Our Community Impact

2014
Health & Wellness Grant Recipient:

Samaritan Center

Project:

Integrated Health Care for a Healthier Community

The Samaritan Center’s mission is to provide professional counseling, integrative medicine, and community education to prevent and treat abuse, teach healthy life skills, and strengthen families. The Integrated Health Care for a Healthier Community Project funded by Impact Austin’s grant will address the problem of a fragmented health care system by providing telepsychiatry services and by providing a full-time case manager.  The telepsychiatric care will provide access to time-sensitive psychiatric assessments, medication adjustments and prescription assistance that is currently not available for 208 adults and children.  The case manager will help clients access other needed services in the community as well as improve communication and coordination of care among the treating professionals and clients.

For more information visit www.samaritan-center.org

2013
Culture Grant Recipient:

ZACH Theatre

Project:

Arts Across the Curriculum

ZACH aims to create a unique theatre experience that ignites the imagination, lifts the spirit, and creates meaningful dialogue that engages our community. ZACH's season of professional theatre productions celebrates diversity and offers a wide array of cross-cultural educational and participatory activities including professional theatre classes and interactive plays for children.

ZACH Theatre's Arts Across the Curriculum is an arts integration and professional development program that trains elementary teachers in theatre techniques that actively engage students in language arts, math, science and social studies curriculum. This program will increase service from three Title 1 schools to 16 Title 1 schools, serving 1,500 low-income, at-risk students in 60 classrooms over two years. The goal of this program is to provide arts-rich education resulting in higher grades, test scores and graduation rates.

For more details, visit their website: www.zachtheatre.org

2013
Education Grant Recipient:

LifeWorks

Project:

Workforce Development Program

LifeWorks transitions youth and families from crisis to safety and success. Providing a comprehensive safety net of services in Austin, LifeWorks serves 10,000+ individuals annually through 13 programs. Services include outreach & housing for homeless youth, Youth/Adult Counseling, Youth Development, GED, Youth Resource Center, and programs addressing the needs of foster care youth.

Lifeworks' Workforce Development Program targets youth who have been emancipated out of foster care and are at risk for joblessness, homelessness and/or incarceration. The Impact Austin grant will fund expansion of the program to an additional 45 youths per year. The program is divided into five stages: 1. Orientation, Screening and Assessment, 2. Social/Emotional Readiness, 3. Skill Development, 4. Placement/Internship and 5. Transition. The goal of this initiative is to break the cycle of youth moving from foster care to adult social services by assisting youth ages 16-24 in becoming self-sufficient with the ability to seek and maintain employment, sustain housing and cope with the challenges of daily adult life in a responsible manner.

For more details, visit their website: www.lifeworksaustin.org
 

2013
Environment Grant Recipient:

Colorado River Alliance

Project:

Texas Colorado River Mobile Learning Experience

The Colorado River Alliance (CRA) supports natural science education and outdoor recreation programs that encourage the stewardship, awareness, and protection of the Colorado River, particularly to at-risk youth. The foundation also partners with other organizations to organize clean-ups of the lakes that make up the Colorado River.

The CRA is the only non-profit in Texas dedicated solely to the protection and conservation of the Texas Colorado River. As our population increases, and severe drought conditions persist, water conservation is critical to Austin's future. CRA has partnered with the Austin Independent School District and Austin Water to create the Texas Colorado River Mobile Learning Experience, an environmental education program focusing on water conservation, which will reach over 5,000 7th grade students annually. The mobile classroom will use interactive exhibits to enhance learning and reinforce the link between personal behavior and the environment.  Since the classroom is mobile, it will also be used at community events, bringing the conservation message to the broader Austin community.

For more details, visit their website: www.coloradoriver.org
 

2013
Family Grant Recipient:

GENaustin

Project:

The 180 Program

GENaustin’s mission is to support and guide girls to make wise choices as they navigate the unique pressures of girlhood. We offer innovative, confidence building programs, utilizing best practices for working with ALL girls. We also provide education and awareness about the state of girls to teachers and parents.

The 180 Program provides court-ordered services for girls involved or at high risk of becoming involved with the juvenile justice system, via an established curriculum and workshops. The program goals are to reduce or prevent court involvement, increase bonding and pro-social behaviors, and improve in-school functioning.  The 180 Program is currently serving girls in Travis County, and will be expanded in Travis and introduced in Williamson, Bastrop and Hays counties, to serve 400 girls in 2013-14 and 500 girls in 2014-15. The expanded program will also provide additional support and follow-up for girls who complete the program.

For more details, visit their website: http://genaustin.org