Blog

Do you smoke or know someone who does? The American Cancer Society, over at sharinghope.tv, is sponsoring a video contest–tell the story of how you quit smoking in a video, and upload it to their website. The prize is very cool–a brand new Flip camera. Click here to get the details on the contest.

From yesterday’s NY Times, a must-read article about nutrition and a low-income diet: The World Bank says nearly a billion people around the world live on a dollar a day, or even less; in the United States, the daily food-stamp allowance is typically just a few dollars per person, while the average American eats $7 worth of food per day. Last year, Dr. Drewnowski led a study, published in The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, comparing the prices of 370 foods sold at supermarkets in the Seattle area. The study showed that “energy dense” junk foods, which pack the most calories and fewest nutrients per gram, were far less expensive than nutrient-rich, lower-calorie foods like fruits and vegetables. The prices of the most healthful foods surged 19.5 percent over the two-year study period, while the junk food prices dropped 1.8 percent. Do you think it’s possible to eat healthy on a dollar a day in Central Texas? Click here to read the entire article.

Today is Election Day! Your vote counts! Use the power of advocacy and vote! Find your Voting Site today! Check out the Stateman’s Voting Guide! Mando

A sobering article appeared yesterday in the Austin American Statesman. There are plenty of misconceptions about who the uninsured are in this state, and this article helps dispel some of them. When we partnered with The Ray Marshall Center at UT, to research the most pressing health and human service issues facing Central Texas, we received similar disturbing wake up calls about the reality of limited health care access in our community. Our new approach to funding Health-related programs is focused on filling gaps in community healthcare that need the most attention–because we know that with funding, volunteer and advocacy support, articles like this can be replaced with good news of more Central Texans receiving the healthcare access they deserve. An excerpt of the article: Texas still has more uninsured children than any other state, and a new analysis shows that those children aren’t who people may think. The majority of uninsured children in Texas — 89.5 percent — have at least one working parent, according to Families USA , a Washington-based nonprofit group that commissioned the analysis from the U.S. Census Bureau. “There’s some mythology about uninsured families and uninsured children, and that mythology essentially tends to think about the uninsured being people who are looking for a handout, who are seeking welfare, when the precise opposite is true,” said Ron Pollack , executive director of Families USA, which advocates making health care available to all Americans. “These are people who play by the rules. They work hard; they […]

Last night we had our 4th Annual Speaker Series with the noted political married pundits James Carville and Mary Matalin. Between the 2 of them, they have worked for every president for the last 25 years. They provided a fascinating insight for the over 600 attendees, into the world of politics and agreed to disagree on the outcome of this election race, and just about everything else for that matter. Thanks to everyone who generously supported the event, especially the main sponsors Wachovia. All photos are Courtesy Gregg Cestaro & GivingCityAustin.wordpress.com.

Austin Groups for the Elderly is celebrating a centennial anniversary. On Sunday November 2, the Historic AGE Building, located near the intersection of 38th Street and Guadalupe will celebrate 100 years of service to Central Texas. Opened in 1908 originally as the Confederate Women’s Home by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, the Historic AGE Building continues to care for one of Austin’s most vulnerable populations: the Elderly. The building also houses dozens of important Central Texas non-profits, including: Austin Voices for Education and Youth, Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance (DBSA) Texas, Elderhaven Adult Day Centers and Travis Audubon Society. Click here for the complete list. The Austin Groups for the Elderly will celebrate this anniversary on November 2, from 1-4PM at 3710 cedar street, Austin, Texas. Get a map to the AGE Building here.

Dear 2-1-1 Texas Call Center Volunteers, On behalf of United Way Capital Area and its programs Hands On Central Texas and 2-1-1 Texas, we would like to extend our sincere appreciation and gratitude for volunteering your time during Hurricane Ike. The response to the broadcast e-mail was truly inspiring! We were especially gratified to see an array of volunteers that included individuals, businesses, corporate and the large turn out of state employees (Heath and Human Services Commission). You worked with great energy and great compassion as Hurricane Ike victims’ calls came in, helping to ease their frustrations and despair. We experienced firsthand at our 2-1-1 Texas Call Center the extraordinary depth of caring and dedication each of you displayed during the emergency response to the Hurricane victims. Your tireless efforts will long be remembered by those who received your help. Listed here are just a few of the highlights of your accomplishments – Friday, Sept. 12 through Friday, Sept. 26: 213 volunteers contributed a total of 2,000 hours of service for a total value of $39,020Answered 249,081 disaster callsCovered 57 shifts Once again, thank you for the magnificent support and your contribution of time. Best Regards, Armando Rayo Hands On Central Texas, Director and Kay Euresti-GarzaSenior Helpline Manager

In our community engagement work, we use dialogue or what I like to call “meaningful conversations” to build trust & engage people in the issues. I’ve been keeping a good distance from the dialogue & deliberation crowd, not because I don’t like it, but because it’s been, from my experience, very polarizing or clique-ish. I guess one of the reasons I haven’t connected with it is because of the language they use (deliberation, communities of practice, whiteness, intellectual freedom, etc.) and I don’t know how it would connect with regular community people. Maybe it’s a cultural thing? I don’t know. So I decided to dive into this world. I signed up to be a moderator for the E3 Alliance’s Blueprint for Education Change. The training is being facilitated by my friend and colleague, Taylor Willingham from Texas Forums. I’m pretty excited about it (oh did I just turn that corner?). We’re going to be in 6 communities (Austin, Bastrop, Hutto, Leander, Manor, and Pflugerville) facilitating structured “meaningful conversation” sessions aka deliberative dialogue with almost 600 people in Central Texas. We’re going to have conversations about what “we” can do to prepare students of today for the jobs of tomorrow with the focus on 3 core approaches – A Firm Foundation, Academic Achievement & The Central Texas Community. Check out the Blueprint for Educational Change. I’ll have to credit Taylor (D&D guru) for winning me over. She’s made the process easy and something I can relate to & something anyone can […]