Guadalupe Street Coffee, Cruzan's and the NEW BCFS Health and Human Services' Community Center
For more than five years, Guadalupe Street Coffee – sponsored by BCFS Health and Human Services – has been a safe and positive after-school haven for students on San Antonio’s West Side. With a focus on increasing school retention and enhancing teens' likelihood of graduation, the coffee shop became a hot spot for club meetings, study groups, art shows and more.
However, in recent years, Guadalupe Street Coffee found its health and human service mission competing with the restaurant responsibilities inherit in operating in a full-service café. That’s why, last November, the coffee shop unveiled a new partnership with Cruzan’s, a family-owned restaurant known for its artistic and healthy approach to traditional comfort foods.
The space became a restaurant by day and youth center by night (and on weekends too!). Together, our organizations blossomed… and demand for expanding both our services – the restaurant and youth and children programming – has boomed.
With the opportunity to grow our missions, combined with an unexpected availability of space across the street, BCFS Health and Human Services’ Guadalupe Street Coffee has decided to move out of the coffee shop and into the offices formerly operated by Avenida Guadalupe Association.
As of February 28, the restaurant space will be wholly operated by Cruzan’s. BCFS Health and Human Services will be opening our new community center across the street shortly.
Now, Cruzan’s will be able to offer healthy and delicious meals seven days a week, for breakfast, lunch and dinner (which was an important request from community leaders). And BCFS Health and Human Services will be able to expand its operating hours, scope of programming, and number of community partners that can work together to offer positive and progressive services to residents on the West Side.
While we are proud of the innovative cooperative model we created that answered multiple needs of the community in a single location, we are equally excited to magnify the good work we are doing for those that call our neighborhood home.
We hope you’ll continue to visit us both (look for an invite to BCFS Health and Human Services’ new center grand opening soon!).
