Dear Neighbors,

June 22, 2025, will mark eight years since the signing of the City Charter for Compassion that set into motion the official status and growth of San Antonio as a Compassionate City. Together, and by resolution of the City Council, we made that happen and continue to do so as a community culturally and ethically committed to life in the most authentic and collective expression of love.

As we are so starkly seeing on a national and global scale, the best and fullest expression of our common humanity and profound interdependence should never rest on the one or even a few.  It takes all of us.

But right now, when it seems that violence and polarization are penetrating nearly every aspect of our lives together, it can be hard to make sense of it.  It can be even harder to have hope for a better future, as our highest of values are being tested and strained every day.  With a new administration assuming office, it can even feel like starting over.

That couldn’t be further from the truth.

As San Antonians, it is precisely for moments like these that we have been preparing.  We are equipped and continually engaging our shared community with reciprocal acts of compassion.  We have been treating others the way we wish to be treated and teaching others to do the same.  This is and has been our strategic plan: to recognize and nurture that DNA of compassion within each of us, to learn more and provide educational opportunities from childhood through adulthood, to partner together across sectors and help neighbors in need, and to celebrate those efforts as impactful for every resident and for the community as a whole.

This is our call to action for building another layer onto the foundation that has been built. As members of the San Antonio community, it is our privilege and responsibility to keep collaborating, teaching, representing, and leading.

Especially now, when it comes to being the city of compassion that we choose to be, let us steady ourselves and continue bold steps forward.

In sincere service,

Ron Nirenberg, Mayor