Philanthropy SA Podcast · Philanthropy SA Podcast

Philanthropy SA Episode 39 - Chris Martin with United Way of SA and Bexar County

·34 min·2 clips

United Way’s VITA program served almost 25,000 residents and generated $33.2 million in refunds.

Dan Revman opens with a relaxed check-in and welcomes Chris Martin back to the show. Chris talks about his long United Way background and says he is coming up on completing seven years of service in San Antonio and Bexar County. The conversation keeps circling back to the local side of philanthropic work, with Revman asking about the programs people can actually feel in their daily lives. Chris describes the volunteer income tax assistance effort and the scale it reached. Almost 25,000 people chose to use it during tax season. Volunteers helped generate $33.2 million in tax refunds, and families saved $5.9 million in tax preparation fees. Chris presents that work as stability for working people who are trying to make ends meet. Dan responds to the real-world pressure behind taxes and the relief that can come from getting them done right. The episode also gives credit to the volunteers themselves. Hundreds donated over 10,000 hours. A group of high school students even trained, earned advanced certification, and spent Saturdays helping families prepare returns. From there the conversation shifts into early childhood work. Chris explains that the community has been building awareness around the importance of early childhood development and access to quality early care and education. The discussion stays practical rather than abstract. It keeps returning to relationships, training, and the systems that make help available. Near the end, the conversation turns to 211. Chris notes that the line had over 200,000 connections with people seeking service. Dan treats that number as the kind of thing worth keeping close. The episode ends on the same simple note it has carried through: public help works best when people can reach it without friction.

As heard by us

A steady civic conversation that turns local service work into something concrete.

This is a calm, civic-minded conversation about the work United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County does on the ground: volunteer tax help, early childhood efforts, and connecting people to service.

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Why you'd press play

Follow a San Antonio nonprofit conversation from volunteer tax prep to early childhood and 211.

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