 1984, Brother Danna Gauthreaux noticed there were many kids hanging out on the streets of downtown San Antonio. So, he organized activities and offered a snack and homework help in the basement of St. Mary's Church. In 1986, the program became known as The Downtown Youth Drop In Center and officially became a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

The need became so great that the group soon outgrew the basement of the church and moved into a building donated by the Toudouze family, where it remained for many years. Today, Brother Dana’s vision continues as SA Youth and his mission continues. Through two signature programs, SOAR! and Academic Achievers, SA Youth continues to serve the youth of San Antonio. Academic Achievers provides after school care for the elementary and middle school students of South San ISD. SOAR, which stands for See Our Achievements Rise, offers accredited high school diplomas for students ages 16-24 who left their high schools before graduating.

While earning their diploma, the students also earn up to 128 hours of workforce development, leadership skills and life skills through enhanced programming offered by partners such as Bank of America, Venture Lab and Healthy Futures. A Student Engagement Specialist helps the students complete such tasks as applying for college, completing financial aid applications, connecting with community resources and accomplishing goals each student sets upon enrolling in SOAR. Mental health services are also available for all SOAR! students.

Maria Benavidez

Maria Benavidez (picture right) is the President & CEO of SA Youth. One morning, she got up in the night and thought, we should do something to prevent children from dropping out of school. We know children suffer from anxiety, depression, or they've been bullied. They're living in a home with domestic violence or drug & alcohol abuse. This is when the idea of The CALM Clinic started. CALM stands for Counseling Assistance for Lifestyle Management. The CALM Clinic's goal is to help youth early enough while they're still in school. Friday, May 30th was their Grand Opening and Ribbon Cutting Ceremony.

The CALM Clinic works with children and any mental health issues to hopefully prevent them from dropping out of school. We help anyone aged six and over, but our target population is children who are struggling in school with poor attendance or academics. We want to help them understand their issues and develop coping mechanisms.

The CALM Clinic is inside our building at 1215 West Poplar. There is a wing set aside that's separate from the rest of the building so that there is confidentiality for people who come to see our therapists. We know that mental health is a barrier to people's success, and we want them to become better citizens and better parents, so their children or grandkids can have better opportunities.

We serve the top five at-risk zip codes, 78207, 78228, 78223, 78237 and 78211, where 41% of the population does not have a high school diploma. They are coming to us and saying, I want to do better, I want to get better, and I want to heal. We see it as a recurring and a generational issue. Something happened in their lives that has kept them from becoming successful.

The CALM Clinic accepts private insurance and Medicaid, but if people need help, we're not going to turn them away. We do not have funding for this program right now, but the need was too great to turn a blind eye.

See Our Achievements Rise (SOAR!) program keeps growing because the dropout population keeps growing. We believe that everyone deserves a second chance. SOAR! provides young adults between the ages of 16 to 24 who have left the traditional school system an opportunity to complete their education by earning an accredited high school diploma.

We want our clinic to keep them in school, but if we can't, then SOAR is there to capture them. Our hope is that the clinic can capture children in middle school to help them learn how to cope and stay in school. We want to be able to help all generations and help them to heal right now. For information call (210) 223-3131 or visit www.sanantonioyouth.org/calmclinic

Meet The CALM Clinic Team

We create a compassionate, supportive environment where clients feel heard and understood. Our team of therapists specializes in various areas of mental health and works collaboratively to offer the most effective care tailored to family and children's unique needs.