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Leadership Horizons 2008
Activate Your Passion for Community Leadership
You want to be involved in your community, but where do you start?
Is it possible to strike a balance between life, work, and volunteerism?
What does the community truly need, and how do you act on it?
What skills will community service help you develop?
United Way Capital Area's Young Leaders Society and Leadership Austin bring you Leadership Horizons 2008---a program to align your personal and community leadership goals with the needs of Central Texas. During Leadership Horizons you will:
- Learn about the important "horizon issues" facing Central Texas
- Better understand the options for leadership in Central Texas
- Understand the good, the bad, and the ugly of sustained community engagement
- Meet seasoned community leaders who will share their personal insights and stories
- Begin to develop a personal community leadership action plan
Leadership Horizons 2008
Who: This program is available to Young Leaders Society members only.
When: Tuesday, June 17 and Tuesday, June 24 from 4:30pm to 8:30 pm
Where: Haynes & Boone, LLP (600 Congress Ave., Suite 1300)
Cost: $35 per person covers the two-evening program and dinner provided.
Activate your passion for community leadership and join us for Leadership Horizons 2008!
Register to attend now!
Sponsored by:
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Summer Fan Fare
Family Eldercare coordinates the Summer Fan Drive to help keep people cool, comfortable, and safe during the hottest months in Central Texas. Please join us to celebrate the 18th Annual Summer Fan Drive at KGSR's Fan Fare Friday on June 20th at Threadgill's downtown location. Bring your fans or funds and enjoy the great live music, a different band plays every hour!
Interested in volunteering on Friday, June 20th? If so, contact Dustin Bunness at dustin.bunness@ey.com
Wild Night Out Planning Committee
Want to join this year's Wild Night Out planning committee??? If so, please contact Christine Fernandez at fernandezchristine@sbcglobal.net.
ARCH - Monthly Volunteering with YLS
Looking for a way to give time to your community and meet other like-minded young leaders? YLS has a standing volunteer event at Austin Resource Center for the Homeless (ARCH) each second Tuesday of the month. We need 3 - 4 volunteers to serve dinner for Tuesday, June 10th from 6-8pm. Please contact Susan Gustavson at susan.gustavson@ni.com to sign up and for more information.
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Geoff Rips, Development Coordinator of the AISD Office of Planning and Community Relations, and Michelle Krejci, the Anne Richards School for Young Women Leaders Advisory Board Executive Director, spoke to YLS members about this remarkable school and how and why it came into existence.
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Dear YLS Member,
Check out the event below. It’s the launch of “Live United,”
which is the new invitation from United Way to get involved.
It’s an exciting thing, and this should be a fun event.
June 21 is the longest day of the year, the day spring officially becomes summer. With change in the air and plenty of light in the sky, we hope you’ll join us on June 21 for “Live United: A Call to Action”---a chance to have some fun, raise your voice, and help somebody. We invite you to be part of the change.
Lend your opinions. Lend your expertise. Give 110%. Influence
the condition of one and you influence the condition of all.
Find a volunteer project and sign up. Or create one of your
own. Give. Advocate.
Volunteer.
That's what it means to LIVE UNITED.
“Live United” embodies the new United Way. It’s an invitation, a credo, and a personal promise. It’s a way of experiencing the world that gets us to think outside of our workaday bubbles. It’s a small, but potent, idea. We pause a moment, look around, and marvel at the power each of us has to improve our community right this moment.
So on June 21, the National Day of Action, United Ways across the country will join up with their communities, and together we will make a national declaration: We live united.
Join us Saturday, June 21, as Central Texas comes together to celebrate and illustrate the power of our voice. We hope you’ll be there. And as added bonus, the first 250 people to arrive on Saturday will receive their own “Live United” t-shirt.
What: “Live United: A Call to
Action”
When: Saturday, June 21; 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
Where: Jo’s Coffee (1300 S. Congress, next to the San Jose
Hotel)
Who: You, your family and friends, and your neighbors
Why: To show the power of living united
Other Cool “Live United” stuff:
- Keeping in shape? Join us as we walk (or run) with family or friends on June 21---to get our heart rates up and the message out: health is vital to a long, happy life. We’ll meet at the Stevie Ray Vaughan statue on Auditorium Shores, 7.30 am, on June 21. Look out for the runners group in their Live United white t-shirts.
- Keep your eyes peeled. On Monday, June 16, we launch our new Web site, www.liveunitedcentraltexas.org.
And the July edition of this newsletter will have a whole
new look, feel, and focus.
- Can’t wait to lend a hand? Sign-up to volunteer somewhere today at www.handsoncentraltexas.org
- Want to donate to United Way Capital Area and its work in improving the lives
of everyone? Visit www.unitedwaycapitalarea.org
today.
Learn More. Watch Advancing the Common Good.
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ECHO (Ending Community Homelessness Coalition)
United Way Capital Area is proud to be a founding member of ECHO, which is focused on making strategic investments to improve the lives of Austin's homeless. Specifically, United Way is working on ECHO's Housing & Services Collaborative project. This pilot program aims to improve the "continuum of care" for homeless individuals, provide them with housing and services, and advocate to end homelessness and secure additional resources. United Way funding pays for a permanent ECHO staff member who would coordinate and manage all of ECHO's efforts, and to coordinate existing resources to achieve the greatest long-term impact.
Tracy's Story (Behavioral Health)
Tracy grew up in a home with an abusive and drug-addicted mother. Throughout her adolescence, Tracy lived in six foster homes and eventually came to live with an older brother. At 15, Tracy became addicted to heroin because she felt unwanted and uncared for. As you can imagine, her heroin use led to a series of health problems, including seizures. Eventually, Tracy found Austin Recovery, an organization supported by United Way, who helped her understand her addiction. In fact, Tracy credits Austin Recovery with saving her life. She says, "These people did not judge me and did not give up on me, although at times all I wanted to do was give up on myself. They helped me to get to reasons why I use and helped me to face me." Tracy is now married, and with the continuing support of her sponsors, is making a life with her husband.
Community Tax Centers
A program of local nonprofit Foundation Communities, funded in part by United Way,
Community Tax Centers (CTCs) provide free income tax preparation for low-income, working individuals and families. Paying special attention to the Earned Income Tax Credit and carefully reviewing each case, the volunteer tax-preparers at CTCs put money back into the pockets of the people who need it most. In the 2008 tax filing season, CTCs prepared more than 17,000 tax returns and returned more than $20 million in refunds to Central Texas families, while saving them more than $2.5 million in tax preparation fees. United Way supports CTCs through direct funding, recruitment of volunteer tax preparers, and, perhaps most importantly, linking thousands of individuals to CTCs through 2-1-1.
For more information on these stories, or to see what else we're
up to, visit www.unitedwaycapitalarea.org.
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4th Annual United Way Capital Area Speakers Event
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| Join United Way Capital Area staff, volunteers,
family & friends in celebrating lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
(LGBT) pride on Saturday, June 14 at the Pride Texas festival
and the Austin Pride Parade. We'll have a booth at the festival
in the afternoon and will march in the parade that evening starting
at 8:30pm. If you would like to participate, please contact
Amanda Ryan at amanda.ryan@unitedwaycapitalarea.org
or 512-382-8598.
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On April 30, United Way was proud to host the Spirit
of Caring Awards at the beautiful new Long Center. Awards were presented to those individuals and companies who
exemplify the vision of United Way Capital Area. For a complete
list of winners, check out the May edition of "Community Matters."
Bill Kempf, Amanda Webster and Veronica Garza enjoy themselves at the 2008 Spirit of Caring Celebration
Volunteers
Eddie M. Garza and Tom Wells, with Event Co-chair Amy Wong Mok,
Diana Santos, and Event Co-chair Russell Bridges
2008 Award Winners and Speakers
Courtesy
Eric Hegwer Photography http://www.erichegwer.com
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- Letter to the Editor - "Pearce Middle School Crisis"
Austin American-Statesman - May 3, 2008
Read the letter here.
- "City-led Latino quality-of-life initiative sought"
Austin American-Statesman - May 8, 2008
Read the story here.
- "Consejo de Austin aprueba mejorar calidad de vida de latinos"
Ahora Si - May 15, 2008
Read the article here.
- "Phoenix can learn from economically robust Austin and Seattle"
AXCentral.com - May 18, 2008
Read the article here.
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Sunday, June 8
