Austin’s upcoming November election is bound to be one for the history books – it’s the first test for Austin’s new single member districts and the first time since 2009 that a new and untested mayor of the City of Austin will be elected. With such an historic election coming up, we want you to hear from the candidates on the issues we work on every day: barriers to economic opportunity for Greater Austin residents. Follow the Mayoral Debate live on Twitter: Tweets by @uwatx When: Wednesday, September 3, 2014, at 4:30 p.m. Where: Newly renovated and soon-to-reopen Alamo Drafthouse, located at 1120 S. Lamar Blvd., Austin, Texas. (and on Twitter via @uwatx and hashtag #uwatxdebate!) What: City of Austin Mayoral Candidate Debate, focused on the barriers to economic opportunity for Greater Austin residents Catherine Morse, general counsel/director of public affairs at Samsung Austin Semiconductor and board chair elect for UWATX, will moderate the debate. To date, Steve Adler, Mike Martinez, Sheryl Cole, Todd Phelps and Randall Stephens have confirmed they’ll be participating. In the Greater Austin area, nearly half of all families are struggling to make ends meet because of high costs for everyday expenses like child care, housing, transportation and so on. The challenge is even greater for Austin children, one in four of whom lives in poverty, and our data show that the needs continue to grow. We’re also excited to announce our host committee for the event: Becky Arreaga, founder and president of Mercury Mambo, and member of UWATX Board of Directors Andy […]
Read MoreRecognizing the best in philanthropy: Employee Campaign Awards 2013
Thanks to almost 400 companies and their employees in the Austin community, UWATX’s vision for Austin is one step closer to becoming a reality. Last night, we celebrated and recognized those companies who excelled in building philanthropy in our community. Overall awards Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy Awards Our Excellence in Corporate Philanthropy award is given to United Way for Greater Austin’s Top 3 campaigns, companies who make important investments with a commitment to making Austin Greater and where employees also give of their time, talent and treasure. Each of these companies implement United Way’s best practices, and do so in a way that represents “excellence” in all categories. They represent the heart of philanthropy in Greater Austin and we are so honored to work with them everyday to lift up the working poor and ensure that every one of our community members has what they need to thrive. This year’s winners are H-E-B, 3M and Enterprise. Pictured, from left: Mark Hauerland and David Spencer, H-E-B, Russell Bridges, 3M, Eric Munoz and Nikki Mulvaney, Enterprise, and Bobby Jenkins, ABC Home & Commercial Best Practices Award: Target The “Best Practices Award” recognizes the company that implements UWATX’s 3 Best Practices of engaging company leaders in Employee Campaign, providing opportunities for employees to learn about the impact of their gifts and experiencing community change through volunteer projects hosted by UWATX. This year, our representatives were able to speak at every Target store and cover every employee shift to ensure that Target employees […]
Read MoreOne of the many teachers we appreciate
Since it’s National Teacher Day and Teacher Appreciation Week, we are saying a warm & heartfelt thank you to one of the many teachers that make our work possible and support Austin’s students: Mr. Bavu Blakes, 7th Grade English Language Arts & Reading Teacher at Decker Middle School. In case you need to get inspired, we asked Bavu some questions about his teaching philosophy – the answers are guaranteed to give you some warm and fuzzies. Why did you decide to go into teaching? I am a scholar. I have always been that way. I am an avid reader and writer. I was interested in teaching at the college level but I wanted to work in my community (he lives in Decker attendance zone) . I wanted to serve my community and the young people. Also, I remember my 8th grade English teacher. She changed the course of history for me. That’s why. As an English Language Arts teacher, I get to teach a subject that affects all parts of their life. Writing, reading, listening and speaking are the foundation of all things we do. Bavu Blakes, 7th Grade Teacher at Decker Middle School What is your teaching philosophy? Teaching is about building relationships with children. I see it as my job to identify what they need and how to teach them. As an English Language Arts teacher, I get to teach a subject that affects all parts of their life. Writing, reading, listening and speaking are the foundation of all things […]
Read MoreWLC rounds out another year of helping Austin children
The United Way Women’s Leadership Council just wrapped up another successful year – and the results speak for themselves: “Anytime a group of women leaders are focused on the social and economic challenges in Greater Austin; the focus brings results.” Kathleen Farlow, Managing Partner, Deloitte Austin The WLC is a powerful group of professional women who have a deep passion for helping Austin’s youngest and most vulnerable children. Through advocacy, volunteer efforts and donations, they make sure that Austin’s future is on the right track. This past year, the WLC members gave an astonishing $400K to support our most vulnerable community members. I have the privilege of supporting this inspiring group – but their own words speak to the value of this group much more powerfully that I could: A HUGE thank you to all of the dedicated women who have come together to support young children this year! Of course, the work is never done, so right now, the WLC is supporting the Steiner Serves effort that selected our Success By 6 (SB6) program as their May beneficiary and working on a book drive to help centers in our SB6 Center Project. Learn more about the efforts of the WLC and the great women that lead this work. Want to learn more? Tell us: [pardot-form id=”6638″ title=”Email marketing – welcome series”]
Read MoreCelebrate STEM education!
With Austin’s booming tech scene, Science Technology Engineering and Math (or STEM) skills are critical for most future jobs in Austin. This week, as cities across Texas celebrate STEM education, experts from our Target Graduation program curated a list of activities and experiments to teach STEM skills in the classroom or at home with just a few supplies. Follow United Way for Greater Austin’s board STEM Week Texas Activities on Pinterest. These activities are appropriate for students from elementary school through high school, but you’ll see different responses depending on the age of participants. If you want to see more, check out our Pinterest board for links to sites with more ideas. We support STEM education locally by evaluating programs for low-income students to make sure they meet quality standards and providing young children with STEM learning opportunities. Have you found an interesting, easy-to-implement science or math activity? Share in the comments! Feature photo by Nicholas Nova via Flickr Creative Commons.
Read MoreThree months of volunteering in ONE day
Yesterday, more than 700 volunteers joined us for Spring Day of Caring – a citywide call for volunteers managed by our Hands On Central Texas program. In total, volunteers gave 2,100 hours yesterday, which is the equivalent of 87 days of day-and-night volunteering. Here’s what YOU had to say about the event: [<a href=”//storify.com/uwatx/800-give-back-for-spring-day-of-caring” target=”_blank”>View the story “700+ give back for Spring Day of Caring ” on Storify</a>] Volunteer teams came from 21 companies to participate, including Freescale, H-E-B, Austin Coca-Cola, Intel, Target, ADP, JE Dunn, Dell, Workplace Resources, CLS Partners, Nordstrom Rack, Liquidation Channel, Kerbey Lane, Texas Instruments, Epicor Software, AT&T and more! It was great to see the smiling faces of volunteers as they gave back to make Austin greater: [AFG_gallery id=’12’] Did you participate? Share you story & picts at our Facebook event! [<a href=”//storify.com/uwatx/800-give-back-for-spring-day-of-caring” target=”_blank”>View the story “700+ give back for Spring Day of Caring ” on Storify</a>]
Read MoreMeet Raul Sanchez
It’s no secret that Austin, Texas is great, arguably the envy of the world: it’s the live music capital, boasts a roaring economy, has shown up on countless “Best Cities For” lists and is rapidly growing because of it. These things are obvious to us locals. What us natives might not realize is why Austin is greater: it’s greater because of Raul Sanchez. Sanchez has been an educator for more than a decade, starting in his own back yard in the Rio Grande Valley and currently serving the St. John community as Principal of Webb Middle School, one of the schools in our Target Graduation program. The son of immigrants from Mexico, Sanchez feels great kinship with the children he works with everyday. “The Rio Grande Valley didn’t need me like Webb needs me – we have kids who are moving so much, who have a lot of challenges in their family from homelessness to mental illness and more. Thanks to United Way, we can provide wrap-around help for all of these issues. That means my teachers and I can focus on learning.” – Raul Sanchez Principal, Webb Middle School “When I see the children we serve, I see myself,” said Sanchez in a recent conversation with Celso Baez, a founding member of our Young Leaders Society who has volunteered at Webb Middle School. “I am the youngest of 14 children and the first person in my family to go to college. My parents don’t have a formal education. I started out very much like […]
Read MoreInsurance industry exceeded goal!
Last night, the insurance community came together to celebrate an incredible achievement: in it’s first year, the Insurance Industry Challenge exceeded their goal of $300,000 by raising $371,096! This substantial increase – raising 56 percent more than last year – will make a significant impact on our community by helping children start school on-track, supporting students in the critical middle school period and ensuring families have the tools they need to thrive. To make this happen, many insurance companies, industry associations, trade publications and individuals came together to support community change through United Way for Greater Austin – and we couldn’t be more grateful for their efforts. [AFG_gallery id=’11’] The Austin Insurance Industry Challenge (IIC) demonstrates what happens when there is passion, focus and commitment to making Austin Greater. Thanks to everyone who participated! Want to get involved with the Insurance Industry Challenge in 2014? Let us know!
Read MoreA middle school perspective on leadership
On the surface, these students look like any other boys in the St. John’s neighborhood – Jose is a Webb Middle School student who likes video games and has lived in Austin all his life, Kevin is a freshman at Reagan High School who was born in Mexico and loves to play soccer. But they do something that makes them stand out from the pack: Kevin and Jose are actively changing their community at the ripe old ages of 11 and 15, respectively. We’ve been working with students like them for three years as part of our Target Graduation program. When we first partnered with campuses to saturate schools with the services that students need, we also adapted our Volunteer Project Leader program into a full-year course for middle school students, and over the past year, our Young Leader Society has been actively engaged with volunteer leaders at our three target middle schools. Kevin, Jose and 48 of their peers are making a difference by assessing what the needs are in their own school, putting together a plan to resolve those needs and leading their peers and YLS members to fix problems. This is Jose’s first year in the program, but Kevin’s been involved since it first started. “I enjoy getting to help people in the community where I live. I feel like I’m making a change at home,” said Kevin to YLS member Kara Birge when she sat down with the boys last week. “I got to help people today […]
Read More18 years of volunteering in 2013
Each your, our Hands On Central Texas program helps thousands of volunteers to give their time and invest in our community. In 2013, these volunteers gave a staggering 161,000 hours of time – that’s the equivalent of 18 years of non-stop, day-and-night volunteering! [cta][/cta] All told, our in-house team managed 10,000 volunteers during our Days of Caring (both Fall and Spring), MLK Day of Service and H-E-B’s Feast of Sharing. On top of that, handsoncentraltexas.org connected an additional 16,000 volunteers to meaningful opportunities in our community. We also had to respond to a crisis in our community this year. The flooding in October 2013 left homes in ruin and many people unsure where to turn. In the aftermath, volunteers were need to help clear houses, sort donations and more. We took the lead as part of our membership in Volunteer Organizations Active in Disaster and coordinated 14,000 hours of volunteer work to help the Dove Springs recover. [cta][/cta] But 2013 was also the year that we saw even more growth in our exciting Volunteer Project Leadership program for middle school students – we expanded from one campus to three and helped 50 students learn how to lead volunteer projects, and they turned around and coordinated 183 volunteers over the year. It’s students like Niko at Webb Middle School who show us every day what it means to be a leader and inspire us to keep doing this work. Of course, none of this would have been possible without YOU – the amazing volunteers, donors […]
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