We are nearly a week into 2026, and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t already a little overwhelmed by the work ahead. In my work at SAMMinistries , I see a long list of projects to raise awareness, build advocacy, provide support, and raise funds to continue what I tend to ‘feel’ is the actual work: connecting neighbors to stabilizing housing and further opportunities to create self-sufficiency.
With the new year, we tend to use this time as a launchpad for what could be, while disregarding what has come before. BUT there is so much to remember from 2025.
One of the most profound and galvanizing events that SAMMinistries hosts is the annual Homeless Persons’ Memorial Service. Every year, community members, public officials, and staff from homeless response organizations gather to read the names of every known individual who passed away while experiencing homelessness. Locally, we join together with Close to Home and members of the Alliance to House Everyone: Haven for Hope , Corazon Ministries Inc , Christian Assistance Ministry , Endeavors San Antonio, Communities Under the Bridge , The Salvation Army of San Antonio . Beyond the names and numbers (271 passed in 2025), we partner with Goodwill Industries of San Antonio to place a pair of shoes with a name card for every individual, creating an evocative display that continues to resonate with me.
This year, I was captured by the words of SAMMinistries’ President and CEO, Nikisha J. Baker, about the power of housing and its collective and transformative power in our community:
“Housing is the foundation of stability and wellbeing.But we also know that housing is healthcare; housing is education;housing is recovery; housing is public safety; housing is justice;and housing is a human right.”
Stability and wellbeing. Healthcare. Education. Recovery. Public safety. Justice. A Human Right.
Housing is the starting point, the foundation, the opening door to brighter futures and opportunities. And a community that protects this human right can weather the storms that inevitably come. If we protect housing, food is easier to come by. If we protect housing, opportunity is that much closer.
Looking to 2026 - with 2025 in mind and the names still resting in my mind - I wonder what a community fully invested in housing could look like. What does it look like to you?