In 2023, we achieved significant milestones as we utilized our funding to build internal capacity and strengthen our collective infrastructure and programming, directly supporting the safety and well-being of undocumented pregnant and postpartum people in San Antonio, Texas. In partnership with San Antonio Metropolitan Health District, San Antonio Area Foundation (SAAF), and UT Health San Antonio, SSFTX received a two-year Access to Care grant to improve health outcomes in the community. The partnership provided capacity-building opportunities such as workshops held by the SAAF and a series of 1-1 consulting sessions, significantly increasing the team’s capacity to engage in strategic planning.
A significant portion of the total funding that SSFTX received in 2023 was allocated to enhancing the quality of team members’ experiences within the collective, supporting their personal development and well-being, and fortifying the internal infrastructure of the collective. As a Reproductive Justice-focused collective, SSFTX recognizes the importance of nurturing and enhancing team members’ well-being. These values led us to make significant investments in creating progressive practices that directly support the well-being of team members, such as a professional development fund, paid parental leave, monthly childcare stipends, technology stipends, health benefits, and implementation of a 4-day workweek.
The professional development fund allowed team members to hone their knowledge, skills, and practices around relevant topics such as financial management, strategic planning, health navigation, collective care and wellness, cultural organizing, postpartum birth work, lactation education, communications, and marketing. Increased opportunities for training, workshops, and accessing educational materials empowered team members to strengthen their knowledge and skills in the community. SSFTX took steps towards ensuring reproductive justice in our internal collective by implementing paid parental leave for team members and monthly childcare stipends for parenting team members. Additionally, SSFTX allocated funding for technology stipends to ensure that each team member has the equipment necessary to effectively carry out their work, particularly given the significant remote work realities caused by the global pandemic. Recognizing that SSFTX’s work is deeply emotional, physical, and mental, we believed that investment into sustainable collective care practices was integral to ensuring the well-being of team members and their families.
SSFTX also increased its capacity to provide comprehensive medical, vision, and dental benefits to its team members, made possible by the support of partners, Open Collective Foundation and JustWorks. Team members could safely and securely access essential medical, dental, and mental health services for themselves and their families during an uncertain time in Texas around our health rights and access. SSFTX introduced a 4-day work week for team members to promote a healthy and positive work-life balance. This administrative policy change was driven by our vision of advocating for conditions that honor our autonomy and dignity. We look forward to the opportunity to continue building and expanding our collective care practices in 2024.
After establishing a strong foundation, the strategic planning process transitioned into the relaunch of the Health Advocate Project. Beginning with an assessment of the community’s needs and an analysis of internal capacity and resources, SSFTX laid down the parameters needed to center asylum-seeking pregnant, birthing, and postpartum undocumented women and families in their initial three years postpartum. The project’s components were intentionally outlined to include educational workshops, printed educational marketing materials, monthly diaper and wipe provisions, cash assistance, postpartum meals, prenatal vitamins, accompaniment, and material donations such as clothing, Postpartum Health Kits, and Reproductive Health Kits. SSFTX also compiled a list of community resources to create linkages while initiating partnerships with local community organizations like Latched, Teku, and the Cannenta Foundation Center. Partnerships were key in improving access to medical, legal, and mental health resources and support for undocumented pregnant and postpartum people in San Antonio.
In collaboration with Huls Design, a talented creative team in San Antonio, Texas, SSFTX has engaged in the redesign of its website and social media assets. SSFTX looks forward to the website relaunch and rebranding planned for the beginning of 2024. The SSFTX website will serve as a vital communication tool that will help increase the visibility of SSFTX’s work and provide channels for accessing resources online.
Moreover, grant funding received in 2023 enabled SSFTX to relaunch its Health Advocate Project in the community by directly supporting the compensation of bilingual community health workers who provide sexual and reproductive health case management and education to undocumented pregnant and birthing adults and youth. The Health Advocate Project also conducted virtual and in-person educational workshops offering accessible and culturally sensitive health services and resources such as Postpartum Care Kits. Educational print-outs around important sexual and reproductive health topics and services in San Antonio were created in Spanish and shared with women and their families during convivios in the community.
In September 2023, the Health Advocate Project launched its inaugural postpartum virtual support group for undocumented postpartum women. The support group sessions were facilitated in collaboration with a Spanish-speaking birth worker. The support group aimed to provide a safe and supportive environment for undocumented women to share their experiences, concerns, and emotions that have come up for them during the postpartum period.
SSFTX’s Health Advocate Project made significant strides in the San Antonio community in 2023 by increasing undocumented pregnant and birthing people’s access to sexual and reproductive health education, counseling, and resources in their communities. The program’s bilingual approach, strategic partnerships, and outreach efforts have addressed a critical need in the community.
SSFTX's Empowerment Mutual Aid Fund offers material support such as diapers, wipes, clothing, and reproductive and sexual health supplies to undocumented pregnant and birthing people up to 3 years postpartum. In 2023, SSFTX provided community members with approximately $15,300 worth of grocery assistance, rental support, diapers and wipes, vitamins, medications, health visits, sexual and reproductive health supplies, postpartum care, baby supplies, and other emergency assistance.
2023 was a year of strengthened advocacy in our San Antonio community. In August of 2023, a coalition of Reproductive Justice-focused organizations in San Antonio, including Sueños Sin Fronteras, Jane’s Due Process, Lilith Fund, and AVOW Texas, spearheaded an initiative advocating for the City of San Antonio to allocate $500,000 of its $3.7 billion 2024 fiscal year budget to support the creation of the City’s first Reproductive Justice Fund. Organizers from the coalition proposed that the fund would create access points to resources such as pregnancy tests, community birth workers, emergency contraception, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and menstruation products, as well as supporting people traveling out of state for an abortion. Furthermore, the Fund meets an urgent need in the community and ensures that people do not have to subject themselves to deceptive and coercive practices from anti-abortion centers (AACs), also known as crisis pregnancy centers.
What challenges did you face during 2023? What did your Collective learn? How did you change or grow?
Our four SSFTX team members engage in many roles and tasks, which has often left our small collective stretched thin with limited capacity to sustain engagement in social media and other forms of community engagement. SSFTX looks forward to expanding our capacity and increasing our social media presence in 2024. We hope to achieve this through collaborations with local student internship programs and partnerships in the community. We hope that strengthened communications will positively impact our ability to strategize and engage in meaningful community-based fundraising initiatives.
An additional challenge faced by the collective has been navigating the transition from focusing primarily providing direct support to focusing on education and advocacy. This transition has been particularly challenging due to the ongoing and increasing material needs in the community. Furthermore, many gaps in access to services and resources have been exacerbated by restrictive and harmful state legislation that has threatened the bodily autonomy and dignity of undocumented pregnant and birthing people in Texas. Our team worked with our community to identify actionable solutions to address these challenges and increase access to lifesaving reproductive and sexual health resources. The passing of the Reproductive Justice Fund in the city 2024 budget in September exemplified that our city of San Antonio has the power to push back against oppressive state policies and advocate for equitable solutions rooted in their residents’ self-determination.
What are your plans for 2024?
With the support and mentorship from María Fernández from Juárez and Fernández Consulting, SSFTX mapped out areas of focus for 2024, which include the strengthening of programming, engaging in sustainable financial management, strengthening the collective's communications and marketing, and launching community-based fundraising efforts.
We are excited for the year ahead and have the same purpose - to co-create positive health and healing outcomes alongside undocumented and immigrant pregnant and birthing people in San Antonio, Texas. Moreover, SSFTX aims to increase its collective capacity to expand on current programming and resources. Partnering with more community organizations and engaging in advocacy for equitable legislation at local and state levels will help ensure that the human rights of all Texans are protected despite racist and barbaric state legislation. The SSFTX Health Advocate Project aims to continue hosting in-person convivios in the community to deepen sexual and reproductive health knowledge, dismantle stigmas, and foster an environment that heeds trust and understanding.
SSFTX’s strategic plans for 2024 will make significant strides toward our greater vision of liberation for all, ensuring conditions that affirm our autonomy and dignity, enable us to create the families of our choosing, freely express our gender and sexuality, and live healthily and safely, and free from violence. The continued support of stakeholders and community members will be vital to ensuring the success of our strategic goals and vision in 2024 and beyond.
On behalf of Sueños Sin Fronteras, we would like to thank our beautiful community in San Antonio and across the country. We couldn't do this work without your support, love, and solidarity.
