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At the center of this effort is Kirbe Hunt-Montgomery, a work-based learning teacher at Sam Houston High School. In her role, Hunt-Montgomery serves as both advocate and architect, guiding students through the often-daunting transition from structured school environments into the unpredictability of adult employment. Her work reflects a broader vision within SAISD: to ensure that all students, regardless of ability, are equipped not merely to graduate, but to participate meaningfully in the workforce.
Through SAISD’s work-based learning programs, juniors and seniors are placed in real-world environments where they can develop practical skills. Among these placements, Baptist Temple’s thrift store has emerged as a particularly effective training ground. There, students encounter not only the mechanics of retail work—sorting, organizing, assisting customers—but also the relational rhythms that define any workplace: communication, initiative, and responsibility.
Hunt-Montgomery describes the partnership with clear gratitude. The structure and support provided by Baptist Temple allow certain students to leave campus and engage in off-site work, an opportunity not easily secured for those with additional challenges. This access, she notes, is transformative. “They went from not being able to tie their own shoes to working at the register, to bagging groceries, to working in retail, to working in warehouses,” she said.
Several students who began their training in this environment have progressed into more advanced opportunities, including internships through Project SEARCH at CHRISTUS Children’s Hospital. There, they complete a year-long program that often leads directly to employment. Some have found work in local businesses ranging from restaurants to car washes, and even daycare centers.
Yet the most compelling outcomes are not merely vocational. They are personal. Hunt-Montgomery recounts the stories of students whose parents once doubted their capacity for independence. In many cases, those same students have learned not only to work but to thrive—mastering tasks once thought beyond their reach, securing driver’s licenses, and in some instances, living independently. These are not incremental gains; they are profound shifts in identity and expectation.
Such transformation does not occur in isolation. It is sustained by environments that communicate worth. For many students, Baptist Temple has provided precisely that. Hunt-Montgomery emphasizes that without places willing to welcome and train these students, their opportunities would remain severely limited.
This sentiment is echoed by Tnisha Nation, an instructional assistant who works closely with the students. Having transitioned from a role as a bus monitor into the classroom, Nation brings both experience and empathy to her work. She speaks candidly about her motivation: a desire to build meaningful relationships with students and to embrace the challenge of working with those who have special needs.
At the thrift store, Nation has witnessed growth that is both practical and deeply human. Students who once struggled with basic life skills—such as folding or hanging clothes—begin to demonstrate competence and even initiative. Over time, familiarity breeds confidence. Tasks that once required careful prompting become second nature.
Equally significant is the environment in which this learning takes place. Nation describes her first experience at Baptist Temple as one of immediate welcome. The staff, she notes, created an atmosphere of encouragement not only for the students but also for those guiding them. “Daniel [Minister of Outreach] is awesome. He's very helpful. He made me feel comfortable because this was my first year,” she said.
This sense of belonging extends to customer interactions as well. Regular patrons often respond with warmth and patience, reinforcing the students’ sense of acceptance.
One moment stands out. A student named Kayleena, noticed a customer struggling to carry an armful of clothing. Without prompting, she stepped forward, helping transport the items. It was a small act, easily overlooked, yet it revealed something larger: the internalization of both skill and empathy. Such moments, Nation reflects, are evidence that these students are not merely learning tasks—they are becoming contributors.
Kayleena has been accepted into Project SEARCH. Her story, like many others, underscores the broader impact of the program.
What emerges from these accounts is a consistent theme: students with disabilities are often underestimated. Yet, as Hunt-Montgomery insists, they share the same aspirations as their peers. They want independence. They want community. They want meaningful work and the dignity that accompanies it. What they require is not lowered expectations, but genuine opportunity.
Baptist Temple’s role in this partnership reflects a quiet but powerful theology of presence. By opening its doors, by structuring its ministry to include rather than exclude, the church has become a place where potential is recognized and cultivated. In doing so, it participates in a work that affirms the inherent worth of every individual and redefines what is possible.
The results are visible not only in employment statistics or program outcomes, but in lives redirected and futures reclaimed. And in that sense, the partnership stands as a testament: when institutions align around purpose and compassion, even the most tentative beginnings can lead to enduring transformation.
The Bible begins with water. In Genesis 1:2, “the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.” Before land was formed, before vegetation or living creatures appeared, there was water—formless, deep, and mysterious. God brought order to these waters. It is both life-giving and, when unrestrained, capable of overwhelming destruction, as later seen in the flood narrative of Genesis 6–9.
Water’s dual nature—life-giving and destructive—sets the stage for its role in redemption. We see it displayed in the parting of the Red Sea. The Hebrews are trapped between Pharaoh’s army and the sea. What appears as certain death becomes the means of salvation. God parts the waters, creating a path of deliverance for His people while the same waters collapse upon the pursuing Egyptians. Water becomes both judgment and salvation. For Israel, it is a passage into freedom; for Egypt, it is an instrument of destruction.
The New Testament deepens this imagery. In 1 Corinthians 10, Paul describes Israel’s passage through the sea as being “baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea.” A transition into a new identity. This concept finds fuller expression in baptism, as described in Romans 6:4, believers are “buried with Him by baptism into death, in order that…we too might walk in newness of life.” Through water, the believer symbolically dies to the old life and rises to new life in Christ. Baptism is a reenactment of deliverance, a visible sign of an inward transformation.
The birth of Jesus involved the breaking of water—the amniotic fluid that signals the arrival of new life. The One who created the waters of Genesis was Himself born through the waters of childbirth. Creation and incarnation meet. The Creator steps into creation, embracing its physical realities to redeem them.
In John 4, Jesus offers a Samaritan woman water that will become “a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Unlike physical water, which temporarily satisfies thirst, this living water represents the enduring, life-giving presence of God through the Holy Spirit. Later, in John 7:37–38, Jesus proclaims, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink…out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” Water becomes a source of continual spiritual vitality.
The theme reaches its climax in Revelation 22:1: “the river of the water of life, bright as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb.” This final image brings the biblical narrative full circle. The waters that once covered the formless earth now flow in perfect clarity and purpose, nourishing the tree of life and sustaining the renewed creation. The invitation that follows— “Let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price” (Revelation 22:17)—echoes the offer of living water made by Jesus.
What the Bible presents theologically, San Antonio experiences physically: a world where water is both a gift of God and a reminder of human dependence. The city was founded where water could be found. Yet, as in Genesis, the waters must be managed and respected. When rainfall declines, the illusion of abundance disappears. Water is not guaranteed—it is given.
In our drought-prone region, this symbolism carries added weight. “Living water” speaks directly into lived experience. Physical water can fail, systems falter, and supplies diminish, but the water Christ offers is not subject to drought. It is not dependent on rainfall or geography. It flows from a different source. The dryness of the land is a reminder that human life is dependent, not self-sustaining. Just as the body thirsts for water, the soul thirsts for something more enduring.
The same God who brought order to the waters, parted the sea, and offered living water remains the source of life today. Life is sustained not by what we control, but by what we receive. The deeper promise remains unchanged: the source of life does not run dry and satisfies the deepest thirst of the human soul.
It is time to level up—to provide more services to more people and to break the soul-crushing cycle of generational poverty that plagues our community.
The Highland Park Community Assistance Network has operated for more than ten years as an unincorporated association and a ministry of Baptist Temple. Its most visible expressions have been the services provided at the Brunnemann Building—the thrift store, food pantry, and community garden—along with the many community ministries that operate across the Baptist Temple campus.
This network of churches and service organizations is strengthened by a growing number of off-campus partners who provide essential services and resources. It also includes an expanding base of volunteers and financial supporters who are vital to our mission.
As the needs of our community have grown, so have the resources. We have reached a turning point. We must now build capacity and expand our network. To that end, Highland Park CAN has been formally incorporated as a nonprofit corporation, and we have applied for 501(c)(3) designation with the IRS.
This step will allow us to seek funding from foundations and businesses that do not provide grants to churches. More importantly, it will enable us to expand partnerships to address both the spiritual and material poverty of our neighbors more effectively.
This ministry outpost is strategically positioned near the heart of San Antonio, with access to four interstates and two bus routes. It sits in a zip code where life expectancy is lower than in much of the city. It encompasses 80,000 square feet of ministry space and rests on a long history of faithful service, supported by a strong and growing base.
It is vital that this work continue—and that it remains what it has long been: an oasis of hope in a desert of need.
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