(Seguin) — “I never imagined we’d still be doing this 30 years later.”
When Sheryl Sachtleben looks back on the founding of Seguin Youth Services, she’s often struck by how something meant as a one-time effort turned into a lifetime commitment. What was once a modest idea to help a few youth at risk has blossomed into a pillar of support for generations of Seguin’s young people. And, today she adds, “Come join us, share your stories, and let’s celebrate together.”
At 6 p.m. today at the Geronimo Community Center, Seguin Youth Services will host an informal anniversary gathering to mark 30 years of service to the community. The event will bring together former students and their families to share memories of the organization’s early days and reflect on how it fostered success when youth were most in need. A dinner will be served, and the tone according to Sachtleben will be warm, nostalgic, and full of reunion.
From its early beginnings, Seguin Youth Services has touched the lives of thousands of young people across multiple locations in Seguin. Over the years, its operations have been housed at San Antonio Street, Austin Street, and its current home at 919 N. Guadalupe Street.
Along the way, the program has offered a wide range of support services: academic tutoring, mentoring, counseling, family support, substance abuse resistance education, and structured community service projects.
These services center on prevention and intervention, aiming to catch youth before crisis, help them stay in school, and encourage graduation.
Sachtleben has remained a constant through the years. Her husband, Marcos Saenz, has also played a key role in SYS’s work. In fact, Marcos currently works as the Prevention Coordinator for SYS, helping lead educational programming for students.
“Never in my right mind would I have thought we’d still be here 30 years later. It’s 30 years. That’s half my life. When Marcos and I started it, we were at probation so it was 1995 and it was like a one year grant and I remember we got our second grant or got that grant extended for three years and we thought okay, we will do that for three years and do something else and then we met Tyrone and we said, ‘okay, we will stick it out until Tyrone graduates’ and then it was ‘we will wait till Ryan graduates’ and then we said ‘we will wait until Anthony graduates’ and then, ‘we are in it until Ethan graduates.’ Now, I will die there. I will never leave that place,” said Sachtleben.
Sachtleben says they thought 30 years was perfect to call everyone back together. She says when you are part of the program, you become part of a family. She says what will be most exciting is seeing the different generations of students who have been impacted by the center.
“I’m just mostly asking the kids to share. The whole family is welcomed. We are hoping to see all of our kids – 30 years’ worth should be a lot of kids. It’s nothing formal. No presentation. No microphone. It’s just simply pictures, memories, lives and good times,” said Sachtleben.
Family and friends are being asked to pass on the word of tonight’s 30th anniversary gathering to other former SYS students. The Geronimo Community Center is located at 280 Navarro Dr.