By Paige Lambert
When the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) Hill Country Chapter disbanded in 2010, a new organization rose in its place.
Impact San Marcos is a private service organization aimed at giving voice to civil issues and helping the community.
During its first year, the organization coordinated a banquet to honor citizens who volunteered for service projects or aided the community, giving 40 awards.
“They deserved it. When you contribute like some of these people do in the community, nobody ever recognizes these people for what they do,” Arthur Taylor, president of Impact San Marcos, said. “Someone needs to step up and say ‘I appreciate what you are doing.’”
The organization attended many city council meetings and grew to 20 members, including local businesses.
But now Taylor is working to rebuild the organization and increase membership. Following an illness that hospitalized him for a year, the group’s numbers dwindled to just the Taylor family.
Now that his health has improved, two years later, the family is looking for ways to strengthen the organization’s impact on the community.
In January, the group collaborated with the Crossroads Memorial project, which honored President Johnson and Martin Luther King with a statue at the namesakes’ intersection in San Marcos.
As a spin-off of the project, they began a film series called “Vision in Action.”
“Impact San Marcos continues the memories, so to speak,” Taylor said. “We are just continuing the communities understanding and acceptance of different cultures in the community.”
Depending on the recent event or anniversary, the chosen film will focus on that topic or issue. Some of the topics have ranged from Rosa Parks to gender rights to Cinco de Mayo.
After each film is shown, the organization facilitates a discussion about it.
Geraldine Taylor, Impact San Marcos treasurer, said doing so helps to localize the film.
“When people see these films it brings up memories of when they were there, and what they thought of those issues,” she said.
The films were originally shown at the activity center, but now the organization is looking into showing it at multiple locations.
“What we are trying to do is trying to link all this together as one powerful group to say this is what we are going to do as a team,” Taylor said.
It also coordinated the Juneteenth parade, using it as a way to generate more discussions and connect the community.
“Most people see a parade for entertainment. Our parade was designed for you to network, talk and ask questions,” Michael Taylor, board member, said.
The organization also contacted a Texas State professor to speak at the event, a move that helped break a typical college town issue, Diann McCabe, senior lecturer at Texas State University, said.
“There’s often a division between the university and the community — there is a sense of boundary or barrier,” McCabe said. ”And working with Impact San Marcos kind of took away those barriers in a natural way.”
When the organization isn’t helping coordinate large-scale projects, it plans to focus on youth, Taylor said.
Along with scholarships, the organization is researching ways to help students understand the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), search for grants and locate tutoring.
Taylor said when there isn’t an event or program going on, Impact San Marcos works as a resource center for people.
She said she plans to look for grants to aid in their scholarship fund, reduced medical cost and aid for disabled citizens.
As more research is completed and Impact San Marcos becomes a presence in the community again, Taylor plans on contacting the previous members.
“We want to take this organization to a whole new level, no doubt about that,” he said.
