Debbie McGee, Vice President of Resource Development shares her story of how her past experience has shaped and prepared her for her work at UWATX. Chloe Moore: How do you make Austin Greater? Debbie McGee: In terms of my role here, I’m the bus driver of this engine called ‘Resource Development’, which is basically fundraising for the work we do. My part is to make sure everyone is on the bus and moving in the same direction. So I see my role as bringing all the pieces together; for everyone to be on the same bus and driving down that road of success to make Austin Greater. Chloe Moore: What led you to UWATX? Debbie McGee: I’m from Huntsville, TX; that’s where I grew up. I went to the University of Texas and I ended up in the banking industry in Houston, where my husband and I were for 13 years. I stopped working for a while and stayed home for 15 years to raise my children. During that time, I was very involved as a volunteer in the community and enjoyed using my sales and banking skills to help raise money for different nonprofits in Fort Worth, Texas. When I decided that I was ready to start working again, a good friend of mine at TCU (Texas Christian University) told me, “Debbie I think you would be great at nonprofit and development work.” So in November 2006, as I was interviewing at different places, United Way aligned perfectly with my interests to help people with needs as […]
Read MoreLearn Where You Earn Takes Off
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
On June 19, United Way for Greater Austin wrapped up our first financial education workshop series with The City of Austin’s Resource Recovery department as a part the Learn Where You Earn (LWYE) financial planning series. LWYE is an initiative to partner with local employers to provide education on financial literacy and money management for their employees within the workplace. Seth Mason, with nonprofit Cornerstone Financial Education, presented information in a three workshop sequence on topics such as improving credit scores, how to read a credit report, managing debt, and creating a household budget. One participant, Robert Garcia, never made a budget before and had never looked at his credit report – nor did he understand what his credit score meant. He now feels equipped to create a budget, has a good handle on his credit and feels empowered to plan for a buying a home. Through LWYE he will have access to a financial coach to help him continue on his path to home ownership. Ashley Singh Sawicki, of Velocity Credit Union, also stopped by one of the workshops to discuss how direct deposit can save on check-cashing fees and answer questions about banking. Velocity Credit Union is a member of Bank On Central Texas, a United Way run initiative to bank the unbanked. With financial education, working individuals have the opportunity to engage their hard-earned dollars into active fiscal success. Although budgeting, repairing credit, and increasing savings are among the top priorities of LWYE, individual growth and less […]
Read MoreMaking Austin greater – 2012 Employee Campaign
Posted on by Aviva Pinchas
Leadership Makes Austin Greater Kevin, Webb Middle School student “I’m in the United Way Volunteer Project Leader program because I want to be a better person. When I grow up I want to be a professional soccer player but I worry I won’t ever be able to. Lots of times, money is tough even though my mom works really hard. She motivates me because she works so hard – she’s my mom and my dad at the same time. People from UWATX and my school who care about me say I should stay in school because even though I don’t need math to play soccer, I’m still going to need it at some point. Thanks to the UWATX program, I’ve already done some volunteer projects and it made me feel really good because I could talk to the people that couldn’t speak English so it made me proud to be bilingual. ” Education Makes Austin Greater Beth, mother of 4-year-old Katelyn “My daughter is becoming more social and independent thanks to United Way’s Play To Learn project. A few months ago, my mother passed away and I was having a difficult time finding a caretaker for my 4-year-old daughter Katelyn until I discovered United Way’s Play To Learn project. Since I do not have Internet access, the library is a home away from home for us, so it was incredibly convenient to find this service there. And this was so much more than childcare, it also allowed my daughter […]
Read MoreUSA Football brings U-19 Championship to Austin
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
We are happy to announce our marketing partnership with USA Football! For summer 2012, USA Football will host the IFAF Under-19 World Championship in Austin, TX. Games are June 30 – July 7. Through our partnership, not only are tickets affordable at under $12 a piece, but 50% of all ticket proceeds will benefit the United Way for Greater Austin and our charitable endeavors. USA Football is a national nonprofit organization that governs the football sport in the United States. Their organization is also the official youth football development partner of the NFL and the NFL Players Association. The U-19 World Championship brings together eight teams of high school-age players who represent four continents in celebration of football through competition and cultural exchange. The eight-day tournament culminates in a gold-medal championship game. USA Football is heavily involved in the betterment of young people through football throughout the country. The Under-19 World Championship, along with the International Bowl, are the two most prominent organization events and feature some of best high school football players from around the world. Watch a video about this summer’s games here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mHVV4MbFpkI To purchase your tickets in support of this great cause, visit: http://u19wc-unitedway.eventbrite.com Make sure you enter the offer code: unitedway Other great community partners who are also USA Football partners are: State Firemen’s & Fire Marshals’ Association Operation Homefront of Texas Boys & Girls Club of Austin Area Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Texas Girl Scouts of Central Texas AVANCE Austin Affiliate of Susan […]
Read MoreDeloitte makes over Crockett High for IMPACT Day
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
On Friday, June 8, Deloitte professionals came together for IMPACT Day- a volunteer day where local employees revamped courtyards, common areas, and classrooms of Crockett High School. Before volunteers got down and dirty with various projects, they were greeted with an early morning pep rally to remind them why their volunteer work is so important, introduce them to the school they were “impacting”, and provide a hearty breakfast to start the day. As projects began at 10 a.m., volunteers were assigned to different areas and set out to perform their duties. Some of these projects included: Building new bookshelves for students to house their achievements Sanding and painting the doors to improve the building’s appearance Landscaping the courtyard with flowers and grass Cleaning out the classrooms for the 2012-13 school year While volunteers worked on the outside beautification projects, additional Deloitte professionals taught no-cost workshops to local nonprofit employees on business counsel, leadership development and financial guidance, allowing these business professionals to gain important hands-on material. United Way for Greater Austin also managed additional volunteer projects for employees on campus, including downloading and preparing the new Samsung tablets with applications for the upcoming fall semester of Play To Learn. The Play To Learn project is an opportunity for parents and their children to learn together about school readiness at accessible neighborhood locations. The course incorporates Samsung Galaxy tablets pre-loaded with children’s educational apps to continue the learning process outside class. One-hundred and fifty tablets were loaded by Deloitte on Friday […]
Read MoreNavigation Center receives its 2 Millionth Call
Posted on by Ricky Deakyne
On Wednesday, May 30, our United Way Navigation Center reached its 2 millionth call; a symbol of greater need for our local Austin community and greater progress for your United Way. This specific call helped a repeat caller set up appointments to gain clearance for the Medical Access Program (MAP) for her family and helped an older woman gain access to taxpayer advocacy help. “Clients fluctuate between not having a stable job and unpredictable income,” said Charro Peralta-Bronstein, Bilingual Navigation Specialist. “My role is to make sure these callers qualify for assistance for the various programs offered in the Greater Austin community.” The Navigation Center is at the essence of what keeps United Way for Greater Austin moving forward with vision and purpose. Providing 24-hour assistance, 2-1-1 connects those with needs to useful resources around the clock. Since the economic downturn, United Way has implemented a number of programs and created various partnerships that have been key building blocks in developing and sustaining community access to essential resources. “We have personal relationships with public services important to the well-being of each individual who needs it,” said LouAnn Bardash, Navigation Specialist. “Our helpline has access to a large database filled with our long-standing partners in the community and statewide programs available to anyone.” Through partnerships, not only has the Navigation Center increased their connections to the local community, they have facilitated programs to gain increased recognition for their services. A partnership with Central Health, for instance, has resulted in a 40% enrollment increase into their […]
Read MoreGoldman Sachs Makes Austin Greater
Posted on by Christa Berry
On Monday, May 21st more than 150 individuals from Goldman Sachs and their clients came together to show how their volunteer service makes Austin greater! The team supported six service projects in and around Austin. Volunteers worked with United Way for Great Austin’s Success By 6 team to assemble 1,200 Play To Learn kits with educational materials including books, interactive children’s activities and literature that will assist families in building at-home libraries. These at-home activities not only reinforce the content of Play To Learn sessions conducted with families, they also supply families with appropriate materials to help their child become school ready. Across town, volunteers worked with Habitat for Humanity on a home repair for a local resident. Volunteers completed exterior repairs such as painting, scraping, siding replacement and trim repair in order to improve accessibility, safety, and energy efficiency for the homeowner. Partnering with Decker Middle School, one of United Way for Greater Austin’s target middle school campuses, a group of volunteers mentored and provided career and life guidance to at-risk students. Volunteers engaged students in a board game designed to increase the their knowledge of being financially responsible. Volunteers at Decker also worked in teams to decorate and pack 100 school supply kits that will benefit Manor ISD students, whose parents are veterans or are currently deployed. “I can’t thank Goldman Sachs volunteers enough for all your support. The Goldman Sachs employees and clients were exceptional individuals and had so much to offer our students, “said Becky Lott, […]
Read MoreUnited Way unveils Action Plan to improve care for our youngest community members
Posted on by Aviva Pinchas
This afternoon, we unveiled a landmark document that has been years in the making: the School Readiness Action Plan for Austin/ Travis County, an ambitious three-year plan to increase the percent of children who enter kindergarten school ready to 70 percent by 2015. In Central Texas, only 50 percent of children are school ready, meaning only one in two students enter school developmentally ready to learn. The number of ready children drops to 13 percent in low-income communities, according to UWATX research released earlier this year. “When children enter school behind, they tend to stay behind,” said Debbie Bresette, President, UWATX. “Children under 6 represent the future of our community- they’re one of our fastest growing populations- so changing these statistics means changing the future of Greater Austin.” The Action Plan is informed by recent census data, which show one in three households in Travis County include children under 6 and nearly half of young children are low-income, which on average means a family of four living on less than $46,000 annually. “We want to change these numbers so every child has the opportunity to be successful and Greater Austin can continue to thrive,” said Bresette. To get here, UWATX led two years of collaborative efforts with the City of Austin, Travis County and a variety of local stakeholders, bringing together more than 200 entities. This true community effort was endorsed by Mayor Leffingwell, Judge Samuel Biscoe, Senator Kirk Watson and Representative Larry Gonzales. Long-time supporter Representative Mark Strama spoke […]
Read MoreIntroducing: United Way for Greater Austin
Posted on by Aviva Pinchas
After months of careful evaluation, we’re announcing an important evolution for our local organization: we are changing our name to United Way for Greater Austin! Austin is an incredible city to live and work in and we’re proud to be here, so this name change reinforces our long-standing commitment to our dynamic community. We deliberately chose for—and not of—because we are here in service to Greater Austin. The new name does not signal any change to our service area, we will continue to provide research-based and results-focused services to all ten counties where we work. We’ve been helping Central Texas for almost 90 years and are committed to creating a resilient, innovative, philanthropic, creative and thriving community for all. The new name is one component of a larger rebranding process, where we are reintroducing ourselves to this vibrant community. At United Way, we are solving problems not just for one person with one need, but creating solutions for a large community with large needs. Our mission is to make Austin greater by building philanthropists, helping the working poor overcome barriers and making sure Austin continues to thrive. With this change, we have a new Facebook page that we urge you to like to see updates on UWATX. You can also follow @uwatx on Twitter for even more posts on how we’re helping Austin continue to thrive. (Note: While our Twitter handle has also changed, if you were following @unitedwaycapitalarea, you are automatically following the new handle.) As always, we couldn’t do […]
Read MoreUnitedHealthcare Employees give back to the City of Austin
Posted on by Christa Berry
Yesterday, 85 UnitedHealthcare employees rallied together to do something many Austinites might not be so keen to do – loaded wheelbarrows and spread truckloads of still-steaming Dillo Dirt and mulch at Pease Park. The service project helped prep the park for the City of Austin’s “It’s My Park Day” on March 3, an annual community service day focused on making improvements to Austin parks. “Access to safe and well-maintained parks offers everyone the opportunity to enjoy Austin without restrictions – making us an active, healthy and united Austin,” said Nikki Krueger, Director of Volunteer Engagement at United Way. UnitedHealthcare stands by the mission of its parent, UnitedHealth Group, which is “to help people live healthier lives.” The company believes it is necessary to be active in the surrounding communities and encourages employee participation in company-wide volunteering events. By serving the City and enhancing Austin’s oldest park, yesterday’s event was another opportunity for UnitedHealthcare employees to show their support of volunteerism and community involvement. Through projects like these, United Way Capital Area’s Hands on Central Texas program brings together dedicated volunteers and caring companies like UnitedHealthcare to create a community of philanthropists that help Central Texans thrive. HOCT provides volunteers with high-quality community engagement experiences that inspire individuals to stay involved.
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