San Antonio Teens Pitch Solutions to Homelessness, Animal Rescue

Mark Anthony Solomon knows what it feels like to be homeless. This summer, the rising junior at Southside High School turned that experience into action, helping design a nonprofit that connects unhoused people with job training and support services.

Solomon was one of nearly 20 students who participated in UT San Antonio's Next-Gen Entrepreneur Summer Program this year. Meeting every Friday for six weeks, they learned to think like business owners and problem solvers, tackling challenges they see in their own community.

The program paired students from UT San Antonio's TRIO Upward Bound program with VentureLab, a nonprofit that teaches young people entrepreneurship. Instead of hypothetical case studies, students chose real problems affecting their lives and neighborhoods.

Four teams emerged with fully developed solutions. Solomon's Roots to Rise team focused on homelessness, creating volunteer opportunities for students while connecting unhoused individuals with resources. Pet Haven designed an animal shelter that rescues strays, trains them, and provides families with starter kits and ongoing support.

SafeStalls proposed a business selling durable, floor-to-ceiling bathroom stalls to improve privacy and safety in schools. Team FLOW advocated for open, community-centered school designs that support student well-being and environmental sustainability.

Students didn't just present ideas. They conducted market research, built prototypes, designed websites, explored AI tools, and practiced cold calling potential supporters. By the final presentations, they were pitching like seasoned entrepreneurs.

"We're learning how to be entrepreneurs by solving problems we've seen in our own community," Solomon said. "This program showed me how important communication and empathy are, and it made me realize I'm braver than I thought."

Recent graduate Cat Solis, who will study mathematics at Texas A&M University San Antonio this fall, said the experience pushed her outside her comfort zone. "At first I didn't think our ideas would make much of an impact, but just presenting them brings attention to real issues, and that's where change starts," she said.

The Ripple Effect

What struck program leaders most was that every team chose community-focused projects over simple product ideas. These students could have pitched apps or gadgets, but they wanted to make their neighborhoods better.

"Access is the whole point," said Dr. Cristal Glangchai, founder of VentureLab. "These students already have the drive. They just need someone to hand them a curriculum, a university classroom, and tell them their ideas are worthy of real work."

The program also introduced students to college life early, showing them they belong on campus. By working in UT San Antonio's downtown building, they could picture themselves as future university students.

Based on this summer's success, the partners plan to continue the program next year and expand it to more students. For now, 20 young people in San Antonio know they can identify problems, build solutions, and change their communities.