Blog

Living United

Many thanks to everyone who joined us on Saturday to show their support and tell the world how they plan to Live United. We thank you and look forward to changing community conditions in Central Texas together! Here’s a few pix from the event.

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What is LIVE UNITED?

Live United is an invitation to join United Way in addressing our community problems together. In order to create opportunities for everyone to succeed, we’re focusing on the building blocks of a better life – education, health, and financial stability. Living United is about making the decision to get involved in the community and advance the common good for our children and families. Our goal is to get as many people as possible to raise their voices for community engagement and tell us how they support the community or how they pledge to become more involved. And on Saturday, June 21, join us (in real life) for “Live United: A Call to Action.” This casual daytime event will allow all of us to come together and remember the power of a community united. Grab your kids, your best friend, or your next door neighbor and join us for a couple of hours. LIVE UNITED: A CALL TO ACTION Saturday, June 21 There are a couple of locations where you can Live United: Jo’s Coffee – “Live United Headquarters”, 1300 South Congress (next to San Jose Hotel) 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.Join us for a celebration of our power as a community. Stop in, support Jo’s and buy a cup of Joe and some food, get some great information on community issues, have your picture taken in your Live United t-shirt and learn how you can Live United. Town Lake Trail (Stevie Ray Vaughan Statue on Lady Bird Lake, near Auditorium […]

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Community Innovation Workshops – Networks and Networking

Creating change is not that easy but luckily for us, we have some good workshops that can help you make the change you wish to see in your world! Come to our next Community Innovation Workshop – Presented by the University of Texas, United Way Capital Area and Hands On Central Texas. Networks and NetworkingLearn different types of networks, how to cultivate them, and how to use them. This workshop emphasizes developing meaningful, sustainable relationships and using those relationships as the basis for effective collaboration. Thursday, June 26, 20086:00-7:30pmUnited Way Offices: 2000 E. Martin Luther King, Jr. Blvd., Austin, TX 78702Register Here!Check out the full Workshop schedule here or go to our website at http://www.handsoncentraltexas.org/. Mando Director, Hands On Central Texas

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Burners Without Borders at our Spring Day of Caring

A big thanks to Patrick and his crew for sending us this update on their volunteer project! Many thanks to all who attended the second in our daycare assistance project!! Burners Without Borders is making a huge difference in safety and appearance on this site and we can all feel a sense of pride in knowing it was our sweat (and blood) that is bringing about this change. You are being the change you wish to see in the world and I appreciate your effort. It was an awesome turnout during one of the busiest times of our Flipside calendar. I know how precious time can be to us right now. We got lots accomplished! That pesky metal slide finally met its match. Unfortunately, when we got on-site, there was a traffic jam in the sandbox. But a fresh coat of paint and some safer screening made all the difference. We really shaped up the grounds as well, providing a safer environment for the kiddies. And, last but not least, that bunker… Before! Halfway done with it!!! We also had some really awesome BBQ, featuring the best batch of chopped brisket sandwiches I have ever made (YUM). So, we will also need one more work day to finish off this project. It will be fairly soon after Flipside, so stay tuned! Patrick

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How to Live United from Rich Harwood

Richard C. Harwood, founder and president of The Harwood Institute for Public Innovation, provides ten meaningful and important ways to Live United: We must help people in our communities to see and hear those individuals who are different from themselves, or who live in other parts of the community. At the heart of living united is the ability to see beyond ourselves so that we can begin to understand and work on common challenges, or support others who face challenges different from our own. We must root our work in the public knowledge of our community – for instance, in how people see and define their concerns, the values they wrestle with, the aspirations they hold for themselves, their neighbors, and their community. This public knowledge then must be used to inform the ways in which we do our work internally and the how we shape our programs and initiatives. We must act as boundary spanners in our communities, working to bring people and organizations together across real and imagined dividing lines. Too many efforts these days are fragmented, isolated, or even redundant. We must find ways to work across boundaries and leverage one another’s efforts. We must focus on undertaking “galvanizing projects” – efforts that by their very nature bring people together and demonstrate that we can step forward and work collectively. In these efforts, impact is less important than galvanizing people’s sense of connection and momentum. We need early wins and they must visible to everyone. We must […]

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Regional 'Blueprint for Educational Change' to be unveiled

A recent article in the Austin American Statesman outlines some of the challenges we face to improve Education in our community. Education leaders try to address these challenges in the Blueprint for Educational Change, the culmination of a two-year effort to improve education in Central Texas. Drafters of the blueprint, meeting today to release copies of the report, said they want to see: 95 percent of Central Texas students graduate from high school. Only two-thirds of ninth-graders now go on to graduate in four years. A 20 percentage-point improvement in eighth-grade passing rates on the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills among students from all ethnic groups. Black and Hispanic eighth-graders sometimes lag 30 to 40 percentage points behind whites, 80 percent of whom pass all sections of the state achievement test. 70 percent of children enter kindergarten “school ready” by 2015. One study shows that 40 percent of children in Central Texas now enter kindergarten with up to an 18-month delay in skills. The coalition of business and education leaders who worked on the blueprint said they also want 20,010 more students enrolled in college by 2010 and want the number of students who are “college and career” ready to double by 2015. Now, only about 43 percent of area high school graduates can take college-level courses without remedial work. Susan Dawson, executive director of the E3 Alliance, the group that led the blueprint effort, said the intent is “to look at where other countries and cities are outpacing […]

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Our trip to Camp Mabry

On Friday, May 23 a group of UWCA’ers took Col. Tom Palladino up on an offer to tour the Texas Military Forces Museum at Camp Mabry. Who knew that so much history was right here in our own backyard? We began our tour with a presentation by Col. Palladino about the history of the Texas Military Forces and the different Family Readiness programs like Partnerships Across Texas. Recently Partnerships Across Texas has been teaming up with 211’s all over Texas to provide assistance to members of the Texas Military Forces and their families. Col. Palladino has been at the forefront of pairing up these agencies, along with serving as a Loaned Executive and a member of the Local Federal Coordinating Committee for the Central Texas Combined Federal Campaign (and a member of the many, many other organizations with whom he is involved). There was a brief presentation on the history of the museum, then we were free to roam about the place. There were so many different exhibits; I had no idea how extensive it was. My favorite things were the dioramas. Some were put together by local middle school students. Pretty impressive! I think Liz’s favorite things were the artifacts in the main hall. She couldn’t resist climbing into one of them– A special shout out to Col. Tom Palladino and his team for the informative and entertaining tour of the museum. Thanks so much for all that you do! For more information on the Texas Military Forces Museum […]

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Young Leaders Society’s Sunset Dinner Cruise

Torrential downpours of rain and golf ball-sized hail couldn’t keep us from having fun during YLS’s Sunset Dinner Cruise! YLS members and potential members gathered on Saturday, May 10, 2008 aboard Lake Austin Riverboats’ Commodore and set sail on a memorable sunset tour of Lake Austin. Everyone was a little damp at the start – either from the 98 degree temps or from dashing through the raindrops – but the Commodore was a great venue in which to take shelter because it was mostly covered! As our captain took us around beautiful Lake Austin, we noshed on hula hut fajitas, played Board Member bingo, and networked with fellow young professionals. The evening ended with some door prize give-aways – a YLS party staple! Thanks to our members and Board Members for making the evening a great success! The mission of Young Leaders Society is to inspire philanthropy and volunteerism in the young leaders of Central Texas. Membership consists of more than 600 individuals and couples who contribute $1000 annually to United Way Capital Area. Learn more at www.unitedwayaustin.org/yls. Christine FernandezYLS Events Committee Co-Chair YLS Board members Karen Bryant and Kim Jowers The Riverboat “Commodore” YLS Board member David Rodriguez, Kim Allard, and YLS Board member Eloy Alderete Durel Bernard, Manager of YLS, getting into the nautical theme

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United Way Spirit of Caring Awards Photos

All photos in this post are from Eric Hegwer Photography, http://www.erichegwer.com Many thanks to Eric for his work at the Spirit of Caring Awards and his permission for reuse of the photos! Texas Representative Mark Strama Emily Moreland of Moreland Properties, and Don Kendrick and Kathy Bolner of Wells Fargo All of the award winners and speakers From left to right: Event Co-Chair Russell Bridges, President’s Award Winner Dick Moeller, Mark Finger from National Instruments (winner of the 2008 Spirit of Caring Award), David Balch, Event Co-Chair Amy Wong Mok, Campaign Cabinet Co-Chair Bill Wilson, Board Chair Ann Smalling, Community Catalyst Award recipient Obed Franco, Campaign Cabinet Co-Chair Tom Snead, Armando Rayo, and 2008 Volunteer of the Year, Trisa Thompson. State Farm Insurance Employees Trisa Thompson, winner of the 2008 Volunteer of the Year Award, also celebrated her birthday that evening.

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Si Se Puede!

Today I had lunch with fellow Public Innovator & Pf’s one and only Rod Reyna, at one of my new favorite taco spots. We were discussing the morning excitement – our Hispanic Community Enagement Initiative, Austin City Council meeting and press conference and the newly approved City of Austin Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative! We were both very excited about the opportunities this is going to bring to the Hispanic and Latino community as well as other segments of the community. I was telling him that we all need our day in the sun and today, we got it! Now it’s up to us to do something with it. We need to step up and lead, take action, do what we can to bring about community change, not only for our people but for everyone in the community. We came away from our lunch with full bellies, the ganas to make things happen and create change in our communities – for Rod, doing it Pf style and for me, engaging 100,000 people in community change. Check out the links for the Hispanic Quality of Life coverage…. Statesman – Councilman calls for look at how Austin Latinos are fairing (includes quote from our very own presidente, David Balch KVUE – Austin to study Hispanic quality of life News 8 Austin – City supports Hispanic Quality of Life Initiative Hispanic Quality of Life Press Conference – May 8, 2008 MandoDirector, Hands On Central Texas

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