Since 2011, Catherine Morse has shared her passion for early childhood and commitment to community service with the UWATX Board of Directors and Success By 6 Leadership Council. Now, we are proud to announce that Morse, named an ABJ Woman of Influence in 2011, begins an 18-month term as Vice Chair of the Board before taking on the role of Board Chair in 2015. When I’m thinking about my role in all of this, it’s about being an evangelist – an advocate that shares the knowledge I’ve gained to drive solutions. – Catherine Morse What inspired you to get involved with UWATX? Three years ago, Samsung Austin Semiconductor made a $1M gift to Success By 6 to celebrate expanding our business in Austin and to provide support for the community after the recession. It also opened the door for my relationship with United Way for Greater Austin. Before that gift, I didn’t know much about United Way or Success By 6. Since then, I’ve met the inspirational leaders here – Debbie Bresette as President and Sue Carpenter leading the charge for early childhood – and I’ve learned so much about the need in this community. When you look at the data, it’s shocking, and I continue to be involved because those numbers move me to action. How do you see UWATX’s role in the community, now and in the future? Today, United Way is a powerful convener, pulling together nonprofits, businesses, individuals and government on key issues, setting goals and […]
Read MoreThe power of female philanthropy: 500 givers, $1.2M, nearly 10K lives
This week, our Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) celebrated another successful year of female philanthropy at the home of long-time supporter Anne Smalling. Here are a few highlights from the event: This year’s WLC co-chairs, Jennifer Foster (Dell) and Lauren Hammonds (Blackbaud), welcomed our guests and thanked them for their gifts of time, resource and advocacy. We recognized Betsy Abell and the generosity of the Buena Vista Foundation. We announced the collective impact of our WLC members: $592,000. Thanks to a matching gift from the Buena Vista Foundation, that means a total of $1.2M is being invested in UWATX’s Success By 6 (SB6) program, changing the lives of Austin’s youngest and most vulnerable children. Sue Carpenter, Senior Director of SB6, provided an inside look into this year’s successes – including impacting 9,900 lives and other results listed above – and next year’s exciting initiatives. At the end of the evening, members left with cakes from Nothing Bundt Cakes and a renewed passion for Central Texas philanthropy. Get involved: make a gift today, get informed about WLC or learn more about how your company can benefit from sponsoring this inspiring group of dedicated women and reach out to get involved.
Read MorePolicy proposals for Austin children – the full details
In our community, low-income children are our fastest growing demographic – growing two times faster than in the state, which is twice as fast as the national growth rate. Recently, policy proposals from state and national officials have put children in the spotlight, and with growing conversation about how to best serve vulnerable children, our Success By 6 program has compiled some insights on the importance of quality care and different policy suggestions about how to support children and parents. The Research We spoke with a panel of experts (Dr. Elizabeth Gershoff, Dr. Aletha Huston and Dr. Elliot Tucker-Drob)from The University of Texas about nationally-recognized research in the area. Here’s what they had to say: In Oklahoma and Florida (where universal preschool has been adopted), parents are taking advantage of the opportunity (75 and 76 percent adoption, respectively). However, quality and outcomes vary based on funding – Oklahoma is seeing greater results because of a greater investment. Research has shown that preschool provides a $7 return on every dollar invested. Research specifically on Head Start shows early results and then fade-out by first grade. Researchers are working to understand these numbers, but have found that looking at longer-term outcomes – like being employed and staying out of jail versus first grade testing – still show the benefits of Head Start. Preschool helps close the achievement gap: research from UT shows that preschool can make up for differences in the home environment and help children be more successful in school. This effect […]
Read MoreSpotlight: Peter Kretzschmar looks “up and out” to make meaningful change
This month, UWATX welcomed long-time volunteer and avid supporter Peter Kretzschmar to our team as Vice President, Strategic Programs. In his new role, he will oversee UWATX’s work in the community, including our Success By 6, Target Graduation, Financial Opportunity and Navigation Center work. Before coming to United Way, what was your background, both professionally and in the community? I was at IBM for nearly 32 years, so I’ve been a tech guy since tech meant microwave ovens and color TVs. I started by working on health programs, mainly environmental health, everything from occupational health and safety to groundwater to air quality and so on, but really my principal roles over the years have been about relationships. I focused on managing relationships between different tech companies, forming alliances, and making sure we were both benefiting. I think that experience plays well with my role at UWATX. I’ve also been involved in the community consistently for many years. I was on the Board at Communities in Schools, which is one of our partners here at UWATX, have been involved with UT on Advisory Councils and as an adjunct faculty, and was involved with our Target Graduation program of course. So you’ve been consistently involved in the community, why did you want to get involved in a new way? I think it has to do with finally deciding “want to do when I grow up.” It was a natural evolution for me – I started my career many years ago and focused […]
Read MoreLet our leaders know: Austin children are an important investment
In Greater Austin, low-income children are our fastest growing demographic and before they even get to school, they are falling behind. Our community is also falling behind in the level of public support we provide to vulnerable children – investing as little as one tenth of what comparable cities are spending. Right now, UWATX’s Success By 6 team is leading a community-wide advocacy effort on behalf of our youngest and most economically vulnerable children and families. We’ve already met with 9 leaders and plan to visit 3 more in the coming weeks to share our message about the importance of the first years. We’ve created a dashboard to highlight key data about this growing challenge as well as specific policy recommendations for the City and County. Beyond one budget cycle or legislative session, we are working to make early childhood a civic priority for our community. Between now and March 1st, as we meet with City Council members and County Commissioners, you too can lend your voice. Share this post or any of these links with your social networks and tag our community leaders to spread the word. You can also contact our community’s leaders via phone or email and let them know that early childhood matters to you. We’ve crafted this template as a starting point: Dear [NAME] – As a concerned resident of Austin/Travis County, I believe that every child in our community has potential. Yet too many of our youngest and poorest children do not enter Kindergarten […]
Read MoreFamilies log more than 2.5K minutes, avg. 61 logins per user on education app
UWATX has partnered with Famigo, a local Austin tech startup, to help parents discover quality apps for their children and help young children access educational apps more securely. Already, UWATX’s first cohort of Play To Learn families have logged more than 2,500 minutes since October, with an average of 61 logins per user. Famigo is an app on the Android market that allows children to access a collection of educational games, interactive books and other child-appropriate content hand-selected by their parents. Once inside Famigo, children can’t wander to outside content, including apps not selected by their parents. The service also provides a library of apps rated by their staff so parents can easily find new interactive education experiences for their young children. Only apps rated 3 or higher make it into the library, meaning all of the content is high-quality and safe for families and also has exceptional design and a great interface. Through this partnership, UWATX has loaded Famigo onto each tablet distributed to Play To Learn participants, who receive a Samsung tablet at the end of an 8-week parent-and-child education course. Famigo provides data on how families are using the service and what app are most popular. “Famigo works really well with our Play To Learn project because we are already integrating Samsung tablets so families can extend their education beyond our 8-week in-person course,” said Kaley Horton, UWATX Project Coordinator for Success By 6. “This app allows us to get deeper insights into how parents are engaging […]
Read MorePartner Profile: AVANCE
Name: AVANCE Partner for: 6 years Partner for: Success By 6 Our relationship: Expanding services that work UWATX funding supports AVANCE’s dual generation program – a holistic program for low-income, primarily Latino families with a focus on enhancing parenting skills, promoting long-term success for children, and family support. Over the years, our funding has more than doubled and UWATX has leveraged other grants to increase our support for this effective and successful program. Thanks to these efforts, AVANCE has been able to expand services in the Dove Springs and St. John’s neighborhoods and begin helping families in Manor as well. Sharing best practices and improving care AVANCE takes advantage of UWATX’s Family Support Network – a group that encompasses every agency that serves families with young children outside of formal child care in Greater Austin. UWATX brings providers together to coordinate services and share information, provide professional development and aggregate data. Thanks to this coalition, families in Greater Austin receive better care and agencies use resources more efficiently. Advocating for young children Thanks to recent advocacy work from UWATX and our partners, nearly $500K of City funding was restored to services for young children. Sofia Casini, AVANCE’s Executive Director, helped reach out to City staff and the community to give voice to this important issue. As UWATX continues to improve the landscape of care for young children, AVANCE plays a critical role in planning for Austin’s growing Latino population. Together, UWATX and AVANCE continue to work together to educate […]
Read MorePoverty continues to climb for Austin children
January is Poverty Awareness Month – a month dedicated to learning more about poverty in our communities, how poverty impacts all of us and what we can do to help. At United Way for Greater Austin (UWATX), preventing poverty is our key goal as we work to help Austinites overcome barriers to opportunity so we can all thrive. In Travis County, more than 192,000 individuals – or nearly one in five – live in poverty. Since 2011, an additional 1,512 children have fallen into poverty so that one in four Travis County children live in poverty, the highest poverty rate of all age groups. Poverty has a lasting impact on children, affecting how the brain develops and often leaving young children with long-term deficits in their academic and emotional growth. Stress caused by poverty can even lead to permanent changes in the structure and function of the brain. Living in poverty in the earliest years (birth to age 2) can even predict high school achievement as well, making children roughly 30% less likely to complete high school. The cycle of poverty begins early and continues to permeate all stages of development, from childhood to adulthood. Starting behind early in life is a key indicators that a child is unlikely to transcend poverty. Nearly half of all children that are born into poverty will continue to be poor as adults. Nearly half of all children that are born into poverty will continue to be poor as adults. But it doesn’t stop there: graduating high […]
Read MoreGrowing challenges for family budgets
This week, Frances Deviney, Ph.D., Texas KIDS COUNT Director at CPPP, presented to the UWATX Women’s Leadership Council about the growing budget challenges facing Austinites and what they could do to get involved. Here are some highlights: Nationally, a family of three is considered poor if their total income is less than $18,123 annually. This does not take into account regional differences in cost of living or changing expenses, including rent, health care, child care and transportation. The child poverty rate in Texas (27%) is higher than the overall US rate (23%). The Travis County child poverty rate (24%) has also climbed above the US rate. In Travis County, income has not kept up with inflation. Adjusted for inflation, Central Texans are making $6,000 less on average than in 2000. Many families – including 21% of 2 parent, 2 child households and 61% of single parent, two child households – are not making enough to make ends meet. At UWATX, statistics like this drive our work every day. We are working to provide families with higher quality, more affordable child care options, improve public support for early childhood and provide financial literacy.
Read MoreExpert Advice: Books for young children and young parents
“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 […]
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