Picture 200 acres of open land on San Antonio's Southside — once the manicured fairways of the Republic Golf Club, now poised to become something far more meaningful. Soon, this land will breathe with native trees, winding trails, and the laughter of children discovering nature for the first time. It will be South Texas' first arboretum, and it is rising in a neighborhood that has waited too long for a place like this to call its own.
This is the vision of Arboretum San Antonio (ASA), and it is the reason the J.W. Couch Foundation is proud to support their capital campaign in 2025.
A City With an Unequal Canopy
The numbers tell a hard truth. San Antonio has the second-highest diabetes death rate among the 54 largest U.S. cities, and nearly 66% of adults in Bexar County are overweight or obese. The neighborhoods surrounding the future Arboretum are 78% Hispanic — and like so many communities of color across the country, they have less tree cover, fewer parks, and greater exposure to heat islands and poor air quality than their wealthier neighbors.
Access to green space is not a luxury. It is a public health issue. And on the Southside, that access has long been out of reach.
A Bold Answer Rooted in Community
Founded in 2021, Arboretum San Antonio set out to build something that has never existed in South Texas. Through a landmark collaboration with Bexar County, the Brooks Development Authority, and founder Henry Cisneros, nearly $9 million was invested to secure the land off Southeast Military Drive — a remarkable feat of civic partnership.
But what makes ASA uniquely positioned to solve this problem isn't just the land. It's the listening. After a full year of community sessions with Southside residents, ASA partnered with the nationally renowned firm Sasaki to design a master plan with nine distinct zones — a canopy walk, nature center, amphitheater, and research fields — all connected to the 101-mile Howard W. Peak Greenway Trails System. A conservation easement will permanently protect the space, ensuring it remains a community asset for generations.
Where the Work Begins Now
Even before the gates open to the public, ASA is already at work. The Couch Foundation's grant is helping the organization take three critical steps: expanding its staff, establishing an on-site office and event center, and launching health and wellness programming for surrounding neighborhoods right now.
One of the most powerful early initiatives is a partnership with the San Antonio Vascular and Endovascular Clinic (SAVE), a program created specifically to confront South San Antonio's diabetes epidemic. Together, ASA and SAVE will host regularly scheduled Arboretum walks led by a bilingual program coordinator, connecting patients referred by local physicians to preventative health information — and to the quiet, healing power of being outside.
Bilingual education programming will also reach young people through regional schools, with the potential to serve more than 263,000 elementary students across Bexar County. For many of them, this will be their first immersive encounter with the natural world.
Why This Story Matters to Us
The J.W. Couch Foundation's Get Outside focus area was built on the belief that connecting people to the natural world has profound and lasting effects on physical and mental wellness. Arboretum San Antonio embodies that belief at scale — and in a community that has been waiting for it.
What draws us most to ASA's work is its long-term thinking. This isn't a program. It is infrastructure — the kind that changes the health trajectory of an entire region. By investing in their team and their early programming, we are helping lay the groundwork for an institution that will welcome San Antonians for decades to come.
We look forward to watching this arboretum grow — and to growing alongside it.
