United Way Capital Area - News and Events

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Councilman calls for look at how Austin Latinos are faring
About 60 percent of students in Austin public schools are Hispanic, and by 2011, more than 70 percent of Austin Latinos will be 18 and younger, Saldaña said. But Travis County Latinos have a 52 percent attrition rate in public schools, the highest among all races and ethnicities, he said, citing data from the Intercultural Development Research Association. United Way Capital Area is working with Adelánte Solutions to survey 1,000 local Hispanics in an effort to identify issues important to Latinos, as well as what motivates them to become engaged in public policy and volunteerism. The poll is part of United Way's Culture Connections and Community Engagement Initiative, which began two years ago.

Click here to read the entire story.

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Council Member Martinez proposes Hispanic Quality of Life initiative
United Way Capital Area has already taken proactive steps to begin this conversation by establishing its own community survey called "Making the Connection: An Examination of Volunteering and Community Engagement in the Greater Austin Hispanic/Latino Community" as part of their Culture Connections & Community Engagement Initiative. The initial survey, in which they partnered with Adelante Solutions, will reach 1,000 people and will expand to include ten focus groups and stakeholder meetings, as well as a final report.

Click here to read the entire story.

Friday, April 25, 2008
Texas Mutual Wins United Way Employee Giving Award
Texas Mutual Insurance Company has won United Way's Corporate Partnership Best Practices Honorable Mention for Employee Giving.

"The honorable mention is a strong testament to the incredible work Texas Mutual's team has done to ensure a highly engaging, organized, educational and successful employee giving campaign," said Shelley Hardeman, United Way Capital Area account manager. "The educational nature of their employee giving campaign motivates employees to give of their time and talents, in addition to the generous financial contributions they make."

Click here to read the entire story.

Friday, April 25, 2008
National Instruments honored by United Way.
The United Way Capital Area honored several Austin companies at its recent Spirit of Caring celebration.

National Instruments won the Spirit of Caring award for programs that include employee volunteering, educational opportunities and financial investment.

Click here to read the entire story.

Thursday, April 24, 2008
KLRU Docubloggers Episode
United Way Capital Area's 2008 MLK Day of Service episode aired.

Click here to view it.

Thursday, April 17, 2008
CHILDCARE'S ECONOMIC IMPACT
A new study from the United Way Capital Area of Central Texas estimates the local economic impact of formal childcare at 2 billion dollars.

Original news item here.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Childcare contributes $2 billion to the local economy, report shows
With its significant job growth and high quality of life, Austin has seen an influx of young families, and that's translated into a $2 billion childcare industry in the area.

A report today released today by United Way Capital Area shows that childcare businesses have an estimated $2 billion effect on the economy of Travis County.

Click here to read the entire story.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008
The Gifts In-Kind corporate challenge award
David Balch, president of United Way Capital Area, Diana Santos and Mando Rayo of Hands on Central Texas present the Gifts In-Kind corporate award to Russell Bridges (center) of 3M.

Click here for the original posting.

Thursday, April 10, 2008
Third Annual United Way CI ODM User Group Conference a Success!
Community TechKnowledge (CTK) hosted the third annual United Way Community Impact ODM (CI ODM) User Conference, March 27-28, 2008, at the company headquarters in Austin, Texas. The conference was attended by 39 United Way representatives from across the United States.

Speakers Included:
Roger Wood – Impact Design and Learning Community Impact Leadership- United Way of America & David Balch, President United Way/Capital Area

Click here to read the entire story.

Wednesday, February 20, 2008
United Way Capital Area Griswell Event
Jon Hockenyos of TXP, Sam Bryant of Bryant Wealth Investment Group and J. Barry Griswell of Principal Financial Group attend an event focused on early education.

Click here to read the entire story.

Monday, February 18, 2008
Volunteering as a family project
Volunteering seemed like the way to go but Nordskog wondered how to find family-friendly projects.

She turned to Hands On Central Texas for help. It’s a program of the United Way Capital Area.

Armando Rayo, Director of Hands On Central Texas says, “We get a lot of calls from families.”

Rayo says families can search their online data base to find the project that suits them best.

The organization works with more than 400 non-profits in Central Texas.

Click here to read the entire story.

Monday, February 18, 2008
Finding a better way
(Commentary by David Balch in the current issue of Austin Business Journal)

The word "change" has been flooding the cultural zeitgeist lately, and it's safe to say we'll be hearing of a lot more about it in the coming months. But Central Texas can't afford to let change be just a political buzzword.

Article appears online here.

Read the entire article here.

Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Risk Taking Community Strategies
Eugene Sepulveda, Statesman Blogger (Community Matters) and Executive Director of the Entrepreneurs Foundation of Central Texas recently interviewed United Way's David Balch on the new funding model:

"I've been quoted acknowledging the riskiness of United Way's new funding strategy. And, even though some of my favorite agencies are receiving reduced funding, I support the strategy and focus United Way's adopted.

I asked David if I could quote him on what's been happening and asked him a few questions..."

Tuesday, January 22, 2008
Remembering a leader
Austin residents marched in a cold, steady rain Monday to honor Martin Luther King Jr. and to remember that his struggle for social justice is not over.

United Way Capital Area President David Balch said inequality is still a problem in Austin.

"Austin is like an onion, and when you peel it away, what you see underneath is not always what you see on the surface," he said. "I see a community that in 1999 had a poverty rate of 7.7 percent, but last year that increased to 10.8 percent. That's almost a 50-percent increase."

Read the entire article here.

Sunday, January 20, 2008
Volunteers gather to beautify community
Next time you are tuckered out or looking to talk, take a seat on a Peace Bench.

The first batch of 25 wooden benches painted with inspiring words and quotations of Martin Luther King Jr. will soon be popping up in East Austin, thanks to volunteers who built them Saturday in honor of the civil rights leader.

"It's pretty neat. It's something artistic yet definitely helps the community and puts out the message about what Dr. King was all about," said Michael Dula, 32, who helped build benches Saturday during the MLK Day of Service hosted by Hands on Central Texas and United Way Capital Area.

Read the entire article here.

Saturday, January 19, 2008
Rayo: Live the legacy
Would the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. have a MySpace profile? Would he share his philosophies of change and community service via a blog? Would his immortal "I Have a Dream" speech be a YouTube blockbuster? Maybe. The method of communicating it would be different, but his message would be the same. After all, one of the supreme advantages of living in such an instant-connection, digital world is the ability to share your message with people you'll never meet.

Read the entire article here.

Tuesday, January 15, 2008
COMMUNITY TAX CENTERS OPEN SOON
Amanda Ryan is with United Way Capital Area. She says they just recently increased funding for Foundation Communities by 600 percent because "they're really directly aligned with what we're trying to do at United Way, which is helping people who can't afford to live in Central Texas to increase their financial stability ultimately toward the goal of building savings and assets and the community tax centers are such a great example of that type of program, really helping people get their full tax refund so they don't have to pay for a preparer."

Read the entire article here.