Staying home last week saved 1,271 lives in San Antonio and Bexar County. Not only that, but 8,832 people didn't go to the hospital because you stayed home, according to projections by CI:Now, a San Antonio nonprofit that expands access to data that is understandable, trustworthy and timely. In response to the coronavirus pandemic, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg and Bexar County Judge Nelson Wolff issued a Stay Home, Work Safe Order on March 25, 2020. For many people, staying home since then has been a frustrating experience with few tangible benefits.

Our neighborhoods are so much more than just the location of the buildings we live in. Each neighborhood offers something beautiful, inspiring, and entirely unique. However, where we live plays a big role in how long we live, and the longest-lived and shortest-lived neighborhoods are separated by nearly 20 years in average life expectancy. The video below explains Somos Neighbors, a new tool to connect us with each other to better understand the neighborhoods we live in and how we can close the life-expectancy gap.

SA2020, the local nonprofit that’s charting San Antonio’s progress in several categories over a decade, said 41 percent of 59 target goals have been achieved or exceeded. That was one of the big takeaways from a DreamWeek luncheon held Jan. 12 at the Witte Museum’s Mays Family Center.

REPLAY VIDEO:  A community analysis workshop hosted by United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County and Community Information: NOW (CI:NOW), in Partnership with US Census Bureau, Denver Region. This workshop will train participants on using the most relied-on source for detailed, up-to-date socio-economic statistics covering every community in the San Antonio and South Texas region. It is designed for nonprofit advocacy and social service delivery organizations that use data for budget analysis, grant writing, needs assessment and planning.

United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County and Community Information: NOW (CI:NOW), in Partnership with US Census Bureau, Denver Region, will host two American Factfinder and NOWData training sessions on September 18 and 19, 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at the Benavides Community Learning Center, Room 105, located at 515 Castroville Rd. 

Christmas came early for the San Antonio Eastside Promise Neighborhood project: The collaboration, led by the United Way of San Antonio and Bexar County, won a $24.6 million grant to from the federal government to provide "cradle to career" services to improve educational achievement.Mayor Julian Castro announced the grant at a news conference on Dec. 19."What this means is that education on the East Side will never be the same," Castro said.

Check out the brand new website of CI:Now, the collaborative that is a funder and co-founder of NOWCastSA. CI:Now, short for Community Information Now, is a partnership of more than 25 public, private, governmental, educational and healthcare organizations working together to "democratize the data" since 1998.

This Thanksgiving holiday, the NOWCastSA staff has plenty to be thankful for. Here are our top 10.