The holiday season can be a tough one for families struggling to keep up with food and rent increases. That's why Austin Voices works with partners to provide presents, food and coats during the Christmas season. This week, every student at Dobie Middle School was able to wrap up at least one of the 1,000+ toys at Dobie's annual "Wrap Party" for their younger siblings. AVEY raised money and organized partners, including Austin Chinese Church, Workforce Solutions Capital Area, Jails to Jobs and Angel's Toy Drive and Bike Ride (Angel Martinez) to support this day of giving by Dobie students. AVEY also provided hundreds of Christmas presents to over 500 families at the recent Burnet Holiday Fair on December 9th!

Austin Voices' FRCs have also been working hard to support dozens of AISD families who are facing evictions during the holidays by providing rent and utility assistance, as well as food and connections to other resources. Long term, families are able to access adult education, workforce training and other supports that help them increase stability. All of this is possible because of the wonderful community partners, volunteers and donors who support AVEY's work. Thank you for your generosity!!!

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• AVEY is moving forward with a "Promise Neighborhood" project in Northeast Austin, connecting schools, health, housing, employment, out-of-school time and community partners. Over 40 partners are taking part in planning and activities, meant to support the Northeast Vertical Team of ten schools. Click here to read the Northeast Austin Promise Neighborhood Plan.
• AVEY is partnering with the City of Austin on two grants, "Project Connect" (supporting housing) and the APH Family Stability Project. Already this fall, AVEY has provided $45,476 in rent assistance funding to 37 AISD families. AVEY also continues to partner with Central Health on a grant supporting expansion of the MAP (safety net) health insurance program. Since last spring, AVEY has helped 563 families apply for MAP and another 100 families apply for state benefits (with support from Dell Children's Health Plan and American Youthworks, Americorps) at 57 enrollment clinics. Recently, AVEY has also received a capacity building grant through the City of Austin and a gift of $15,000 from Genentech to support HopeFest and other community events. We are grateful for all of these partnerships!
• In partnership with Austin Public Health, AVEY's 24 weekly immunization clinics this summer and fall at AISD campuses provided state-required vaccinations to over 1,000 AISD students (and some parents). Without these vaccinations, students, many of whom are refugees or new to Austin, cannot attend school. APH also provided flu shots, and APH, CommUnity Care and Ascension provided the new COVID-19 vaccine for 160 attendees.
• With inflation causing families financial stress, AVEY has continued its weekly food distributions (in partnership with Central Texas Food Bank), serving 250 to 500 families weekly in the Burnet, Dobie, Navarro and Webb communities. In the 2022-23 school year, AVEY served over 11,000 families with 400,000 pounds of food, as well as children's books, school supplies and other resources.
• AVEY is supporting several of AISD's Title 1 middle schools as they continue helping students recover from the impact of COVID and severe budget and staffing cuts in 2022-23. Check our website for opportunities to be involved in "Community School Planning" processes that focus on both in-school (academics, staffing, student supports) and external (family and community) factors that affect student success. 140+ parents, teachers and students gathered at Webb MS on December 6th for AVEY's Community School Planning dinner and 80+ at Dobie MS on December 13. Notes from these dinners will be used by planning teams in January to help strengthen both schools.
• AVEY and AISD traveled together to the national USDOE "Promise Neighborhood/Full-Service Community Schools" conference in Alexandria, Virginia in December. AVEY helped AISD receive a $2.5 million federal grant to support community school growth in the Eastside Vertical Team. AVEY's Executive Director presented at the conference on "High-Performing Community School Partnerships."
• AVEY has held over 200 campus and community events in 2023 that bring together parters, parents and community members to support Title 1 campuses in Austin's Eastern Crescent. HopeFest in October at Northeast ECHS had 4,235 attendees and over 150 exhibitors. Click here for the HopeFest '23 Report. Burnet Middle School's annual "Holiday Fair" on December 9th. sponsored by AVEY and Burnet, brought together over 500 families with resources, coats for kids, presents from Santa, and lots of fun. See our website for more event information, including volunteer opportunities.
• AVEY recently partnered with Austin FC/4ATX Foundation and Houston Elementary School to bring 11 students and their parents to the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team match with Trinidad/Tobago on Nov. 11. The students were given jerseys and accompanied the U.S. team out on the field for the national anthem! Click here to see a short video. THANK YOU Austin FC and the awesome Houston ES staff!
• THANK YOU to the Young Men's Service League for providing 187 volunteers at HopeFest, along with donated bikes, gift cards and craft supplies. Also, THANK YOU to Genentech for their generous gift of $15,000 to support HopeFest and Texas Mutual Insurance Company for their gift of $90,000 to support AVEY's workforce development projects for students and parents in 2024! THANKS as well to Celebration Church and Central Texas Food Bank who provided 600 Turkeys (and additional food) for families at AVEY events and campuses.
• Our Family Resource Center Social Workers serving at six campuses (Burnet, Dobie, Houston, Martin, Navarro and Webb) have already enrolled 248 high-need families (with 552 AISD students) in case management this fall, helping with rent and utility assistance, health and mental health needs, connections to employment and other family stability resources, directly impacting student attendance and enrollment. 3,456 families this fall received a service from the AVEY FRCs or AVEY FRC Call Center.
• AVEY sponsored 22 "Community School Alliance" meetings for community partners this fall supporting five clusters of schools (Navarro VT, St. John, Dobie/Rundberg, Eastside VT, Dove Springs/Houston ES) with 25-40 partners attending each meeting, with the goal of co-planning community events and increasing services to campuses and communities.
• Want to see our 2022-23 Impact Report? Click here.

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