On Wednesday, May 30, our United Way Navigation Center reached its 2 millionth call; a symbol of greater need for our local Austin community and greater progress for your United Way. This specific call helped a repeat caller set up appointments to gain clearance for the Medical Access Program (MAP) for her family and helped an older woman gain access to taxpayer advocacy help. “Clients fluctuate between not having a stable job and unpredictable income,” said Charro Peralta-Bronstein, Bilingual Navigation Specialist. “My role is to make sure these callers qualify for assistance for the various programs offered in the Greater Austin community.” The Navigation Center is at the essence of what keeps United Way for Greater Austin moving forward with vision and purpose. Providing 24-hour assistance, 2-1-1 connects those with needs to useful resources around the clock. Since the economic downturn, United Way has implemented a number of programs and created various partnerships that have been key building blocks in developing and sustaining community access to essential resources. “We have personal relationships with public services important to the well-being of each individual who needs it,” said LouAnn Bardash, Navigation Specialist. “Our helpline has access to a large database filled with our long-standing partners in the community and statewide programs available to anyone.” Through partnerships, not only has the Navigation Center increased their connections to the local community, they have facilitated programs to gain increased recognition for their services. A partnership with Central Health, for instance, has resulted in a 40% enrollment increase into their […]
Read MoreGoldman Sachs Makes Austin Greater
On Monday, May 21st more than 150 individuals from Goldman Sachs and their clients came together to show how their volunteer service makes Austin greater! The team supported six service projects in and around Austin. Volunteers worked with United Way for Great Austin’s Success By 6 team to assemble 1,200 Play To Learn kits with educational materials including books, interactive children’s activities and literature that will assist families in building at-home libraries. These at-home activities not only reinforce the content of Play To Learn sessions conducted with families, they also supply families with appropriate materials to help their child become school ready. Across town, volunteers worked with Habitat for Humanity on a home repair for a local resident. Volunteers completed exterior repairs such as painting, scraping, siding replacement and trim repair in order to improve accessibility, safety, and energy efficiency for the homeowner. Partnering with Decker Middle School, one of United Way for Greater Austin’s target middle school campuses, a group of volunteers mentored and provided career and life guidance to at-risk students. Volunteers engaged students in a board game designed to increase the their knowledge of being financially responsible. Volunteers at Decker also worked in teams to decorate and pack 100 school supply kits that will benefit Manor ISD students, whose parents are veterans or are currently deployed. “I can’t thank Goldman Sachs volunteers enough for all your support. The Goldman Sachs employees and clients were exceptional individuals and had so much to offer our students, “said Becky Lott, […]
Read MoreIntroducing: United Way for Greater Austin
After months of careful evaluation, we’re announcing an important evolution for our local organization: we are changing our name to United Way for Greater Austin! Austin is an incredible city to live and work in and we’re proud to be here, so this name change reinforces our long-standing commitment to our dynamic community. We deliberately chose for—and not of—because we are here in service to Greater Austin. The new name does not signal any change to our service area, we will continue to provide research-based and results-focused services to all ten counties where we work. We’ve been helping Central Texas for almost 90 years and are committed to creating a resilient, innovative, philanthropic, creative and thriving community for all. The new name is one component of a larger rebranding process, where we are reintroducing ourselves to this vibrant community. At United Way, we are solving problems not just for one person with one need, but creating solutions for a large community with large needs. Our mission is to make Austin greater by building philanthropists, helping the working poor overcome barriers and making sure Austin continues to thrive. With this change, we have a new Facebook page that we urge you to like to see updates on UWATX. You can also follow @uwatx on Twitter for even more posts on how we’re helping Austin continue to thrive. (Note: While our Twitter handle has also changed, if you were following @unitedwaycapitalarea, you are automatically following the new handle.) As always, we couldn’t do […]
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