Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Cathy Hamilton. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Hi Cathy, appreciate you sitting with us today to share your wisdom with our readers. So, let’s start with resilience – where do you get your resilience from?
By overcoming years of abuse, poverty and witnessing alcohol abuse in my life as a child & young adult.
Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?
I started San Antonio Threads because of the need for foster youth to have access to decent clothing. I couldn’t stand for them to be digging out of boxes & barrels sifting through used, smelling garments anymore… It’s been 7 years & almost 75,000 teens later that have shopped for brand NEW clothing, shoes, undies, jackets& hygiene ! We have come a long way since we have started, operating out of a donated space & serving 50 youth a month to now 1,000 a month or more ! What makes our nonprofit special is our clothing, shoes, undies, hygiene, jackets & everything in our shop is brand new ! Youth feel very special that they can choose their favorite color, and style, New clothing & shoes always fits, provides comfort, combats bullying, keeps our kids in school & gets our youth jobs.
If you had to pick three qualities that are most important to develop, which three would you say matter most?
My passion to make a difference, relationships with DFPS & Foster Care Providers, willingness to work hard. Be willing to work hard, do the research, network.
Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
San Antonio Threads number one challenge is that we are serving a huge population, it’s bigger than we have the capability to serve. We need to find more grants, funders, partners, companies, organizations, that support daily operations. We can receive tons of new clothing, socks, undies, we need support for daily operations to keep the lights on, fuel in the vans for delivering to the schools, insurance, lease, etc. We anticipate to serve 18,000 youth in SA this year alone. Many times we serve in one month as most closets serve in a year. Basic needs are not just basic, most families cant afford rent, food, fuel, let alone new shoes & jeans. We are willing to do the work, but we need our community to get beside us.
Contact Info:
- Website: Sanantoniothreads.org
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/sanantoniothreads
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/4ourteens
- Twitter: www.X.com/sa_threads
