It may seem like every beautiful apartment complex in Austin is financially out of reach. With rent continuing to soar, how do we keep some sense of balance in our city? Even though working toward affordable housing solutions in Austin may feel impossibly weighty, Foundation Communities has been tackling this issue with unwavering persistence. [Read more…]

In 1992, a Latina baby girl had less than a one percent chance of acquiring a college education. It was a grim statistic, one Austin Latinas and fellow women took to heart. It was a statistic they set out to change. The result was Con Mi MADRE.

What began as a mother-daughter program in 1992 has become a thriving nonprofit that serves more than 600 young Latinas and their mothers in the greater Austin area. For the past 24 years, Con Mi MADRE has worked to change the expectations and stigmas for young Latina women.

Today, the organization works to open doors for members, exposing them to opportunities they never thought possible. [Read more…]

The SEED offers English as a Second Language (ESL) classes to adults in Austin, emphasizing participation and community building. Learners are engaged community members and participants in their own educational experience. They give input on various aspects of the classes, including what they want to learn, what type of outreach or fundraising they want to do, and how much time they want to spend on a given task. [Read more…]

There’s a new nonprofit in town that smartly combines three things Austin is known for: the music scene, the tech world and delicious food. Aptly called MusicTechandFood.org, this organization brings music lovers and tech gurus together to help fight hunger in Austin.

One in seven Americans must make tough choices everyday when it comes to food. They skip meals, eat cheap, non-nutritious foods and live with food insecurity. In the United States, it’s estimated that 15.3 million children feel the weight of food insecurity, as well. To find out how MusicTechandFood.org battles these appalling statistics, I spoke with co-founder, Jake Sussman. [Read more…]

It is well known that Central Texas is one of the fastest growing regions in the nation thanks to an economic boom that has taken place in recent years. But you may not know that despite all of this growth and prosperity, tens of thousands of Central Texans are at risk of going hungry each week, including one in every four children.

Due to the rising cost of living, an increasing number of people in the Austin area are having to choose between food and other basic needs like housing, utilities, transportation and medicine.

New Name, New Location

Central Texas Food Bank (formerly Capital Area Food Bank of Texas) serves 46,000 of our fellow community members per week, from 21 counties across the region, and that number is on the rise. [Read more…]