Applications for the 2023 Q-mmunity Gives grant program, through which Q2 and Austin FC support Central Texas nonprofits each year, are open from now until October 16! Click here to apply and here to learn more.
Last year, three local organizations received game-changing grants as a part of the Q-mmunity Gives program: Central Texas Table of Grace, Latinitas, and Literacy Coalition of Central Texas. We checked in with each nonprofit to learn how the grant has helped further their mission and impact in the last year.
Central Texas Table of Grace
How is your organization doing? Biggest highlight from 2022?
Central Texas Table of Grace is progressing very well with our mission, which includes providing emergency shelter services to foster children in our emergency shelter and administering our Grace365 Supervised Independent Living program for young adults aging out of foster care. There were several noteworthy highlights from 2022, including the following:
- CTTG was able to care for 65 foster youth during 2022. This includes 51 children (ages 6 - 17) served at our emergency shelter + 14 foster youth (ages 18 - 21) in our Grace365 Supervised Independent Living program.
- CTTG and our leadership received several accolades including, being selected as CBS / Telemundo' January Community Partne. Our CEO received the Texas Women’s Foundation Young Leader Award, the Austin Child Guidance Center's Phyllis Richards Austin Icon for Youth Award and was featured in Success Magazine’s Women of Influence, and our Board Chair was selected as Board Member of the Year by NonProfitPRO.
- In Dec 2021, CTTG purchased a 2.1 acre property in Round Rock. This purchase included a 3,100 square-foot home that now serves as our headquarters for Grace365. We utilize this space as a community center where we gather our youth for our Second Saturday workshops, social events, and celebrations. We also have space to host volunteers for projects and train our employees. The property purchase allowed us to free up spaces we had been leasing before (e.g., storage for inventory and satellite offices). The renovation and beautification of this space for our youth is what we would count as the biggest highlight!
What are some of the direct impacts the grant has made on your organization?
The 2022 Q-mmunity Gives Grant has directly impacted our “Second Saturdays” program which is thriving. Every month on the second Saturday, we bring all of our Grace365 participants to our community center from 12-4pm. During that time, we hold workshops with guest speakers, cooking classes, and hands-on training (e.g., budgeting, planning, household upkeep, etc). We have group discussions and games. We use this time to encourage our participants to engage with the program and acknowledge them when they achieve their individual goals. These sessions have become very successful. The 2022 Q-mmunity Gives Grant supported all of this, including two different field trips to water parks to reward active engagement and achievement of goals. We were also able to provide high value "swag bags" that include special tools for adulting! Our young adults are excelling in their education and employment goals, acquiring driver's licenses, and getting all the support they need!
What advice would you give those who are considering applying for the Q-mmunity Gives grant?
The Q-mmunity Gives Grant is a great opportunity to reflect on your organization's needs and how your community can partner with you. Any application can feel intimidating, but if you focus on an actionable need, this is a great opportunity to share your story. You can explain the inspiration, motivation, and passion that drives you to make a positive change in your community. Personal narratives can make your application more human and compelling.
What is next for your organization and what goals do you have for future growth and impact?
The recent expansion of our property aligns with our long-term goal, which involves working with community partners to construct buildings that facilitate a more sustainable and holistic program. We continue to work with our community partners to begin the development of a micro-community to provide housing for our Grace365 participants. We can only serve 10 young adults in the current Grace365 program due to the high cost of rent. We will be able to serve 26 youth once the community is built. The long-term plan also includes transitioning our emergency shelter from a rental property to the new property we own. And we are so excited to report that we are RIGHT ON TRACK with that goal! We closed on the property next door on August 25th that we plan to use to build the new emergency shelter, and we are breaking ground on the Grace365 micro-community within weeks!
Latinitas
How is your organization doing? Biggest highlight from 2022?
Latinitas has developed and implemented new STEAM focused curriculum for Club Latinitas and digital literacy curriculum for Padres Digitales. For one of our greatest accomplishments, we were able to host Padres at new elementary schools in AISD by expanding from youtube videos to in-person programming. Our Padres Digitales participants expressed how important an opportunity such as learning the basics of tech literacy, and exploring the internet have helped them feel empowered. In addition, we were able to make new connections and build upon existing relationships with AISD schools for Club Latinitas to have another successful year.
How has your organization grown in the past year?
In the past year Latinitas has taken on new challenges and ideas to expand STEAM education to underserved communities of Austin. In order to grow, Latinitas hired a new program coordinator who is fully dedicated to the expansion of Padres Digitales. Along with the Programs team restructuring the team's responsibilities and schedule to take on new schools for Club Latinitas. The team also developed new community partnerships who provided refurbished laptops to our Padres participants and parent community.
What are some of the direct impacts the grant has made on your organization?
A special testimonial from a participant shared how valuable our Padres Digitales program, which has been made possible through the Q-mmunity Gives Grant, felt for them and how they hope it’s able to help many others going forward. Amanda Gomez says she is grateful for this opportunity and because of our guidance and support, she now feels more confident in her ability to access technology and doesn’t need to ask for help. She’s grateful that these opportunities exist and hopes it will continue to support other people and parents in our community so that they, too, are able to have this privilege of learning.
What advice would you give those who are considering applying for the Q-mmunity Gives grant?
Solidify your impact plan by identifying where your greatest community need is and how you can expand on that.
What is next for your organization and what goals do you have for future growth and impact?
Latinitas plans to expand Club Latinitas into Del ValleISD and ManorISD to reach new participants of the Latinx community. We hope to bring on additional program coordinators to assist in implementing our STEAM curriculum in new schools around Austin while expanding on new digital literacy talking points for Padres Digitales' curriculum. In addition, we plan to expand Padres Digitales classes on a regular basis and reach new community members. By expanding on current programs, we in turn uphold our ultimate vision: to create courageous leaders in all areas of life.
Literacy Coalition of Central Texas
How is your organization doing? Biggest highlight from 2022?
The Literacy Coalition of Central Texas is currently in the middle of a transition to a community-based service model where we aim for our education and career services to be more accessible to students. This past year we have supported over 1200 students and held 5 graduations for our adult, career, and family education students – one of which was held at the Capitol Building, an exciting location for the culmination of our students’ hard work!
How has your organization grown in the past year?
We have partnered with organizations to offer the following new services and support for students including expanding our hygiene closet to offer diapers for families, financial literacy events for families, piloting a savings program, providing story times for families, and deepening our referral systems for prospective students from other agencies. We have grown our operations team to include a finance intern. Our ESL for Parents course now offers two class times so we will be able to double our English Language Learning impact!
What are some of the direct impacts the grant has made on your organization? Please describe and give examples
The Q-mmunity Gives Grant has allowed us to serve 201 unduplicated parents and children through our PALS program – 176 parents and children received parenting and school-readiness services, 36 parents completed an ESL for parents course, and 18 parents received specialized career support from career coaches. Our PALS families also receive case management and counseling in order to support them through other challenges they may be experiencing.
What advice would you give those who are considering applying for the Q-mmunity Gives grant?
We found the application process especially clear and user-friendly, and the staff responsiveness exceptional.
What is next for your organization and what goals do you have for future growth and impact?
Our organization is excited for the future of community-based service provision. We are looking forward to partnering with both new and long-term partners to provide critical education programming in Central Texas. Our goals include strategic review of our services to ensure that our offerings for Central Texas remain high-quality and evidence-based, intentional community involvement opportunities in order to be responsive to career and education needs of our neighbors, and seeking additional funding in order to increase staff capacity to provide our life-changing services.
