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By Dayna Reyes, Reporter
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc. (MHM) is investing $237.5 million in 2026 — an 11 percent increase over its 2025 commitment — to advance health equity, strengthen communities, and drive systemic change across its 74 county service area.
The group has a particularly high profile in the Rio Grande Valley right now thanks to its Blue Zones Ignite project, which aims to improve well-being and life expectancy throughout the region.
The announced funding supports nearly 195 nonprofit and municipal partners (including 47 in the Rio Grande Valley), direct medical and behavioral health services for uninsured families, and strategic initiatives focused on food security, housing, digital equity, safe water, and economic mobility. It represents one of the largest private commitments to community health in the region.
Jaime Wesolowski, president & CEO of Methodist Healthcare Ministries said the investment supports direct services, community partnerships, grant-making, and advocacy initiatives designed to create more equitable conditions for individuals and families to thrive.
He said his group’s 2026 commitment reflects a comprehensive approach to health equity that prioritizes the medical, behavioral, social, and spiritual well-being of individuals while also addressing the community level conditions and root causes of inequities that shape long-term outcomes.
Since its inception, Wesolowski said, MHM has invested more than $1.86 billion in clinical services and community partnerships, solidifying its role as one of the largest private funding sources for health care for low-income and uninsured families in South Texas.
“This investment enables MHM to continue elevating the impact we have across our 74-county service area for our patients, clients, partners, and stakeholders,” Wesolowski said. “Thanks to the dedication of MHM’s 588 team members and the leadership of our board of directors, we will continue raising the standard for how we accompany more people and places to advance health equity and improve overall quality of life.”
Wesolowski said MHM allocates its annual investment across four mission critical areas — grants, strategic initiatives, direct clinical services, and the administrative resources that support them. He said this ensures alignment with the organization’s mission, vision, and long-term strategy.
To maximize community impact, MHM continues to maintain administrative expenses below 15 percent, meeting the threshold required to earn the highest rating from Charity Navigator, an MHM press release states.
The press release covers the grant-making, strategic initiatives, and direct services aspects of MHM’s investment in depth. It states:
Grant-making
For 2026, MHM has allocated $64.5 million to nearly 195 nonprofit organizations and municipalities. This investment includes $32.6 million in new grants awarded to 120 grantees through MHM’s 2026 open grant cycle. Through this funding, MHM continues its commitment to supporting thriving people and places by investing in organizations that address vital conditions—the infrastructure and circumstances within communities that enable individuals and families to live healthy, stable, and fulfilling lives.
MHM seeks to create and sustain healthy communities by supporting grant recipients working in one or more of its focus areas: access to care, mental and behavioral health, digital equity, food security, housing, and education/workforce development. MHM’s grant-making strategy emphasizes collaboration, improved health outcomes, strengthened health care delivery systems, and sustainable, community‑driven systems change.
An example of MHM’s support for its grantees is reflected in the work of Faith Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that has served San Antonio since 1974. Faith Kitchen provides nutritious meals in a welcoming, dignified environment for individuals experiencing homelessness, serving as a critical access point for food security while fostering stability, hope, and connection. Beyond addressing immediate hunger, Faith Kitchen creates pathways for personal growth and self‑sufficiency through skill‑building and supportive services.
“Thanks to the generous support of Methodist Healthcare Ministries, the lives of countless neighbors experiencing homelessness will be transformed,” said Erica Gonzalez, MPA, Executive Director of Faith Kitchen. “This gift supports our day‑to‑day kitchen operations of preparing three meals a day, seven days a week, while also creating a space where clients can grow, develop job skills, and build confidence in their abilities. With the support of Methodist Healthcare Ministries, no one will go hungry.”
MHM’s impact is also evident in its support of Latinx Voces, a nonprofit organization founded in 2021 and dedicated to empowering Latino communities through storytelling, education, and collaboration. Latinx Voces works to amplify underrepresented voices, address health trends and social inequities, and advance health equity while celebrating Latino cultures. By connecting community leaders, health advocates, artists, and educators, the organization strengthens cultural representation and fosters more inclusive, informed, and resilient communities across South Texas and beyond.
“Health equity starts with meeting communities where they are—through culturally relevant information, trusted partnerships, and spaces for learning and connection,” said Dr. Paulina Sosa‑Quintanilla, founder and executive director of Latinx Voces. “This investment from Methodist Healthcare Ministries will help Latinx Voces expand our LUCHAR Health initiative across South Texas, strengthening rural health equity and connecting Latino families to trusted health education and resources.”
Strategic Initiatives
In addition to the annual funding provided by MHM’s grant-making team to grantees, MHM has allocated nearly $33.5 million toward strategic initiatives that advance its overarching goals of removing systemic barriers to wellbeing and improving community level conditions across its service area. These long-term, multi-partner initiatives are designed to strengthen the vital conditions that allow people and places to thrive.
MHM’s 2026 strategic initiatives include support for:
- The Blue Zones Ignite™ assessment in the Rio Grande Valley – A collaboration exploring community driven strategies to improve well-being and life expectancy throughout the region.
- The San Antonio GOALS Initiative – A first‑in‑the‑nation study measuring how pairing cash assistance with intensive economic‑mobility coaching can help San Antonio families build financial stability, with initial findings released in January 2026.
- Digital Equity Initiative – An effort to close the digital divide across South Texas by expanding access to reliable, affordable broadband, devices, and digital skills training, ensuring individuals and families can connect to health care, education, employment, and essential services in today’s digital world.
- Medical-Legal Partnership – An innovative program that integrates legal services into the health care setting, helping MHM patients and clients address systemic legal barriers—such as housing challenges—that affect their wellness and overall health equity
- The South Texas Safe Water Project – A partnership with Texas A&M University School of Public Health that identifies and addresses water quality challenges in underserved colonias in the Rio Grande Valley through contaminant testing, community based research, and sustainable solutions that protect long-term health.
- The American Cancer Society Methodist Healthcare Ministries Hope Lodge – A supportive lodging community that will offer free, temporary housing for people undergoing cancer treatment and their caregivers at South Texas medical centers.
- The Prosperemos Juntos | Thriving Together (PJTT) initiatives – A community driven effort that empowers coalitions across South and Mid-Border Texas to advance health equity by addressing vital conditions and the root causes of intergenerational poverty.
Each initiative addresses root causes of poverty—including access to safe environments, economic stability, supportive relationships, and community infrastructure—that shape a person’s ability to live a healthy life. Together, these efforts reflect MHM’s continued commitment to broadening the definition of health care by investing in the social and systemic factors that influence individual and community health across South Texas.
Direct Services
Creating equitable access to care remains a cornerstone of MHM’s mission. Through its two San Antonio-based primary health care clinics—Wesley Health & Wellness Center and Dixon Health & Wellness Center—and the George Ricks School-Based Health Center at Schertz Elementary, MHM ensures that low-income and uninsured families can receive high-quality clinical care at no cost or on a sliding fee scale.
Beyond its clinics, MHM extends its reach across a 74-county region through community counseling services, a robust community health worker program, the Get FIT prevention program, parenting support and care coordination, and health navigation provided by its Wesley Nurse program. Complementing these efforts, MHM’s Policy and Advocacy team advances research-driven advocacy, strategic partnerships, and public education to champion policies that expand access to quality care and promote health and well-being for all Texans. Together, these services help address the medical, behavioral, and social factors that influence long-term health.
In 2025 alone, MHM delivered more than 350,000 health care services to 24,134 patients and clients—representing thousands of individuals who gained access to medical, dental, and behavioral health support they might not otherwise receive. This level of impact underscores MHM’s critical role as one of South Texas’ largest private providers of community-based care for uninsured and economically disadvantaged families.
About Methodist Healthcare Ministries of South Texas, Inc.
Methodist Healthcare Ministries broadens the definition of health care by providing low-cost clinical care for the uninsured and by supporting community-led efforts that improve living conditions that cause people to be sick in the first place. We use our earnings as co-owners of Methodist Healthcare to ensure that people who are economically disadvantaged and uninsured can live their healthiest lives. We do this by advocating for, investing in, and providing access to quality clinical care and addressing factors that affect health—including economic mobility, supportive relationships, food security, broadband access, and safe neighborhoods. Ultimately, we fulfill our mission of “Serving Humanity to Honor God” by advancing health equity so that more individuals & families living in the 74 counties we serve can thrive.
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