Dozens of people filled seats at the Edgewood Theatre of Performing Arts on Tuesday morning to get the answer to one question. What’s happening on the West Side?

Prosper West hosted its annual State of the Westside event, where speakers and panelists focused on collaboration and development while keeping community members at the center of the conversation.

Never miss San Antonio Report’s biggest stories.

Sign up for The Recap, a newsletter rundown of the most important news, delivered every Monday and Thursday.

“The West Side has never been a community defined by what people give us or withhold from us. We are defined by what we create, by what we build.” said Teri Castillo, who represents much of the West Side in District 5 on San Antonio City Council.

Building was a theme of the event. Ryan Kuhl, Prosper West’s CEO, noted that investments in transit corridors, University of Texas San Antonio’s plans for its downtown campus and other infrastructure projects constitute major change for the West Side.

Speakers at the event noted other projects — like the Museo del Westside and Basila Frocks — that showed the area’s growth.

Ryan Kuhl, CEO of Prosper West, addresses the audience and panelists during Prosper West’s State of the Westside event at the Edgewood Performing Arts Center on Tuesday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Basila Frocks turned a former dressmaking workshop at 500 N. Zarzamora St. into a mixed-use space where businesses and other organizations will be housed. It’s scheduled to open next month.

Museo del Westside is a project in development by the Esperanza Peace and Justice Center that will be a site focused on the neighborhood and its history.

Kuhl said the community has to be involved in those changes. Otherwise, he added, people end up getting displaced from their neighborhoods.

“Revitalization without protection turns into gentrification,” he said.

A series of panelists touched on the importance of working together to capture those opportunities for growth and make sure benefits are local.

“There’s juice now in the economy that we’ve never had before,” said Henry Cisneros, former U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and San Antonio mayor from 1981-89.

Cisneros said he was working on an anti-displacement fund to help longtime residents pay for steep property tax increases when development comes to their neighborhoods.

Prosper West held its State of the Westside event at the Edgewood Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

Janie Barrera, founder of LiftFund, which has provided business loans and training since 1994, called for a community fund to own and manage land on the West Side.

“There’s that saying, ‘If you own your dirt, you own your destiny,’” Barrera said.

Cristina Balli, the executive director for the Guadalupe Cultural Arts Center, added that the West Side’s history and culture were important pieces of future efforts.

“Cultural heritage is not just a byproduct or on the side,” Balli said. “It’s central to and leading the effort.”

Speakers noted the challenges that faced the West Side, including historic underinvestment and the current Trump administration policies that are decreasing public funding for nonprofits.

Partnerships and collaboration were touted as a solution for those problems.

Numerous speakers noted the ESTAR West program, a coalition of community members and local businesses that coordinate strategies and resources for local businesses. The program was started as a part of the Aspen Institute’s 2021-23 City Action Lab.

One panel focused on nonprofits, their funding and how they are coping with more scarce resources. Nadege Souvenir, CEO of the San Antonio Area Foundation, said big donors are going to have a hard time filling in gaps in federal funding.

The solution is to bring nonprofits and community groups together so they can work together to solve problems, she said.

CEO of the San Antonio Area Foundation Nadege Souvenir addresses fellow panelists during Prosper West’s State of the Westside event at the Edgewood Performing Arts Center on Tuesday. Credit: Amber Esparza / San Antonio Report

“Call us when you need some space to think, to plan, to ideate, to collaborate,” Souvenir said.

Leilah Powell, executive director of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC), said giving people resources and structures to learn how to handle financials and build organizations help. Powell said even though funding challenges and uncertainty can seem overwhelming, it’s important to forge ahead.

“The systems that we all thought would be there … are being stripped away,” she said. “That makes us uncertain about our work. But don’t be uncertain about that work. The work we’ve been doing is the same work we’ve been doing for decades. We’re fighting for justice. We’re fighting for resources for our communities.”

Speakers at the event — from politicians to nonprofits to business people — maintained a tone of defiant positivity for the West Side.

The community takes care of its own, Castillo said, and comes together to do so.

“It’s all for the good of the ‘hood,” she said. “We might just have different ways of getting there.”

Disclosure: Janie Barrera is a board member of the San Antonio Report.

Are you doing your part?

You’ve read unlimited of unlimited articles this month. That’s right — we’re committed to providing free, fair journalism for all.

But without donor support, our nonprofit newsroom can’t do its job to inform and empower your community.

Are you in? Your donation of any amount will help keep articles like this one accessible to all San Antonians.