Not long after Nathan Adcock started his job as a director for a local nonprofit, he was laid off due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It was a tough time for Adcock, son of UT Health San Antonio State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) manager Cindi Adcock, and many others who were affected by the economic impacts of the pandemic.
“I tried to look for other things in [the] nonprofit area, but nobody was really hiring at that point for good reason,” Nathan Adcock said.
After talking the situation over with his now wife, he decided to switch career paths.
Recalling that he had referred past clients to the nonprofit Project QUEST — which connects San Antonions to emerging careers in health care, manufacturing and trades and information technology — he noticed that computer development was among the careers for which the nonprofit helped provide workforce training.
After applying for funds with Project QUEST, he received a scholarship for web development training. The funds also covered some of his living expenses and most of his educational expenses at Codeup, a computer coding school. He also received funds from Bexar County Strong through the city of San Antonio — which partnered with Workforce Solutions Alamo and Project QUEST — while he attended Codeup’s web development courses to learn front- and back-end coding for websites.
Only one month after he completed his Codeup training in mid-2021, Adcock was hired as a software developer for CaptureRX — a health care technology company which manages inventory and financial flow for 340B prescriptions.
“The experience ended up being really formative and really great,” Nathan Adcock said of Project QUEST. “I can’t express … how much it really put me in a much better position than I would have been otherwise.”
Looking back on that time, Cindi Adcock said she is thankful that the nonprofits that are a part of the State Employee Charitable Campaign, like Project QUEST, are there for people in their time of need.
“I feel like this shows why it’s important to contribute, no matter what your amount is, to the State Employee Charitable Campaign, because there is a time, just like my son [experienced], when you or someone in the community may need the assistance of a nonprofit, she said.
“Had Nathan not come across this opportunity through Project QUEST … who knows where his road would have led him,” she said, adding that over the years, her family has also benefited from the services of a few different SECC nonprofits.
“When my children were in college, they always took the opportunity to use the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program, another SECC nonprofit,” Cindi Adcock said, adding that her grandchildren are using another SECC nonprofit, the YMCA program, for summer athletics.
State Employee Charitable Campaign kicks off Sept. 3
This year’s State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) will kick off Sept. 3, providing UT Health San Antonio staff members the opportunity to support any SECC charity to assist those who are struggling during a difficult time in their lives. The theme, “Be Someone’s Hero” speaks to the benevolence of so many who contribute to the campaign every year.
One of the great benefits of the SECC is the wide variety of charities and causes represented — there’s something for everyone. They range from small local organizations to large and well-known national and international groups.
Click here to visit the SECC site and here to view videos about the charities and testimonials from those who have received support from an SECC nonprofit.
While there will not be an online auction for the charitable campaign this year, the university’s departments are welcome to hold individual fundraisers. Please be on the lookout for these upcoming fundraising announcements as the campaign approaches.