Tag: food stamps

GAVA! Initiatives Involve Residents in Improving Communities

GAVA (Go Austin Vamos Austin!) is a resident-led health initiative working in Austin’s neighborhoods (78744 and 78745) with highest incidence of childhood obesity to promote family wellness, increase physical activity and improve nutrition and access to healthy food. The initiative works in different areas, called sectors, to address the key factors impacting childhood obesity: parks, schools, food service/quality/availability, out-of-school time and early childhood education. The University of Texas School of Public Health and Michael & Susan Dell Center for Healthy Living provide support for GAVA through staffing as well as evaluations and analysis of outcomes. A team of nonprofit partners have also dedicated some of their staff members to assist the various sectors in identifying resident leaders and forming neighbor action teams. Laura Olson, Family Support Service Coordinator for United Way for Greater Austin’s Success By 6 team, serves as the Early Childhood Sector Manager for GAVA. She works across the early childhood community to form teams made up of childcare providers and early childhood teachers, nonprofit providers serving families with young children, home daycare providers and parents of young children. Teams meet monthly to develop plans and take action toward improving the health of their families and neighborhoods. There are many resident-led initiatives starting to come together within GAVA and the work could not be done without so many key leaders and partnerships across the communities this is taking place in. Here are only a few of the activities beginning to take shape: A team of providers and parents at […]

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2-1-1 App Released By UWATX, Cerebri & IBM

United Way for Greater Austin is excited to announce the launch of the 2-1-1 Austin mobile app to help community members navigate the complex system of health and human services in Central Texas. The app will allow users to get to the assistance they need quickly, anonymously and from the convenience of their mobile device. In 2015, UWATX’s 2-1-1 call center, which has the most up to date, comprehensive directory for social services information, handled more than 300,000 calls, each representing a person in need of assistance. From mothers who need food for their children, to working families who cannot afford to pay their utility bills, or a dialysis patient trying to coordinate transportation to medical appointments, 2-1-1 can direct users to more than 30,000 social service resources. The app also makes it easy to call 2-1-1 directly when a human touch is required. “The 2-1-1 Austin app will streamline access to social services information, ensuring crucial information is available when and where it is needed,” said Jon Armstrong, UWATX Board Member. “We are grateful for the valuable support from Cerebri and IBM to provide the tools and expertise to help United Way for Greater Austin’s 2-1-1 call center reach more people in need.” Users can simply download the app from the app store and enter their zip code to connect to the most relevant resources based on their needs and location. Users can either find these resources through a robust set of resource-matching tools to obtain a list of […]

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Top Community Needs By District

Sometimes it’s easy to get carried away by the many great things Austin has to offer: parks, restaurants, concerts and local shops. If you live in a nice neighborhood, you likely aren’t thinking about how others, who may live near you but are struggling to make ends meet, are experiencing the same city in a completely different way. Using data collected from the 327,935 calls our Navigation Center received in 2014, we found the top community needs in each district. The top four needs were overwhelmingly the same for each district: Food stamps/SNAP, followed by Medicaid application, and rent and electric payment assistance. Below, we’ve listed other data that stuck out from our analysis: District one zip code 78701’s call volume increased 16% from the year before. Additionally, four zip codes in this district are within the top 10 zip codes that contacted our Navigation Center the most in 2014: 78702, 78723, 78724 and 78753. District six had the highest ratio of housing related needs, from Section 8 vouchers to help locating homeless shelters. In district seven, two zip codes are in the top ten zip codes that called for assistance: 78753 and 78758. Within these two zip codes, the call ratio per person is very high; there was one call per every five people living in these zip codes. Zip code 78701’s call volume in district nine increased 16% from the year before. Additionally, one zip code in this district is in the top 10 zip codes that contacted our […]

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