CITY OF SAN MARCOS
There is a new office within the city of San Marcos designed to help residents get the resources and education needed to tackle a wide array of problems. From utility assistance to mental health, Community Resource and Engagement Coordinator Grisell Perez-Carey said the new department, the Office of Community Support and Resource Navigation, will help San Marcans get the assistance they need.
According to Perez-Carey, the office was initially conceived during the city’s Visioning Sessions in January in which staff gathered community feedback to guide its Strategic Plan. The Strategic Plan identifies “shared community goals and desired outcomes for public safety, environmental protection, economic vitality, mobility and connectivity and quality of life,” according to the city website. Perez-Carey said the council wanted an office to focus on addressing underlying factors that contribute to crime — mental health, lack of education and poverty, among others — which would provide an opportunity to consider things “holistically” and “identify proactive solutions.”
“We’re really digging deep into the nuance and into the intricacies of issues,” she said.
The city had been allocating around $120K to utility assistance but found that, initially, only $30K to $40K was being utilized, according to Perez-Carey. She said the OCSRN has been working the past year and a half to ensure that those resources are more widely distributed.
“So we started to dig deeper to understand — what are some barriers, what are some of the sticking points with this program?” Perez-Carey said, adding that after addressing those issues, community utilization of the program increased. “We just wrapped up Fiscal Year 2024-25; over $130,000 of direct payment assistance was allocated throughout the city of San Marcos.”
The city realized that not all residents use its utility services, so the OCSRN was able to secure partnerships with Bluebonnet, Pedernales Electric Cooperative and Centerpoint Energy to provide payment assistance through donated funds.
Perez-Carey said a primary focus for many across several city departments is mental health resources and education, so she looks forward to diving deeper into that topic. The OCSRN is also looking at data sources on crime — violent and nonviolent — code compliance, fire inspection and quality of life data to determine other areas of focus. She added that the citywide community survey that is currently underway will also provide an opportunity to pinpoint where assistance is needed. The city is also working on a “Know Your Resources” campaign, set to launch within the next couple of months, to help educate the community on assistance tools that can be found locally.
If one is in need of resources, Perez-Carey said you can visit her in person at City Hall or email her at gperez-carey@sanmarcostx. gov. Resources can also be found online at sanmarcostx. gov/3231/Community- Help-in-San-Marcos and by dialing 211 — where a human operator will provide information about various agencies and programs.
