Street News SA: Neighbors Feeding Hope Amid San Antonio’s Hardships
A Facebook Page Becomes a Lifeline
Street News SA was born of necessity and love in March 2020, when COVID-19 began wreaking havoc on communities across San Antonio. As store shelves emptied and panic buying left many families struggling to find essentials, Sara Lucy—a Southside resident and local business executive—started a Facebook group to help.
The group, called "Street News SA – Grocery Supply Update & More San Antonio and Surrounding," became a grassroots hub almost overnight. The idea was simple: share where supplies could be found and help neighbors in need. If H-E-B ran out of bread, or a corner store received a shipment of bottled water, someone would post an update. Neighbors who had extra shared what they could with those who had nothing. As Lucy encouraged, “If you don’t have the needed items, that’s OK. Someone does.”
What began as a virtual message board quickly became something much more—an active mutual aid network that now includes over 135,000 members. Within days of the group’s founding, volunteers emerged from across the city. Lucy and her husband began organizing doorstep deliveries for seniors and immunocompromised residents. The motto “start with your street” inspired members to check on those closest to them.
Soon, acts of kindness grew: someone needed a mattress, and another member delivered one; a mother asked for a very specific canned food her autistic son depended on—and it showed up the same day. By mid-2020, Street News SA had evolved from an online bulletin board into a citywide safety net.
From Posts to Action: How the Group Expanded Its Reach
Street News SA began meeting needs far beyond grocery tips. Posts in the group turned into real-time responses to requests for everything from diapers to hygiene products to alerts about lost pets and COVID testing sites. The group became an indispensable source for community information and direct aid.
Though born online, its work soon moved offline. Volunteers coordinated food and supply drop-offs for families in distress. When formal aid systems lagged behind, Street News SA stepped in—hosting food drives, setting up fan donation campaigns during extreme heat, and distributing bottled water during citywide boil notices.
Today, Street News SA continues to fill a vital gap in San Antonio’s social fabric. It operates without paid staff or formal structure, relying instead on the power of kindness and a massive network of everyday people willing to help.
Mobilizing a Movement: The Simplicity of Helping
The group’s strength lies in its simplicity. A typical day might see Sara Lucy post: “We have a family in 78207 that needs dinner tonight—who can help?” Within minutes, members respond: “I’ve got groceries,” or “I’ll cook and deliver.” The group serves as a digital switchboard connecting urgent need with rapid response.
A memorable moment came early in the pandemic when Street News SA partnered with the Edgewood Community Resource Center to host a drive-thru food giveaway for families on the West Side. Volunteers, masked and determined, loaded food into cars, meeting urgent need with compassion and efficiency. Similar drives have followed across the city.
The flexibility of Street News SA allows anyone to get involved—delivering food, helping with logistics, or simply spreading the word. Sara Lucy leads with warmth and encouragement, often signing off her posts with peace and love emojis and highlighting the generosity of her community.
Establishing a Hub on South Presa
Street News SA recently took a major step forward with the establishment of a permanent base at 5704 S. Presa. Formerly a thrift shop, the site is being transformed into a hub for collecting and distributing donations. The location, dubbed "Street Peace," represents a new chapter for the organization. Even before officially opening, the site served as the host for a major food giveaway.
On a sunny Saturday, volunteers turned the storefront into a pop-up food pantry. Dozens of seniors from surrounding neighborhoods received fresh produce, non-perishables, and hot meals. The team welcomed everyone with dignity and care, loading groceries into carts and cars.
That event reinforced what Street News SA stands for—not just feeding people, but fostering hope. The site on South Presa will eventually house a thrift store to help fund operations, but more importantly, it represents a space where dignity and care are distributed alongside essentials.
Confronting Generational Poverty in San Antonio
Street News SA operates in a city marked by stark economic disparities. San Antonio has one of the highest poverty rates among major U.S. cities, with more than 380,000 residents living below the federal poverty line. The crisis is especially pronounced in ten ZIP codes—78207, 78211, 78210, and others—where residents have faced persistent economic hardship for generations.
Food insecurity is rampant in these communities. Many rely on pantries and mutual aid just to get by. The pandemic deepened these challenges, but they’ve existed for decades. As Lucy often points out, “It’s generational.”
Street News SA taps into the city’s rich legacy of mutual aid, updating it for a digital age. By focusing on empowerment rather than charity, it inspires recipients to become givers. This is the cycle that sustains hope in neighborhoods that too often go underserved.
From Survival to Civic Engagement
Sara Lucy is not only the founder of Street News SA—she’s also a community connector. As a member of Rotary, Global Chamber San Antonio, and other civic organizations, she consistently brings business leaders and policymakers face-to-face with the realities of food insecurity and generational poverty. Her goal is to ensure that decision-makers see what the statistics often obscure: the lived experiences of people struggling every day in overlooked neighborhoods.
During Christopher Herring’s campaign for mayor of San Antonio, Lucy personally guided him through communities where poverty is entrenched, showing him firsthand what need looks like. "I found that many in the community didn’t believe in the voting process," Herring recalled. "They didn’t feel they had a voice speaking for them."
Yet, despite her commitment to awareness and advocacy, Lucy remains fiercely protective of her group. She refuses to let any politician—no matter how well-meaning—use Street News SA as a photo op or campaign tool. “Lucy doesn’t let anyone market to her people,” said one longtime volunteer. "She protects that group with her whole heart."
Street News SA doesn’t pretend to be the solution to all of San Antonio’s problems. But it shows what’s possible when ordinary people choose to act. Its volunteers fill gaps in the short term—but they also call on the city to do better in the long term.
Decades of broken promises have eroded trust in local institutions. Turnout in recent local elections was dismally low. Many in affected ZIP codes don’t vote—not out of apathy, but because they’ve stopped believing their voices matter.
Sara Lucy and Street News SA are working to change that narrative. They’ve begun encouraging civic engagement through the Facebook group—sharing updates about city meetings and passing out voter registration forms alongside food bags.
The group’s ultimate goal is to create a city where safety nets like theirs aren’t needed as often—because the systems in place already protect the most vulnerable.
Still, until that day comes, they’ll keep showing up. One food bag at a time. One neighbor at a time.
As Lucy said in a recent post, “Our city is hurting, but we’re healing ourselves.”
To follow or support the work of Street News SA, visit their active community on Facebook: Street News SA – Grocery Supply Update & More San Antonio.
In a city divided by inequality, Street News SA is proof that unity—and action—start with a single post, a willing heart, and a love for your community.
Follow, Share, Support
Stay connected with Street News SA for daily updates and real-time resource sharing. Join their Facebook group at facebook.com/groups/3126084497409721.
📌 Use and follow hashtags to support awareness and visibility: #StreetNewsSA #SanAntonioMutualAid #FoodJusticeSA #GenerationalPoverty #NeighborsHelpingNeighbors #SACommunity #SouthsideSanAntonio #EndFoodInsecurity #DigitalMutualAid #CommunityResilience #GrassrootsLeadership #HopeInSanAntonio
For ongoing neighborhood updates, resource sharing, and opportunities to help, you can follow Street News SA’s active community on Facebook (just search for “Street News SA – Grocery Supply Update & More San Antonio” to find their group). There, tens of thousands of everyday people continue to prove that compassion and civic action can go hand in hand – creating the kind of city we all deserve.
