During a recent crisp October morning, Jake Ramirez greets customers as they peruse the pop-up market he’s working. When customers stop by his T-shirt stand, Ramirez is quick to list sizes and colors. 

The week before, he emceed the 2026 gala for the San Antonio Life Academy, a day program for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, or IDDs. 

Ramirez, 24, has been enrolled for a couple years now. On this day, he’s one of a dozen or so students running an outdoor market in the parking lot of Mount Cavalry Lutheran Church in Alamo Heights, where SA Life Academy is housed.

While Ramirez takes care of the T-shirt stand, Grace Soto, 21, sells hand-made earrings. Other stands have homemade dog treats, breads, salsas and other goodies. Rising Stars coffee truck sits at the end of the lot, where students sling americanos and lattes. 

“We just try to make sure that we’re just being welcoming,” said Ramirez, who has autism. “Greeting everyone in the community, making sure they feel comfortable here at SA Life Academy.” 

Called “stars” by the staff, SA Life Academy students take all sorts of classes when they’re on campus, including art, health, yoga and more. Recently, the academy has been expanding pre-vocational training and learning opportunities, meant to prime “stars” for life and — possibly — jobs beyond the grounds of the Mount Calvary church. 

Founded in 2017 by a pair of advocate parents, SA Life Academy’s mission is helping adults with learning disabilities “reach for the stars” by living full and active lives.   

The Oct. 15 pop-up market marked a little over a year since the academy launched Rising Stars Coffee, a fully-stocked coffee truck manned by students as an extension of the career development program. 

“They are working on their pre-vocational skills like customer service, inventory. They make all the products that they’re selling, and they also work on teamwork, kind of how businesses run,” said Samantah Kidwell, executive director and head of school at SA Life Academy. 

All of the proceeds from the market and coffee truck go back to the program. 

“We don’t do any job coaching or employment right now,” said Kidwell. “But that’s kind of like what our next end goal would be.”

Still, several students hold part-time jobs and regularly volunteer outside of the program. Three students have found jobs after going through the academy’s career development track, like Becca Major, a 28-year-old who recently got a restocking job at H-E-B.

She says it’s a job she enjoys.

“I like the people I get to work with, like my coworkers and managers,” Major said. “I like that if I don’t know where something goes, I can ask my manager and they’ll help me. I also like to make my own money, too, and I feel honored that I get to be paid for the hard work I get to do.” 

Kidwell wants to keep growing SA Life Academy’s career development opportunities. 

Around 2028, she plans to open Cindy’s Cottage, a brick and mortar storefront where students could get more hands-on retail and customer service experience. Last year, Kidwell said the store could open by 2027, but the project’s been delayed as the program tries to secure funding.

Students also participate in career fairs, and student ambassadors have recently been sharing what their experience at SA Life Academy is like with local business groups.

Lisa Gutierrez, an associate teacher, said that despite their challenges, her students always give their best effort.

“You don’t even have to ask them,” she said. “They don’t look at disabilities. They look at the ability, and they look at the person.”

Meeting a critical need

SA Life Academy has had a waitlist from families looking for care and education opportunities almost every year since it was founded in 2017. 

Students range in age from 18 to 56, but most are in their twenties, said Kidwell. She explained that most enroll after aging out of the public school system, where students with IDDs can usually continue getting services until they’re 22 years old. 

Trying to meet some of the demand, SA Life Academy opened its seventh classroom this year and is working toward opening an eighth class. 

The program currently serves around 170 students. Last October, the academy had 164 adult students. 

Still, the program has a waitlist of new families who want a spot and currently enrolled families who want extra days. Classes are also small, usually capped at 12 students. 

But demand in the San Antonio area is vast.

A 2018 study from the Kronkosky Charitable Foundation found that roughly 21,600 adults in Bexar County had autism spectrum disorder or an IDD. At the time, only 10% of those adults were receiving services through the Alamo Area Council of Governments. 

The report also estimates that the number of residents with autism spectrum disorder or an IDD will grow to about 27,000 by 2030. 

There are a handful of other organizations providing continuing education and programming for adults with IDDs through nonprofits, local universities and government agencies, but families say there are still gaps.

In a more recent analysis from 2024, the IDD Champions Coalition — which includes SA Life Academy, the Brighton Center, Respite Care of San Antonio and other groups that serve individuals with IDDs — surveyed 800 families of people with learning disabilities. They found a huge gap between caregivers’ needs and the availability of services. 

The coalition found that 75% of families struggle to access services when they need them, and 80% of caregivers had no adult care plan. At the same time, most caregivers felt it was difficult to obtain and maintain a job, leading 32% of them to quit their jobs in order to meet care demands. 

For families with these needs, even a few days or hours a week of outside care go a long way.

Unlike traditional schools where students may attend class every weekday, SA Life Academy welcomes students a few days or hours each week —  depending on families’ level of need. 

More than a place of respite for their families, SA Life Academy staff want the program to be a place where students can lead vibrant lives. That’s part of the thinking behind Cindy’s Cottage, the markets and Rising Stars Coffee, open to the public every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. 

The next pop-up market will take on a Christmas theme, going from 9 a.m. until supplies last on Dec. 15 at the Mount Cavalry church. 

Visitors are likely to see Ramirez in his newsboy cap, greeting patrons and chatting with his peers. 

Ramirez says he would like to get a job someday, but he likes being useful however he can. 

“At the end of the day, I’ll be able to do what I can,” he said. “I want to really do my part for the community.”