In 2009, five grant recipients each received $102,000 from Impact Austin.
Culture Grant Recipient: Ballet East Dance Company
Project: Eastside Dance Academy

The
Eastside Dance Academy program is a two-year program that will create a
structured and transformative dance program at Eastside Memorial High
School. The program will help draw and hold approximately 400 students
in school by offering them the opportunity to connect to a positive
group activity, attract attention by acquiring the self-discipline,
skills, and confidence to perform, and help them see and plan beyond
their present circumstances. Dance professionals who have made
important careers for themselves will provide instruction in
contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, and theater dance, and students will work
toward presenting their own performances. Additional instruction in
nutrition, fitness, and health, together with etiquette and comportment
as audience members, performers, partners, and in groups will be
provided as additional opportunities.
For more details, visit:
www.balleteast.orgEducation Grant Recipient: GENaustin
Project: clubGEN/Girls Now!

GENaustin
will expand its in-school and after-school programs for girls in four
middle schools serving economically disadvantaged students — C.D.
Fulkes and Chisholm Trail in Round Rock ISD, and Manor and Decker in
Manor ISD. Services provided will include the clubGEN after-school
program and the in-school Girls Now workshop series. GENaustin hires
high school girls as mentors for the middle school girls while also
providing them with financial literacy, career building, resume
writing, and other training. Through this program GENaustin will help
ensure 280 young women have a dynamic, exciting, and high quality
experience exploring topics such as peer relationships, diversity, and
healthy bodies.
For more details, visit:
www.genaustin.orgFamily Grant Recipient: Capital IDEA
Project: Career Paths for Rural Families

The
Career Paths for Rural Families project will transform the lives of up
to 50 families living in poverty in rural Travis, Williamson, Bastrop
and Hays counties by sponsoring education and providing personal
development assistance to the heads of household. This education will
allow them to obtain a degree or certification toward a career that
pays a true living wage and offers benefits. The project will pay for
participant’s tuition, fees, books, childcare, transportation and
emergency expenses, as well as provide case management to keep each
participant motivated in their coursework and to assist them in times
of personal need. Twenty-five individuals will graduate and enter
career employment within the two-year project period, transforming the
long-term economic prospects of their families. An additional 20 will
complete 3 or more semesters of coursework and will graduate after the
two-year Project period.
For more details, visit:
www.capitalidea.orgEnvironment Grant Recipient: YouthLaunch
Project: Urban Roots

YouthLaunch
is a youth-development organization that changes the lives of young
people in Austin and throughout Central Texas by providing them with
community service opportunities that expand their outlook on life,
work, and their ability to improve the world around them. Urban Roots
is the latest undertaking by YouthLaunch. Urban Roots uses sustainable
agriculture as means to effect lasting change for youth participants
and nourish East Austin residents who currently have limited access to
healthy foods. It also seeks to develop environmental activists and
community leaders by offering young people an opportunity to learn
firsthand about sustainable food production. On an urban organic farm,
our project provides employment, life, leadership and job skills, and
service opportunities to under-served youth aged 14-17 in East Austin.
The interns harvest and distribute the produce through a variety of
outlets, all while learning firsthand about sustainable agriculture.
Teeming with life, this urban farm functions as a catalyst for positive
change, helping to develop a healthier, more vibrant community.
For more details, visit:
www.youthlaunch.orgHealth and Wellness Grant Recipient: People's Community Clinic
Project: Healthy Babies Initiative

The
People’s Community Clinic will use the Impact Austin grant to operate
its Healthy Babies Initiative, which will expand PCC’s existing efforts
to improve the health of the uninsured and medically underserved
children of our community by adding weekly Saturday pediatric clinics,
piloting a multi-hour group visit model for children’s well-child
checks and introducing a program geared to increase the number of
nursing mothers among their patients. PCC used the well-regarded March
of Dimes “Entering Pregnancy” curriculum as the model for their
successful group pre-natal visits. PCC’s success in this implementation
provides the basis for the development of this new, innovative program
to conduct group well-child checks to an additional 300 infants and
children annually.
For more details, visit:
www.austinpcc.org