United Way Capital Area to Award
$3.4 million in Grants
Amid cheering from partner agencies, United Way Capital Area announced it will award $3.4 million in Community Investment grants (CIG) this year. UWCA will renew financial support for one year for all 48 community programs it funded during the previous grant process which ran from 2008-2010. The grants fund community programs that make a long-term impact on critical issues in education, financial stability and health. Money for the grants comes directly from donors to the annual campaign run by UWCA.


Meals on Wheels and More
CEO Dan Pruett helps a client.
“In a tough economy, UWCA has done a wonderful job of supporting its partners in the community as they continue to do their great work,” said Dan Pruett, a UWCA partner and CEO and President of Meals on Wheels and More. “We appreciate the hard work and effort of the United Way team.”

Acknowledging the decrease in giving due to the shifting economy, UWCA President Debbie Bresette said this year’s grants are slightly less – 15 percent – than in years past. Like most area nonprofits, UWCA saw contributions drop in 2008-2009.

This year, UWCA also will suspend the community-wide request for grant proposals. A request for grant proposals will go out late in 2010 for grants which begin in July 2011. Saying she was truly proud of the results seen from the grants, Bresette said “UWCA, like other nonprofits, has had to make hard choices including dipping into net assets and reducing our budget and staff by 20 percent to continue these vital programs for the past two years.”

UWCA’s fundraising efforts through workplace giving campaigns resulted in approximately $40 million being invested in the past three years in community programs and services. Among the results reported by UWCA and its partner agencies:

• Impact Area – Financial Stability: 37,000 Central Texans received services in the areas of employment, housing and financial management to help them become more financially stable
• Impact Area – Education: 15,000 children or parents received educational services focusing on early childhood and middle school programs
• Impact Area – Health: 15,000 people in Central Texas received health-related services focusing on physical and mental health for older adults, low-income and minority individuals and those at-risk.

Getting Connected

• Thursday, February 25, 2010, 7 - 9:30 pm
• Alamo Drafthouse South
• 1120 South Lamar, Austin, TX

Your Local United Way in Action: Success By 6/Touchpoints Training

What is the best way to improve the lives of children? Engage more effectively with their parents. During the past three years, United Way Success By 6 has been doing just that by offering Touchpoints training, a parent education program developed by Dr. T. Berry Brazelton.

“The Touchpoints training helped me provide solutions to the mother of a two-year-old whose child cried every time she was left at school,” said Nadine Rueb, Family Service Coordinator of MainSpring Schools. “The mother made a few simple adjustments such as extending the child’s sleep schedule, reading books to help her child understand feelings of separation anxiety, and giving her child a stuffed comfort animal. Within two weeks, the child was doing much better. The mother was also greatly relieved to know this was all part of her child’s normal growth and development.”


Early childhood professionals engaged
in a Touchpoints training session.
In the training, child care providers and early childhood professionals learn how to enhance parenting skills to help parents identify, expect and understand the stages of normal child development. Armed with this knowledge, parents are less likely to become frustrated and more able to enjoy and support their children.

Click here to read more...

Friends and Partners

Support Haiti Relief in Style

One of America’s most popular designers, Ralph Lauren, is offering a co-branded, limited edition signature polo shirt with 100% of proceeds going to the United Way Worldwide Disaster Fund. Donations to the Fund will go toward long-term recovery and rebuilding in Haiti, as well as to meet the needs of Haitians affected by the disaster who have relocated to the U.S.A. and throughout the Caribbean. To place an order for the Ralph Lauren special edition shirt, click here.