I am celebrating 8 years working for CAM; I am so honored that God placed me in this job and that I have the privilege to witness His miracles each day. About two years ago, I was asked by a friend and incredible businessman, Tony Diamond, what our next vision for CAM was to be? I first led with my conviction that our vision was to continue to serve with our excellent model and that we will strive to engage new donors, churches and volunteers. I stretched myself a little and said that I had noticed our downtown location was now in the middle of an Urban corridor undergoing a huge revitalization and that we were no longer hidden. I thought that maybe we should do some things to improve our signage, exterior presence and shore up our donated buildings in order to be more noticed and engage new donors/volunteers. Very smart and appropriately conservative; so I thought. I felt proud of myself. God had other ideas and as I sat with Tony, and he began asking me questions and offered to host, at no cost, a 4-week visioning plan with our board. I began to reluctantly see that maybe God’s vision was bigger than my own. Out of this, CAM began to look at our relationship to neighbors, churches, business owners and new residence to this area and we began thinking about the idea of taking the lead on an effort to define this area and our location as an entry point into a new region along McCullough that would blend great business, great architecture, great culture, great Faith and service to those in need. In other words, creating a space for lifting all people up in the redevelopment and urban advancement! Out of this vision we realized that CAM could set a tone for service in San Antonio, a place for people to convene, actively give back and an ability to serve more at this location and into the community with more resources, better understanding and new donors. CAM unveiled this 10-year vision at our 40th anniversary gala in October of 2017. The McCullough Ave Consortium was developed that same year and the efforts to design a neighborhood culture, with guiding principles and a similar look are well underway. The Avenue of Light is the name we have given to our new area and we hope to be a light for those in need and for those who have a need to give back!
CAMs 10 Year Vision
Dawn White-Fosdick
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CAM was most honored to share that we were one of a handful of nonprofits awarded large financial contributions by Harvey Najim as part of a matching grant with the SAAF/Santikos and Valero. For several years now we’ve been planning, partnering with our neighbors, and developing a strategic vision for serving another 40 years that will allow us to serve more and serve better. Our donated property, gifted to the organization by Grace Lutheran Church, is an incredible location for serving those in need and for creating a convenient location for people to volunteer and donate items to implement our mission. However, we realized that we needed to be good stewards of the property and utilize the space to its maximum capacity. On September 6, 2018, Harvey Najim officially announced that he will be awarding Christian Assistance Ministry $500,000 to begin this incredible property maintenance, improvement and expansion of our existing 5,500 square foot warehouse that will include adding heat and air (something it has never had) and it will mean that we can make an incredible difference in the lives of the 50,000 working poor families and over 14,000 children in need of a hand-up in our community. Click here to access to formal press release. Join us in thanking Harvey Najim!