“Reading with children early turns them into life-long learners – it’s a great way to engage their brains and help children develop.” – Dr. Alison Bentley, Program Coordinator, Success By 6. The holiday season is an important time for families: children come home for the holidays, brothers and sisters exchange gifts, and generations celebrate together. Since it is the season of gift-giving, we asked our Success By 6 team of early childhood experts what books they would recommend as gifts for young children and young parents. These books can be a great gift for friends or a fun activity for you and your little ones. Books for Children Bear Snores On by Wilson Karma The whole Bear series is great, but this gem takes place in winter – a perfect match for holiday reading! Gruffalo and The Gruffalo’s Child by Julia Donaldson (also Room on the Broom and The Snail and the Whale) These books are beautifully illustrated, introduce children to many different animals and use a wide range of vocabulary and rhyming words. Over in the Meadow by Olive A. Wadsworth This book uses rhyming verses to introduce a variety of animals, their young and the numbers one through ten. Dinner at the Panda Palace by Stephanie Calmenson This book includes rhyming verses, a variety of animals and the numbers one through ten. That’s What Friends Are For by Florence Parry Heide and Sylvia Van Clief This is a wonderful story about friendship. From Head To Toe by Eric […]
Read MoreWLC Tours Northeast Austin Play To Learn session
Play To Learn: An 8-week parent education course that teaches parents how to help their children become school ready and incorporates tablet technology. On a cool November morning, Women’s Leadership Council members met in Northeast Austin to take an exclusive look at Play To Learn, a project of the UWATX Success By 6 program that works to reach vulnerable young children. Thirteen eager toddlers sang, danced, and played as their mothers and fathers looked on with pride. At Play To Learn, parents join in the fun as skilled facilitators guide them with helpful tips and child development information. “As part of the evaluation model, families are interviewed three times: before the program, at the end of the 8 week course and 3 months after the program,” said Kaley Horton, Success By 6 Project Coordinator. “Our first Play To Learn cohort just passed the three month mark and received their tablets. We’ve really been able to see what a valuable family tool the tablet is for vulnerable families.” WLC members left the tour with an even greater understanding of and appreciation for SB6’s work in the community: “I appreciated the opportunity to learn more about this unique program that is clearly impacting the lives of the families that are a part of it. Seeing it in person had a great impact- the parents were very engaged with their children and with the learning activities today.” – Judy Donigan, Sales Manager at 3M “It was wonderful to finally get to see the […]
Read More[VIDEO] How we make Austin greater
![[VIDEO] How we make Austin greater](https://www.unitedwayaustin.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Nov2012_BobbyJ_video-1.png)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h66EK3NeaIA&feature=g-upl[/youtube] At UWATX, our mission is to help Austin thrive by inspiring, leading and uniting an eclectic community of philanthropists to overcome barriers to economic opportunities. This video focuses on how our strategic programs – Success By 6, Target Graduation, Financial Opportunity and the Navigation Center – are making a difference in Greater Austin. Special thanks to Sneaky Giants for making this happen!
Read MoreFaith leaders gather to discuss early childhood
More than two dozen faith leaders joined United Way for Greater Austin’s Success By 6 team to learn more about investing in our community’s youngest members. UWATX research shows that 30 percent of full-time nonprofit child care centers and 80 percent of part-time centers are affiliated with a religious organization. Beyond these, UWATX also wanted to reach families who weren’t already accessing services. “Reaching vulnerable children before they enter school is a significant challenge for our community, particularly because many parents do not access child care and rely on family, friends or neighbors.” said Sue Carpenter, Sr. Director of Success By 6. “The faith community is a valuable entry point to support those families. More than that, many churches provide services for young kids – from Sunday School to Vacation Bible School – so they have the opportunity to really change lives.” Debbie Bressette, President of UWATX, welcomed everyone and Sam Bryant, member of Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church, lead the program with a non-denominational prayer. Leah Meunier, early childhood expert and Manager of Donor Engagement at UWATX, shared the need in our community and Ellen Jockusch, St. James’ Episcopal School, and Rudi Andrus, Mainspring Schools, spoke about the opportunities available for faith leaders to make a difference. The event was the beginning of a longer effort to engage the faith community in the ongoing conversation about supporting young children. As an easy first step, UWATX distributed Born Learning materials, research-based tools for parents in English and Spanish, that leaders could take […]
Read MoreSuccess By 6 supports healthy children and families
$41,000 Total value of WhiteGlove Health services provided through partnership with UWATX United Way for Greater Austin’s Success By 6 program has helped more than 240 children, parents and early childhood educators receive more than $41,000 of medical care over the past year, thanks to a generous partnership with WhiteGlove Health. Five child care centers have taken advantage of the on-site low- or no-cost services for staff and clients, including free flu shots. The project is designed to reduce barriers, including time and transportation, so families can more easily obtain quality health care. “Families that might otherwise not have the resources to obtain medical help are not only receiving high quality care but in a timely manner,” said Anthony Pyatt, Administrative Director at Mainspring School. According to UWATX research released in August, only 54.8% of child care centers provide full or partially paid insurance for employees. The partnership with WhiteGlove Health helps fill the health care gap for many teachers. Teachers are now able to be treated immediately at their home or on-site reducing their need to find substitutes due to illness. “We are proud to partner with WhiteGlove Health on this initiative – it’s an innovative way for a company to use their business model to serve the community, truly a win-win,” said Sue Carpenter, Sr. Director of Success By 6. “Thanks to our work together, we are bringing valuable health services to young children, their teachers and their parents.”
Read MorePartner Profile: ABC Home & Commercial Services
Name: ABC Home & Commercial Services Partner for: 6 months Partner for: Employee Campaign, Hands On Central Texas Our relationship: Taking advantage of UWATX offerings to better the community In just a few short months, ABC has selected a variety of UWATX services to make the most of our relationship, including Employee Campaign, volunteering and employee support through Learn Where You Earn. The company participated in Fall Day of Caring, plans to conduct a Volunteer Project Leader training course and uses Hands On Central Texas to facilitate and track employee volunteering. Tailoring Employee Campaign ABC leaders and UWATX staff worked hard to consider the company’s culture and structure to create an engaging, unique Employee Campaign. To accommodate different schedules, UWATX staff held meetings at various times for different teams – including several 7 a.m. meetings. UWATX also produced Spanish-language materials for ABC’s many Spanish-speaking employees. During Fall Day of Caring, Employees were able to utilize their expertise in landscaping to improve a children’s playground at one of UWATX’s early childhood education partners. They didn’t let a little rain stop them and even finished early! The experience matched employee’s skills with community needs to benefit both. Involving leadership to make a greater impact ABC leaders have committed their time, resources and expertise to make an impact on our community through UWATX. Mark Ambrose, General Manager, not only helped coordinate their employee campaign, but personally attended each of the 20 departmental meetings to ask employees to consider supporting UWATX, even travelling to […]
Read MoreSuccess: $500K of early childhood funding restored
When the City of Austin approved the City’s budget just a few weeks ago, it included a significant win for the youngest and most vulnerable children in Austin: the City restored approximately $500,000 in funding for services to young children. +500K Approximate funding restored to early childhood services throughout Greater Austin thanks to advocacy from UWATX and our partners. “When the City re-bid their Health and Human Services contracts last year, programs serving children under 6 lost more than $850,000 in funding,” explains Sue Carpenter, Senior Director of Success By 6 . “That included parent education, home visiting, literacy services, Head Start and child care centers – it was a significant blow, particularly because these are 3-year contracts.” In response, community organizations rallied together under the leadership of UWATX’s Success By 6 program to identify common goals, create a plan and lobby City Council to restore funding. Thanks to their efforts, Austin’s youngest community members are receiving more support. The restored funds include $150,000 of on-going funding and $350,000 of one-time allocations. With input from Success By 6 and other leaders, the City’s Early Childhood Council is working on recommendations for how the money will be spent. “We still have more to do – this is a great victory for young children, but we need to get back to previous funding levels so we can truly serve our children and invest in the future of our community,” said Carpenter. “Public officials need to see that all of these efforts are working toward […]
Read MoreWLC sees their investment pay off with Play To Learn
On Wednesday, September 12, members of the Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) gathered to learn more about the evolution of Play To Learn, part of the Success By 6 program that works to coach parents of vulnerable young children on school readiness at accessible neighborhood locations. “The initial pilot program was funded by the WLC, so we wanted to show them how that investment had grown,” said Leah Meunier, Manager of Donor Engagement. “Thanks to the WLC’s seed money along with a generous gift from Samsung Austin Semiconductor and strong partnerships with Austin Public Libraries, KLRU and The University of Texas at Austin, we’re making a targeted, measurable difference in the lives of young children.” The current version of Play To Learn addresses the needs and barriers identified through extensive UWATX research: Accessible neighborhood locations make it easy for parents to get to the program – removing barriers for parents to participate Instruction focuses on developing fine motor skills, problem solving and communication – areas where research shows children are falling behind The course includes eight two-hour classes with curriculum developed by UWATX. The goal is to provide a variety of tools for parents to engage their children. “Each class starts with healthy snacks as an opportunity to talk about nutrition,” said Kaley Horton, who manages the project. “Most of our time is spent with an activity – from art to blocks to other games – that teaches a skill, and these vary by week. We also showcase appropriate PBS clips […]
Read More[VIDEO] Giving Back Makes Austin Greater
![[VIDEO] Giving Back Makes Austin Greater](https://www.unitedwayaustin.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/marquee_HEB_video-1.png)
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeNBQ8xCMvY&feature=plcp[/youtube] To help our community thrive, UWATX works to give everyone the opportunity to be a philanthropist and give of their time or money back into our community. This video tells the story of H-E-B, an incredible organization whose employees have given back more than a million dollars to the Greater Austin area each year for the past three years. Special thanks to Sneaky Giants for putting this together and to H-E-B for setting such a powerful example of philanthropy!
Read MoreECLs ramp up for campaign season
On Tuesday, Employee Campaign Leaders (ECL) from across the greater Austin business community gathered at the Alamo Drafthouse Village for an exciting first look at new UWATX materials and to get inspired to run campaign. Attendees ranged from longtime partners such as 3M, H-E-B and the Austin American-Statesman to new business partners Liquidation Channel and Adlucent – a diverse crowd ready to see what’s in store of UWATX and what we’ve revamped this year to make their role a bit easier. ECLs have a ciritical role in Employee Giving Campaigns: championing employee giving at their company by tailoring their campaign (events,meetings, signs, e-mails and more) to fit with their company’s culture and engage their peers. These leaders work with UWATX representatives to craft a campaign that not only gives their peers the opportunity to give back in an easy way but also showcase the benefit of investing locally. To make that happen, UWATX representatives bring to the table best practices, printed and digital materials and a slew of experience speakers. This meeting was an introduction to this year’s brand new slate of tools. “Since our rebranding feeds into everything we’re doing this year, it made good sense to hold a meeting at the Alamo Drafthouse, which has a brand that is so original and uniquely Austin,” said Megan Carvajal, Director of Workplace Engagement at UWATX. “We wanted to re-introduce United Way to some of our most treasured volunteers.” ECLs experienced UWATX’s new brand, from the new name to the bold colors and the Makes Austin Greater concept, […]
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