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Help save State employees’ ability to give through their workplace to the charity of their choice! As you may know, the 83rd Legislature ends next week. Among the important matters being discussed is the State Employee Charitable Campaign.  We are asking you to contact the Governor’s office and Legislators listed below to advocate for the passage of Senate Bill 217 that keeps the State Employee Charitable Campaign alive.    Why we are asking you to take action? Senate Bill 217 recommends the continuation of the annual State Employee Charitable Campaign, which allows for all State employees to support their local communities by donating to charities of their choice. Last year, State of Texas employees gave more than $9,000,000 to charities through this campaign. The State Employee Charitable Campaign is the only payroll deduction campaign for State and higher education employees. The SECC bills must be passed by both Houses (the House has passed its bill, the Senate has not). If the Senate bill does not pass, or is vetoed by the Governor, the SECC would cease to exist as of September 1 and employees throughout the State would not be able to support their communities through their workplace. We need your help to save more than $9,000,000 raised by State employees for charities through the State Employee Charitable Campaign.   Here’s how you can help: Contact Governor Perry and the Legislators listed below to let them know of your support for Senate Bill 217 and the importance of continuing the State […]

For the past couple of years, UWATX has worked with WhiteGlove Health to provide health care services for low-income families and the educators serving them. We were very disappointed to learn from WhiteGlove CFO Doug Cannon that they will cease providing services at the end of May.  This is a business decision WhiteGlove has to make, which we understand, but it is unfortunate that workers and families are losing access to affordable high-quality health care. WhiteGlove has offered almost two years of great health care service pro-bono as a gift back to our community at child care centers supported through UWATX’s Success By 6 program. They also provided a grant that allowed us to coordinate the services to their maximum effect .  Through this partnership, services were provided at Ebeneezer Child Development Center, Faith Presbyterian Child Development Center, Mainspring Schools, Trinity Child Development Center, and SafePlace Child Development Center. The project with WhiteGlove was an innovative model for health care that has flourished in other communities – to bring mobile healthcare units to low-income child care centers where the families and workers have the greatest need and. This model resolved constant issues of transportation for the working poor and misunderstanding about what health care options were available and needed for young children and their families. We hope that our public officials continue to look for ways to address the need in our community for affordable health care for everyone. At UWATX, we will continue to seek out opportunities to help families in need overcome […]

Today is National Children’s Mental Health Day – for us at UWATX, it’s an opportunity to shed light on a side of students’ lives that often gets overlooked. In Texas, more than 154,000 children from 9- to 17-years-old are dealing with a severe emotional disturbance. Even more common, an estimated one in five children have a diagnosable mental disorder, the most common being depression. The complicated emotional life of teens – attempting to manage the transition to adulthood including stress about important standardized tests – becomes even more complex for low-income children, who often deal with added stressors: When I was a teacher, students regularly came up to me and revealed problems in their home life, sometimes really troubling situations that I didn’t have the skills or resources to address. Amber Welsh, Middle School Matters Coordinator and former middle school teacher Food insecurity  Poor housing Lack of access to health care Inadequate transportation Neighborhood violence For most, a combination of these stressors leads to normal mood swings and changes in behavior. For some, the problem escalates to a disorder that requires treatment and, without help, that can lead to bad grades, suspensions, dropping out or, in the worst case, suicide. To avoid these scenarios, children and teens need a supportive casino pa natet environment to manage the stressors in their lives. Yet many schools lack the resources to provide this support. “When I was a teacher, students regularly came up to me and revealed problems in their home life, sometimes really […]