RACAP carries on with food, financial aid programs

“We honestly thought we would be inundated by clients, new and old,” she said. “Then, we just didn’t see a lot of people.”

Her organization, which serves about 125 families with groceries and allows for financial aid checks on an annual basis out of its Schertz office, was at a loss to explain the lack of applicants.

“We speculated that the stimulus checks were issued, and then there was the $600-a-week extra for unemployment,” she said.

Meanwhile, food drives and food basket giveaways were cropping up all over the San Antonio area, where families could seek help more frequently than RACAP’s once-every-six-months-offering of aid.

“So we honestly didn’t see the number of people that we thought we would see,” she added.

As an unexpected aside, she said, donations increased “because everybody that was capable of donating would see the news and see the food bank on TV. So they would immediately think of us, and come donate to us.”

In June, RACAP began talking with Universal City officials, who eventually passed along $50,000 for RACAP to administer through the city’s Household Stabilization Program, to help U.C. residents with things like rent, utilities, and food.

This stabilization money was to be spent only on Universal City residents who were directly affected by the pandemic and could prove so.

RACAP already has its own screening process in place for its regular clients: verify residence, verify income, and verify family numbers. But with the U.C. stabilization money came more stringent requirements.

“We had to have pay stubs before and after COVID showing a reduction in hours, or a statement from an employer…we had to document every single person that we approved,” she said. “They really had to prove that, yes, this was a situation. So we were able to really help people in Universal City more than we could have helped them through our normal funding.”

RACAP received the $50,000 for the Stabilization Program money toward the end of July “and we just finished that program,” she said. “I think I wrote the last checks out of that money on Oct. 1, ahead of an Oct. 15 deadline.”

RACAP was established as an emergency food pantry. “The ground rules we have followed for the whole 37 years is that they are allowed to receive emergency groceries once every six months and they are allowed to receive financial assistance to ward rent or utilities once every 12 months,” she said. While the six months may seem infrequent, she stressed that RACAP was formed as an emergency help agency, designed to help in a time of unforeseen difficulty.

“We do what’s right,” she added. “But we also follow guidelines so we are not taken advantage of.”

RACAP relies totally on donations and support from the public, particularly a roll of 25 area churches that support them. But public participation is important and, often, rewarding.

“We get drop-offs just about every day, someone dropping off canned goods, or a case of something,” she said. “They see us on Facebook, we have an email roster and people respond to that.”

“But that’s the ultimate reward, where we help someone get back on their feet, and they are able to turn around and help somebody else,” she said. “It’s like, ‘Hey, you guys helped us five years ago, and now we’re back on our feet,’ or ‘We received this stimulus money and we don’t need it. Put it to use helping people who do need it.’”

RACAP has limited hours — 1-3 p.m. Monday through Friday at 307 Pfeil Street in Schertz. Clients and donors both can call the office at 210-658-1613 to be added to the agency’s list of families, or to arrange a time and date for a food or financial drop-off.

“We have a list of truly dedicated volunteers that we’ve told to stay home, for their own protection, during this time of pandemic,” she said. “They understand, they really do. But they are so ready for things to return to normal, so they can help. I think we all are.”