A new study from the Corporation for National & Community Service, reported recently in the Austin Business Journal, tells us something many of us already knew: Austinites are big givers of their time. 35 percent of Austin residents serve as volunteers every year, making this the fifth most active U.S. city in volunteerism. The Volunteering in America report contains six years of data on volunteering, rankings of states and cities, and volunteer trends and demographic information for every state and 162 large and mid-sized cities. View the data at http//www.VolunteeringInAmerica.gov This year, United Way Capital Area and Hands On Central Texas are working more closely than ever to provide meaningful, high quality volunteer experiences for Central Texans that will we think will truly deliver sustaining impact in our community. On Friday, September 5, 2008, we will host various meaningful volunteer projects that will inspire awareness and action. We”re looking for projects centered around our three focus areas: Education, Financial Stability and Health. However, all volunteer projects casino online will be accepted. Learn more about the Day of Caring here, and pick a volunteering project that will be meaningful for you, your coworkers and your friends! Are you a creative person? There are opportunities to create beautiful art for community centers, including custom art pieces and MLK Peace benches. Do you like getting your hands dirty in the outdoors? Spruce up a child development center, or a community center”s garden. You can also create teach materials for kids, work at the […]
Read MoreLiving United in Baltimore
Check out this short clip that shows a cool component of United Way Baltimore’s Live United campaign. Mobile Video Units, mounted on Segways, cruise around outside the Baltimore convention center broadcasting the Live United message.
Read MoreUsing video to tell our stories
Last week, we met with the Web, Film and Interactive team at the American Cancer Society to discuss their innovative and expanding video production efforts. The ACS has its own version of YouTube, where cancer survivors can share their stories with the world. Just like with YouTube, visitors have the opportunity to upload their own videos, and share and comment on their experiences with others. Here is one such story that is beautiful and powerful to see, and created by someone with minimal video production experience: Check out more videos like this at sharinghope.tv You’ve probably had the opportunity to watch a few of the recent interviews we did with our own volunteers, who were out last spring at our Day of Caring building and painting MLK Peace Benches for community centers, participating in remodeling Habitat homes, and improving child daycare centers. If not, we invite you to watch one of these short clips. One of the volunteers from the Day of Caring made her own video, which was really cool, and we were thrilled that she shared it with us and posted it on YouTube. Do you have a story to tell about the work you are doing in the community? We’d love to see and hear it! sharinghope.tv has some basic instructions for how to make a video you can share with everyone. (Upload your own stories to a YouTube account and tell us about it–unless, of course, you have a Cancer or Healthcare story to share on […]
Read MoreA plan for educational success
There is enormous passion for “community” in Central Texas. We are blessed to be able to say that more than 38 percent of Central Texans are active volunteers, making us third among major American cities. Austin has the highest number of nonprofit groups per capita in the state — 10 per 1,000 people — many focusing on education and the needs of our youth. Though much is achieved, these efforts are often independent of one another and efforts are often duplicated. Not only is the community need much greater than what our combined forces can address, but issues are not being tackled collaboratively. As nonprofit organizations, we should align our work and increase our overall effectiveness. Consider the facts: We have gaps in educational achievement between different groups of 40 percent or more. In Central Texas, about 7,000 students could have graduated from high school this spring but didn’t. The cost to our region of just one year’s number of high-school drop-outs is more than $425 million over the course of their lifetimes. We lose too many of our students along the way — they never get the solid educational footing it takes to be financially stable members of the community. That’s why education and financial stability are two of the three focuses of United Way Capital Area. They are the foundation for life success, and they cannot be addressed by our schools alone. Some studies show that more than 50 percent of what leads to a student’s academic success […]
Read MoreBreakthrough Austin's Visitors' Day
“Good Morning Breakthrough” rang the cheers of 90 middle school students at 8:40 in the morning in Calhoun Auditorium on the University of Texas campus. While most students spend their summer at a camp, in the park or in front of the television set, these students are attending a summer enrichment program to help keep them on track to college. Staff from United Way Capital Area attended Breakthrough Austin’s Visitors’ Day today, and got to witness firsthand their amazing work. Breakthrough Austin is the providing agency for three of our Youth Education programs, Project Connect, School Success and Summer Bridge. Each day, the students meet at Littlefield Fountain on the UT campus for breakfast, then walk over to Calhoun Hall for attendance. Attendance is not just a mundane activity requiring minimal participation, it as an opportunity for students to be acknowledged and affirmed with a special place in their community acknowledged and affirmed with a special place in their community. This year marked an important milestone for Breakthrough Austin, their first group of sixth graders graduated from high school and they received acceptances to 44 colleges and universities. For Breakthrough students, the process of determining how to get to college is a difficult one, as most of their parents have never been to college. All of the students apply to be in Breakthrough’s summer program, so they come ready and excited to have a unique learning experience that will prepare them for college. For many Austin area students, graduating from […]
Read MoreUnited Way Capital Area on Facebook
If you haven’t found us yet on Facebook, we hope you will join us! Our first cause, Central Texas Youth Mentoring, Tutoring and Coaching, is an invitation to become an advocate and volunteer for Central Texas youth who need a supportive adult. If you haven’t gotten on Facebook yet, it’s easy, and everyone can sign up. You’ll re-connect with old friends and colleagues, and have the opportunity to be an advocate for the causes that are important to you. Join our Cause Become a Fan
Read MoreCheck out what United Way is up to!
We’re midway through our 6 month “Tools for Community Change” workshops and this month we want to inform you how we want to change community conditions through the areas of Education, Financial Stability and Health as well as how we’re going to engage 100,000 people in this change. Interested? Come check it out… Community Innovation Workshops – Presented by the University of Texas, United Way Capital Area and Hands On Central Texas. Changing Community Conditions United Way’s purpose is to engage and unite the community to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to succeed and advance the common good. Come find out how United Way plans to change community conditions through the areas of education, health and financial stability, and to create opportunities for individuals, families and neighborhoods to succeed. Thursday, July 24, 2008 6:00-7:30pm United Way Offices: 2000 E. MLK Jr. Blvd, Austin, TX 78702 To register for this session, go to http://www.handsoncentraltexas.org/ Thanks, Mando Director, Hands On Central Texas
Read MoreNew Education Study
The Financial Times posted this piece on education and why it is so important to our economy. Its implications are very troubling and point to the need for continued investment in early childhood education as well as helping stem the tide of high school drop outs. What do you think? America’s human capital is tested By Clive Crook Published: July 6 2008 17:43 | Last updated: July 6 2008 17:43 A startling and profoundly important fact about the US economy has received surprisingly little attention. The educational quality of the country’s workers is starting to decline – not just relatively (because other countries are catching up and moving ahead) but also, for the first time, in absolute terms. Over the coming years, baby-boomers departing from the labour force will have better educational qualifications than the younger workers replacing them. If the ultimate source of an economy’s ability to grow and prosper is its human capital, the US is in trouble. For decades the educational quality of the US labour force surged. In 1940, less than 5 per cent of the population aged 25-64 had at least a four-year college education. By 2000, the proportion had increased to nearly 30 per cent. Successive generations of workers improved on the educational attainments of their predecessors. Retiring workers were replaced by better-educated youngsters. This remorseless accumulation of human capital helped fuel the country’s postwar growth. According to at least one authoritative study, it was the principal driver. This trend came to a halt […]
Read MoreLiving United
Many thanks to everyone who joined us on Saturday to show their support and tell the world how they plan to Live United. We thank you and look forward to changing community conditions in Central Texas together! Here’s a few pix from the event.
Read MoreWhat is LIVE UNITED?
Live United is an invitation to join United Way in addressing our community problems together. In order to create opportunities for everyone to succeed, we’re focusing on the building blocks of a better life – education, health, and financial stability. Living United is about making the decision to get involved in the community and advance the common good for our children and families. Our goal is to get as many people as possible to raise their voices for community engagement and tell us how they support the community or how they pledge to become more involved. And on Saturday, June 21, join us (in real life) for “Live United: A Call to Action.” This casual daytime event will allow all of us to come together and remember the power of a community united. Grab your kids, your best friend, or your next door neighbor and join us for a couple of hours. LIVE UNITED: A CALL TO ACTION Saturday, June 21 There are a couple of locations where you can Live United: Jo’s Coffee – “Live United Headquarters”, 1300 South Congress (next to San Jose Hotel) 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.Join us for a celebration of our power as a community. Stop in, support Jo’s and buy a cup of Joe and some food, get some great information on community issues, have your picture taken in your Live United t-shirt and learn how you can Live United. Town Lake Trail (Stevie Ray Vaughan Statue on Lady Bird Lake, near Auditorium […]
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