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In the Spotlight
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Hurricane Alex Keeps 2-1-1 Texas on Their Toes
It’s that time of year again: hurricane season, which means it’s also time for UWCA’s 2-1-1 Texas to step up their disaster response efforts.
“Day to day we get calls from people who are dealing with their own personal disaster,” says Kay Euresti Garza, Director of 2-1-1 Texas. “When a local or state incident occurs, we provide information and referral support to our neighbors in need. It’s very fulfilling and humbling to guide a caller from a state of panic, in some cases, to a state of being empowered with correct resource information.”
Hurricane Alex was the first named storm of the 2010 hurricane season making landfall south of Brownsville, Texas on June 30. During Hurricane Alex, 2-1-1 Texas expanded its hours to better serve their fellow Texans in need of disaster resource information while monitoring the situation alongside the State Operations Center (SOC). Although Hurricane Alex ultimately had little impact on Texas, federal, state, and local disaster response agencies had resources staged and ready to go, in preparation for the worst.
Click here to read more.
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Getting Connected
Creative Ways for Your Kids to Volunteer This Summer
School’s out for summer and that means one thing: your children have plenty of free time on their hands. UWCA’s Hands on Central Texas program offers more than 400 meaningful volunteer opportunities and projects in the Austin area. Here are some easy ways your children can volunteer their time and help make a difference in the lives of those who need it. Who knows? They might actually have some fun too!
For more information about Hands on Central Texas or to learn about other ways you and your children can volunteer, visit www.handsoncentraltexas.org.
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Your Local United Way in Action
Quality of Childcare Linked Directly to Teacher Education and Location
Finding quality childcare may be more elusive than many parents think. Teacher education levels vary widely in childcare centers depending upon area of town and type of childcare center – part-time, full-time, for-profit and non-profit. More than half of the full-time childcare teachers in East, North and South Austin do not have a college degree, according to a recent study conducted by United Way Capital Area’s (UWCA) Success By 6 program (for details, see By the Numbers).
“Teacher education levels are one of the most important indicators of a quality childcare program,” said Sue Carpenter, UWCA Senior Director of Education. “For low-income children, a higher quality program helps children make significant gains in learning.” Children in classrooms taught by teachers who have a bachelor’s degree score higher on language tests and also play more creatively and imaginatively, according to research from the National Institute of Early Education Research1.
In the last four years, UWCA’s Success By 6 program has been instrumental in driving nearly 30% more early childcare centers serving low-income children to become quality rated. In 2006, only 14% were rated as quality programs. Reaching their goal of having 75% of early childcare centers rated as quality by 2016 looks well within reach, said Carpenter. To become quality rated, childcare centers must apply and meet specific requirements outlined by either the Texas Rising Star program or the National Association for the Education of Children (NAEYC).
To access the full results of the Success By 6 childcare survey, visit www.sb6centraltexas.org.
1 “Can a College Degree Help Preschoolers Learn?,” National Institute for Early Education Research, Dec. 2003.
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Friends and Partners
Deloitte Makes an IMPACT
In celebration of its annual IMPACT Day on June 11th, Deloitte partnered with UWCA and Communities in Schools (CIS) of Central Texas to volunteer their time and skills to make an impact in East Austin.
“The 11th IMPACT Day is a salute to Deloitte’s commitment to service,” said Amy Chronis, Central Texas managing partner, Deloitte LLP. “It is rewarding to help local organizations such as UWCA and CIS work on school dropout prevention, park beautification and nature education.”
Deloitte volunteers worked at Givens Park to install a Born Learning Trail, which features educational signage along a multi-colored path showing parents simple activities they can do with their children. The Born Learning Trail is part of UWCA’s Success By 6 program and is designed to encourage everyday, teachable moments for young children. Sims Elementary and Mendez Middle School both were given classroom makeovers to make the counseling areas more welcoming to students. The makeovers included creating more defined zones for studying, student/mentor meetings, play therapy areas and staff workspace.
Of special note is this is the 25th anniversary of CIS and, coincidentally, the Deloitte project at Sims Elementary is the 25th CIS makeover project.
To learn more about Deloitte’s annual IMPACT Day, please visit:
www.deloitte.com/impactday
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Living United
“From childhood I associated United Way with football heroes who gave their time to the less fortunate among us. As an adult, I have become acutely aware of the importance of United Way in our community. I’m proud to serve on the United Way Capital Area Board and to help others more fully understand what this great organization does to improve life for everyone in Central Texas.”
– Butch Hayes
Partner-In-Charge,
Fulbright & Jaworski L.L.P.
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Your Impact
Campaign Chair: The Ambassador of UWCA
For the second straight year, Jeff Hahn is leading UWCA’s campaign efforts as Campaign Chair. As the ambassador for UWCA, he meets with and makes presentations to the employees at local companies to remind them of the importance of United Way and the difference it makes in our community.
“It’s great to be Campaign Co-Chair because I get the opportunity to sell the United Way Capital Area promise to people,” Jeff says. “The best part is that it’s not a difficult pitch. Thousands of generous people in the Austin area already believe in the good that United Way does so they’re quick to respond when we come to their workplace.”
He doesn’t do it alone, however. Jeff is one part of an army of hundreds of dedicated volunteers whose help is invaluable, particularly during peak campaign months beginning with September’s Day of Caring through mid-November.
In addition to his many speaking engagements on behalf of UWCA, Jeff is also involved in setting up the new campaign cabinet, which will be focused on peer-to-peer conversations and donations as well as setting up the Best Practices for Employee Campaign Coordination.
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Ask Debbie
If I volunteer, should I give?
“Giving takes a number of different forms: time, talent, money. Many of the agencies could not exist if it were not for the hundreds of volunteer hours ‘given’ each year. Keep in mind, however, that basic overhead (water, electricity, space, staff) cannot be paid with ‘in-kind’ contributions. That is why cash contributions are also critical to the survival of community services. ”
- Debbie Bresette, President,
United Way Capital Area
Let me know what's on your mind.
By the Numbers
According to the 2010 childcare survey, quality child care provided by highly educated professionals is not widely available throughout the Austin area.
- 43% of teachers in North, South and East Austin have only a high school diploma or GED
- 22% of teachers in North, South and East Austin have a college degree
- 51% of teachers in Central and West Austin have a college degree
UWCA’s Success By 6 program is continually pushing for more of the local early child care centers to become quality rated by meeting specific educational requirements outlined by either the Texas Rising Star program or the National Association for the Education of Children (NAEYC).
To learn more about the efforts of Success By 6 to improve early child care, visit www.sb6centraltexas.org.
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