Our Community Impact

2006
Education Grant Recipient:

Literacy Austin

Project:

Service expansion and outreach with additional main location classrooms and new remote locations

The mission of Literacy Austin is to provide basic literacy and English as a Second Language (ESL) instruction for adults, age 17 and older, who read below the fifth-grade level. Literacy Austin is now the largest provider of free adult basic literacy classes and ESL classes for adults in Central Texas.

The Impact Austin grant will provide a classroom build-out in their unused building space and hire a part-time off-site coordinator. These measures will enable the agency to respond more quickly to adult learners’ requests for services and reduce the waiting list. As a result, Literacy Austin will be able to tutor 49 percent more clients on site and meet the needs of more individuals in other areas of Austin. For more information, visit www.literacyaustin.org

2006
Environment Grant Recipient:

EmanciPet, Inc.

Project:

Expansion of and improved access to spay/neuter services

EmanciPet is the only nonprofit in Austin that is a 100 percent spay/neuter clinic providing low-cost surgeries from both mobile and stationary animal hospitals. Since 1999, over 35,000 animals have been sterilized at EmanciPet’s mobile hospital, while the organization has prevented births and subsequent unnecessary deaths of at least 537,500 dogs and cats at the stationary hospital.

EmaniciPet’s goal is to make Austin the nation’s second “no kill” city in the United States by 2008 by expanding its spay/neuter service capabilities. The Impact Austin grant will complete the outfitting of one additional surgical unit at their stationary hospital. It will also improve access to the facility and its services through the use of two additional transport vehicles that pick up and return pets to targeted neighborhoods. This will allow the organization to increase the number of spay/neuter surgeries it performs each year by 7,500, resulting in fewer euthanizations of animals.

For more information, visit www.emancipet.org

2006
Health & Wellness Grant Recipient:

The Children’s Wellness Center

Project:

Clinical assistant training program for young women or men in Del Valle to help them pursue health c

The Children’s Wellness Center (CWC) is a school-based health clinic created in partnership in 1996 between Del Valle Independent School District and the University of Texas School of Nursing. It has since had more than 62,000 visits for sick children, preventative care, immunizations and home visits.

The Impact Austin grant will offer 12 young women or men in the Del Valle community the opportunity to obtain education and training toward a career in health care. Three students every six months will be recruited to attend an accredited clinical assistance program. Upon completion of classroom training, the students will complete a paid externship and then continue in employment for 20 hours per week for six months. These students will be assigned to a nurse practitioner during their externship and employment for mentorship, career counseling and personal support.

Initially, the project will impact 12 young women or men by providing training, professional development, mentoring and an accredited health-care job certification. Ultimately, the CWC will be able to increase its patient load by approximately 20 visits a day, 4,800 patients a year and serve the health-care needs of Del Valle at a much higher level.

For more information, visit www.utexas.edu/nursing/html/cwc

2005
Education Grant Recipient:

Communities In Schools

Project:

XY-Zone Project

Communities In Schools is Central Texas’ leading dropout prevention program. Through campus-based programs and special projects, Communities In Schools creates a network of volunteers, social services, businesses and community resources that work together to break down barriers and help students succeed.

The XY-Zone Project supports at-risk young men on their journey into manhood by teaching the core values of respect, responsibility, relationships, role models and reaching out. Impact Austin’s grant funds the salaries of two full-time caseworkers—one each at two different high school campuses in the Austin Independent School District. The grant also provides funds for related materials, community service projects and field trips for the 50 young men (ages 13 to 18) on each campus who participate in the XY-Zone Project.

For more information on Communities In Schools, visit www.cisaustin.org

2005
Health & Wellness Grant Recipient:

Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation (ATCMHMR)

Project:

Community Voice Mail

ATCMHMR serves people whose lives are seriously affected by developmental disabilities, mental, emotional and substance use disorders. ATCMHMR envisions an understanding community that respects and accepts each person’s differences and responds with compassionate, comprehensive and quality services. 

With Community Voice Mail, ATCMHMR offers support to smaller social service agencies that do not have the infrastructure and/or staff to set up voice mail communications with their clients. Voice mailboxes play a critical role in assisting clients who do not have telephone service in obtaining jobs, medical care, housing and other important services.Impact Austin’s grant provides funds for various start-up costs associated with the project that will provide more than 1,000 voice mailboxes to clients in the Central Texas area.

For more information on ATCMHMR, visit www.atcmhmr.com