In 1963, a civic- and philanthropic-minded group of San Antonio residents formed a nonprofit organization with the goal of helping people overcome emotional and psychological challenges.

They did this by providing residential help to men and women. That organization became known as Crosspoint, naming its first residence “The Goldsmith House” in honor of founding President, Richard E. Goldsmith.

The experience solidified in Goldsmith’s mind his longing to find ways to help his community, leading to his founding of the San Antonio Area Foundation – the first community foundation in Texas – just one year after Crosspoint had gotten off the ground.

“Coming from outside the organization and outside San Antonio, I really didn’t know much about the history [of Crosspoint],” said Kevin Downey, who served as Crosspoint’s President and CEO from 2006 to 2022. “As soon as I really found out about Richard, and the fact that he also founded the Area Foundation, I reached out to him. It was so invaluable getting his perspective.”

Both organizations became leaders in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors of San Antonio and Bexar County. While the Area Foundation has focused its public service on supporting nonprofits, Crosspoint was created to serve the individual.

The synergy continues to the present, with Crosspoint receiving grant funding from the Area Foundation for the 2023-2025 cycle.

“[Crosspoint] serves a pretty unique niche in San Antonio,” Downey said. “We went from focusing just entirely on residential transitional support services, which is so critical, but then we moved forward and started bringing in behavioral health services. We filled a role that had not previously been filled before.”

Over the years, Crosspoint’s mission evolved to include support for other at-risk populations, including individuals recovering from substance abuse, recently incarcerated and released prisoners and veterans coping with physical and mental health issues.

These populations had been traditionally underserviced, lacking resources to ensure they did not fall through the metaphorical societal cracks. Still, the mission always kept in mind the initial vision Goldsmith had in mind: to help people, and in turn help our community.

“I was on the Board of Crosspoint for a number of years and that is how I originally came to know Richard Goldsmith,” explained Rinaldo J. Gonzalez, currently Managing Shareholder of Gonzalez & Black CPA. “I knew that he had started Crosspoint by being just a real force. He was always available to the management and to the Board of Crosspoint for guidance.”

To keep Goldsmith’s ideas front and center, Crosspoint named one of its most prestigious annual awards the Richard Goldsmith Volunteer Leadership Award in his honor. Awarded each year to individuals who exemplify exceptional volunteer leadership, the prize is appropriate given Goldsmith’s legacy of service in San Antonio.

“Richard Goldsmith was a legend in his own time,” noted H.H. “Skip” Whitehill, who served on Crosspoint’s board of directors for over 20 years and is currently on its advisory board. “Being a recipient of the Goldsmith Award was really a badge of honor. [Richard] was one of those guys that you just viewed of as being on a pedestal.”

A bona fide renaissance man, Goldsmith is a U.S. Air Force veteran, a Harvard-educated lawyer and a philanthropist in the truest of meanings. He spent most of his life in service to San Antonio and those in our community most in need of aid.

“Mr. Goldsmith has given so much to our community, and he did so in a very unassuming way. He was not a guy to brag or to want publicity,” noted Gonzalez, also a past recipient of the Goldsmith Volunteer Leadership Award. “He’s given so much more than he’s been given. That’s impressive for those of us who’ve been involved with Crosspoint.”

As it grew, Crosspoint expanded to over seven programs, including the Women’s Wellness Campus in partnership with the UT Health San Antonio School of Nursing, as well as an outpatient clinic for addiction treatment.

“Crosspoint’s mission has really grown over the years from when I first became involved with them,” said Whitehill. “Crosspoint is just such an asset that you don’t find in many cities. There is a big need for the services they provide and to help the people that they do. Crosspoint does that. There aren’t too many other agencies around that do what Crosspoint does.”

An invaluable community service that would’ve likely never come to fruition had it not been for the vision and dedication of Richard Goldsmith.

Eric Moreno is a member of the San Antonio Area Foundation Marketing & Communications Storytelling Ambassador contributor network.