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Upwards of $1.2 million may go out to seven San Antonio nonprofits over the next five years if the city council approves a plan for opioid overdose prevention funding on Thursday, March 5.
The funds come from a national opioid settlement, and San Antonio is poised to receive $6.1 million through 2041. So far, the city has received about $3 million as of May 2025. San Antonio Metro Health is in plans to begin distributing the funds for opioid education and prevention as early as this year.
In 2024, San Antonio declared opioid overdoses a public health crisis and created a resolution directing Metro Health to explore prevention policies.
The seven nonprofits are BEAT AIDS, Bexar Area Harm Reduction Coalition, Corazon Ministries Inc., Rise Recovery, St. Luke Missionary Baptist Church, The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, and Yanawana Herbolarios. Each one would have their own contractual agreements with the city.
During a city council community health committee meeting, Chief Mental Health Officer Jessie Higgins said the plan includes addressing two underlying problems at once.
“For this project that spans prevention and harm reduction, we take a public health syndemic approach with HIV and substance use combined, where outreach efforts are complementary,” she said.
For example, the contract with Beat AIDS indicates the organization would need to conduct rapid HIV testing during outreach efforts for 20 unduplicated clients who are unhoused and/or have substance use disorder each month, purchase and distribute 100 overdose reversal kits monthly, and refer at least 15 clients per month to substance abuse treatment centers and infectious disease specialty clinics.
For that service, BEAT AIDS would receive about $35,000 in its first year and be eligible for up to four renewals.
Similarly, Corazon Ministries would receive $82,460 this year to: purchase and distribute 300 infectious disease management kits to clients each month to include but not limited to, hygiene, safe injection kits (including but not limited to tourniquet, alcohol wipes, sterile water, instructional card, wound care kits (over the counter items), and safe sex kits monthly; Purchase and distribute 50 overdose reversal kits to clients each month; and have trained outreach staff provide wound care to 5 unduplicated clients each month.
During Thursday’s meeting, District 5 Councilwoman Teri Castillo thanked Metro Health for its efforts, saying this is a need across San Antonio.
“For example, when we have folks in need coming to our field office off of Nogalitos, we'll share how to access Corazon, and they’ll say 'that's too far. I don't want to take a bus,’” she said. “And my concern is, how can we create multiple hubs, rather than one central location — because there is a need all throughout the city. And how can we meet people where they are?”
The total for all seven nonprofits is $379,000 for 2026. For this year, the city plans to spend about $678,000 of opioid settlement funds: about $200,000 of that will go towards counseling services at SAMMinistries Low Barrier Shelter, and another $10,000 for a substance abuse resource portal at SACRD.org. About $88,000 is going towards operational expenditures at Metro Health.
