We'd like you to meet
Kennis Price
“We would be a lot better off if everyone was more compassionate towards one another like Merced has been to me.” –SOS recipient, Kennis Price. Read more about Kennis Price.
Merced has raised more than $1 million for the SOS Program through grants from foundations and corporations like the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation, the San Antonio Area Foundation, USAA-FSB, and numerous contributions from individuals.
Merced has repaired over 300 homes through the SOS Program. Repairs continue as funds become available.
“The repairs made to my home have given me an incentive to get up each morning. The kitchen and the bathroom are so clean. I cannot express how grateful I am.” –SOS recipient, Maria Louisa Turriviate
What We Do:
Owner-Occupied Repair Program
Serve Our Seniors
Over the years, Merced has become the “go to” place for seniors and disabled persons who need help with health, emergency, and safety repairs.
We started the SOS program in 2002, as a direct response to the needs of residents living in the Denver Heights Neighborhood Association. The program was inspired by Mrs. Juana Rosa Mercado an elderly lady who was cheerfully enduring barely livable conditions. She had no running hot water and no heat, not even a working stove. She cooked on a hot plate and heated water for bathing in a crock pot.
With $2,000 of our own funds to match, Merced applied and received $5,000 initial funding from the Dave Coy Foundation administered 
through the Bank of America. The funds allowed us to repair her Mrs. Mercado’s home.
Today, we have helped create a safer and more livable environment in the homes of over 300 senior and disabled persons. We target our services to homeowners age 56 and older who make 30% or less of the area median income, or $11,500 or less for a senior living alone.
We have found that receiving SOS assistance often restores faith and hope to seniors who existence has become bleak because of their limited means.
Serve Our Seniors Project, before and after