By Becca Bice, Director of Economic Advancement “When we first reached out to United Way for support, our only thought was increasing child care options for young parents trying to re-engage with education. Becoming involved with United Way’s 2-Gen initiative and the 2-Gen provider network helped us to understand the importance of high-quality early childhood education and how that integrated with our education and training programs to create the greatest impact for the families we work with.” -American YouthWorks In 2018, United Way for Greater Austin released the Family Opportunity Roadmap: Austin/Travis County 2-Generation Strategic Plan, drafted in partnership with more than 200 representatives from local service providers, public agencies, educational institutions, and communities with lived experience of poverty. 2-Generation (or 2-Gen) approaches serve parents and children from the same family deliberately and simultaneously and can lead to better outcomes for both generations of a family. The 2-Gen Strategic Plan set common goals and strategies for creating an ecosystem of 2-Gen programs and services for families living with low income in Austin/Travis County. The 2-Gen Coalition, together with United Way for Greater Austin, stewarded this plan over five years and generated some incredible results, such as: Served 3,577 families with a 2-Gen approach in 2023 Invested $3.7 million in 23 local 2-Gen organizations from 2018-2023 Partnered with 67 community members and 274 individuals in 2023 Reached success milestones with 70% of our strategies, with 26% of them adopted by another coalition suited to reach success or modified to fit our […]
Read More ?>Proven Program: Parenting Students Project
Parenting students work hard every day to pursue their goals, juggling caregiving, course work, and sometimes multiple jobs to build a better life for their families. Because of the obstacles they face, parenting students are nearly twice as likely to leave school for preventable reasons: lack of child care, conflicting course and work schedules, and even convenient transportation. Removing the barriers parenting students face helps them continue on education pathways to living wage employment, which changes their lives as well as their children’s lives. In fact, a $3,000 difference in parents’ income while a child is young leads to a 17% increase in that child’s future earnings. That’s why United Way for Greater Austin partners with Austin Community College to provide parenting students, ages 18-29, with incentives to accelerate their post-secondary education. Students in our program receive: $500 monthly stipend Peer networking/engagement Leadership and advocacy opportunities Academic counseling Child care scholarships Other wrap-around services “This program has been extremely helpful for my family and I. It allows me to focus all of my attention on nursing school and make sure I stay on track and graduate.” – Deja, program participant Our impact: From Fall 2021- Fall 2023 Supported families. The Parenting Students Project supported 76 students and 103 children. Academic success. 38% of students have earned a degree or certification as of the end of Spring 2023, with an additional 38% intending to continue in the program. Financial stability. The Parenting Students Project awarded each student an average of $2,038 […]
Read More ?>Real people … real impact
So many of our neighbors are working hard, but struggling to make ends meet; having to choose between paying for food, rent, gas, or medicine for their children. Inequitable systems make it nearly impossible for families to break out of the cycle of poverty. But, the collective generosity, love, and compassion of caring people like YOU is making an impact, changing these systems and improving the lives of local children and families. Together with generous neighbors like you, here are some of the things we accomplished in the past year across the Central Texas region, including Travis and Williamson counties. $15,470,491 invested directly into our community 91,874 children and individuals impacted through our strategic work in education, health, and financial stability 301,831 requests for help answered through our Navigation Center These are more than just numbers; these are lives forever changed. Amina immigrated to Austin from the Congo, and – less than 24 hours later – she gave birth to premature triplets. Alone in a new country, she didn’t know where to turn. She searched high and low for her village.Thankfully, Amina was connected to incredible community resources, funded by United Way, that helped her find housing, navigate the confusing social services system, and enroll in school. United Way had created that village of support Amina so desperately needed.Amina is now working as an Accountant Technician, and furthering her education at Austin Community College. Her triplets, Divine, Gift, and Testimony, are now five and though they are too young to understand how much their mom has fought […]
Read More ?>United Way for Greater Austin Awards $2.2 Million to 68 Local Organizations
United Way for Greater Austin awarded a total of $2.2 million in strategic grants to 68 nonprofits in Travis and Williamson counties. The recipients represent a diverse set of community leaders collectively serving over 13,000 local children and families in the areas of education, health, and financial stability. As an organization committed to changing inequitable systems and embracing inclusivity, United Way approached the grant selection process with these values in mind. In total, 66 recipients focus on clients who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC), and 25 recipients have BIPOC leaders. “We are grateful to every donor who makes these strategic investments in our region possible,” said David C. Smith, CEO of United Way for Greater Austin. “Every dollar goes a long way to ensure everyone has the opportunity to reach their full potential. United Way is proud to support and work with such outstanding partners, and we look forward to changing lives the only way we know how: United.” In January 2022, United Way for Greater Austin and United Way of Williamson County joined forces and merged into a regional organization supporting children, families, and individuals in Austin, Travis County, and Williamson County. This funding represents a continued investment in both counties. Because United Way brings local solutions to local issues within each community across the region, grants will support strategic priorities specific to each county. In Travis County, the grants will advance the goals of two community coalitions powered by United Way: The Success By 6 […]
Read More ?>Parenting Students Project supports Austin parents with stipend
A partnership between United Way and Austin Community College, the Parenting Students Project supports parenting students, ages 18-29, with financial incentives and wrap-around support to help them complete post-secondary education.
Read More ?>Announcing $21,000 to 5 Nonprofits: Helping Improve Families’ Economic Opportunities
This summer, United Way for Greater Austin awarded a total of $112,000 in one-time grant funding to 23 qualified community organizations delivering effective programs and services that advance the goals of the community coalitions we convene as part of our collective impact work to fight poverty. Here at United Way for Greater Austin we’re working hard alongside our community partners to ensure that all families are financially stable. That’s why we lead the 2-Gen Coalition, a coalition of service providers focused on increasing economic opportunity for whole families and ensuring that families with children in Travis County are financially stable. A 2-Gen approach to social services serves parents and children simultaneously and leads to better financial outcomes for both generations. To help advance this goal, United Way put out a call for proposals to fund programs and services that are advancing the 2-Gen Coalition’s goals with a focus on racial justice transformation and digital equity. We’re thrilled to announce that the following organizations were awarded mini-grants, up to $7,500, to support their programs and services that are creating greater opportunity for children and families in our community! Racial Justice Transformation American Youthworks: engage YouthBuild participants in co-creating collaborative power-sharing structures, designed and run by youth and adults Austin Voices for Education and Youth (AVEY): as part of the St. John Equity in Education Project, AVEY will survey parents, teachers, and community partners about the strengths and challenges they see in their local schools, hold a series of community planning dinners, […]
Read More ?>CommunityTHRIVE Offers Spanish Courses
Just a few months ago, United Way for Greater Austin announced the launch of a new initiative within our Financial Stability work called CommunityTHRIVE. CommunityTHRIVE provides financial education classes, coaching and community resources in partnership with the City of Austin Neighborhood Centers and Goodwill. Paola Silvestre-Leveck is Goodwill’s new financial literacy trainer for the CommunityTHRIVE program at the Rosewood-Zaragosa Neighborhood Center. Thanks to Paola and continued collaboration between UWATX and Goodwill, we are excited to now be able to offer these important classes to Spanish speakers in addition to the already existing English classes. Paola earned her Business Administration degree and previously worked in investment for several years. Before her time at Goodwill, she worked as a legal assistant and business plan consultant for an immigration law firm in Austin. She has worked at Goodwill for three months and has already taught roughly 40 financial classes. Each week at various Goodwill locations, she teaches eight classes and in addition, she works with UWATX to provide three classes for the CommunityTHRIVE program and two for the City of Austin. “People usually have a lot of misconceptions regarding credit reports and credit scores, so majority of the questions surround those two topics,” Paola said. “The challenges are to not only convey financial information, but ensure that the topics are not confusing and that the client does not feel bored throughout the training.” The CommunityTHRIVE classes cover budgeting, savings, credit and financial recovery. In addition, Paola created specific modules that fulfill specific client […]
Read More ?>Two-Gen Programs Aim to Break Cycle of Poverty
At United Way for Greater Austin, we focus on wrapping our arms around entire families and fighting the root causes of poverty. A family living in poverty rarely struggles with only one factor causing their situation, and therefore cannot rise out of poverty by only receiving one type of aid or only one person in the family receiving help. As an example, let’s say Diane is a single mom of three children. Diane is working fulltime making minimum wage during the day and also has a side job at night to make extra money. She must pay for childcare for her youngest child during the weekdays, and is having trouble making ends meet to pay the rent, put food on the table and clothing on her children’s backs. She has no opportunity for promotion at work as she only speaks Spanish and only has her GED. As a result, she is also struggling with depression and feels she has no support. Her oldest child watches the other two after school, and he is struggling with grades and never has time or help with his homework because of this. If Diane receives one service, such as food stamps, this will help her put food on the table—but the fact remains that the family is still unable to be lifted out of poverty due to the variety of other factors affecting them. This is where two-generation, or “two-gen,” programs come into play. Many programs focus solely on low-income children or low-income adults, […]
Read More ?>April is Financial Literacy Month
What does financial literacy mean to you? Is it knowing how to do your taxes, budgeting well enough to have extra spending money each month, paying off your loans in a certain time or simply having a bank account? There are many free resources available online on a wide range of financial topics; all you need to do is take the time to look and educate yourself. UWATX has many resources available on our own website including: Bank Locator Tool Answer a few questions to find the perfect bank or credit union for you, complete with locations to help you get started. Financial Toolkits Our toolkit contains tips and worksheets on the following topics: Filing taxes How to repair your credit and manage debt Everything you need to know before you take out a loan How to open a bank account and set up direct deposit Financial Classes Locator Check out free upcoming financial classes near you to improve your skills. Additionally, check out these other great resources to meet your financial literacy goals: 360 Degrees of Financial Literacy 360 Degrees of Financial literacy is a national volunteer effort from America’s Certified Public Accountants to help residents understand their personal finances and develop money management skills. It focuses on financial education as a lifelong endeavor and contains tips dependent on your current situation, whether you’re a college student, young couple, divorced, etc. They have a huge range of topics covered from caring for aging parents, investing basics, sudden wealth, saving for […]
Read More ?>UWATX Launches CommunityTHRIVE
United Way for Greater Austin recently launched a new initiative within our Financial Stability work called CommunityTHRIVE. CommunityTHRIVE provides financial education classes, coaching and community resources in partnership with the City of Austin Neighborhood Centers and Goodwill. Connie is an engaged community member at the Rosewood-Zaragosa Neighborhood Center who participated in the first CommunityTHRIVE class series we just wrapped up. She also volunteers at R-Z food distributions and serves on the advisory board at the Conley-Guerrero Senior Activity Center next door, advocating for programs and trips for her peers. She is a recent retiree adjusting to living on a fixed income, adding new financial difficulties to her life. CommunityTHRIVE is a four class series on budgets, debt, credit and saving open to community members at the City of Austin’s Rosewood-Zaragosa Neighborhood Center. Participants are also supported with one-0n-one financial coaching and incentives from the food bank for participation. In partnership with the Capital Area Food Bank, we are able to offer participants completing the CommunityTHRIVE classes a “food scholarship.” Participants earn a certificate in class which they can redeem for an extra basket of fresh food at several local pantries. We asked Connie about her experience in the CommunityTHRIVE classes. What was your experience like with CommunityTHRIVE? What did you learn? “It was a positive experience overall. It gave me a lot of validation. I got lots of tips on how what I’m doing could work better.” Connie really liked the handouts she received in the class, including sample budget sheets, how […]
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