The donation is part of a total $133.5 million donation to 40 CIS programs across the nation—the largest gift the nonprofit has received in its 40-year history, according to a press release.
Across Texas, 13 CIS affiliate organizations received funding from the donation, said Chris Douglas, CEO of CIS-SCT.
CIS-SCT was founded 29 years ago in New Braunfels and serves students on 59 campuses throughout the independent school districts of Comal, New Braunfels, Luling, Marion, Nixon-Smiley, Seguin and Schertz-Cibolo-Universal City. CIS partners with school districts and places full-time counselors—site coordinators—in a school to assist students that need help outside of the purview of the school, be it academic support or family assistance to access other resources.
“It's a very holistic view, helping families you know, to access resources in the community, or to have their rent paid or electricity paid. All the way down to supporting academics by just little things like teaching kids how to organize their notebook or their backpack, so they're just not lost when they start looking for homework, to helping them understand the importance of doing well in school and then helping them think about their future,” Douglas said.
She added CIS often keeps in contact with students after they graduate high school to assist with accessing career training, college or military options in early adulthood.
“Being chosen for this tremendous unsolicited gift is the validation of the life-changing work CIS of South Central Texas has undertaken over the last 29 years. The timing could not be more important due to the innumerable challenges for our site coordinators and our administration and board have faced in the last few years,” Douglas said.
The donation will provide a solid foundation for CIS-SCT for the first time in its history, Douglas said, but that does not mean it no longer needs donations.
“[It] is going to be a huge help to us. But we still continue to need donations and have people come to our events and all of the fundraising that we do throughout the year,” Douglas said.
