Published December 17, 2020
As 2020 ends and we reflect on the challenging events of the past 11 months, one thing is clear – the already critical work of our grant partners has only increased in importance and need. Throughout the course of the year, we, as a foundation, have embraced several opportunities to connect with, listen to and learn from our grantees to assess the community’s most pressing needs and invest resources to support that work as nimbly as possible. Such efforts included deploying the Foundation’s COVID-19 Recovery Fund and, as appropriate, converting grants to unrestricted, general operating support to ensure the stabilization of day-to-day operations for some of Central Texas’ most critical nonprofits.
In October, St. David’s Foundation partnered with Episcopal Health Foundation to conduct a survey focused on Central Texans’ views on and experiences connected with COVID-19. The results were sobering, showing significant impact and hardship in Central Texas communities in comparison to the rest of the state. Specifically, Travis County residents are more likely to skip or postpone medical care than those in the rest of the state (42% versus 32%). This illustrates the importance of timely access to care, supporting safety-net clinics and strengthening our overall health care infrastructure. Further, in conversations with local nonprofits and community organizations, several needs became increasingly clear. These organizations need financial assistance and flexibility in navigating the impacts of the pandemic and responding to the emerging needs of the community.
We have listened with intention and thoughtfully taken into consideration survey data, community conversations and the guidance of local health experts to determine how and where to best support the Central Texas community. In response, we are pleased to announce the recipients of our winter grant cycle totaling $31,669,724. As determined in our spring cycle, and where appropriate, some of the grants reflect unrestricted, general operating support to provide our nonprofit partners maximum flexibility while other grants – in particular, those made to our clinic partners and other organizations – will support specific projects and initiatives.
Our winter grant recipients represent organizations serving our neighbors facing the greatest needs, including childhood and older adult populations, and those working to improve the critical infrastructure that keeps communities healthy. This includes safety-net clinics, palliative care, home visiting services, and food security in our five-county region.
As we embark upon the new year with renewed hope for a healthier tomorrow, we are humbled by the fortitude of our community while knowing much remains unknown as we face the coming months and as our communities continue to struggle amidst a global crisis. We will stand by our nonprofit community at every opportunity as we work to advance health equity and work to uplift our Central Texas neighbors.
Below, we invite you to learn more about these organizations and the vital work they provide to our community.
A Gift of Time: $135,150 – Funding will support the launch of a new Adult Day Health Center in Georgetown.
Affordable Central Texas: $225,000 – Funding will provide time limited support to ACT to preserve affordable housing for Austin’s workforce.
AGE of Central Texas: $590,000 – Funding will help provide comprehensive services for vulnerable homebound older adults, resources and education for family caregivers, access to affordable adult day health care and programs that are designed to reduce social isolation.
AIDS Services of Austin DBA Vivent Health: $667,152 – Funding will help provide oral health and well-being care of people affected by HIV and AIDS.
Alzheimer’s Association Capital of Texas Chapter: $175,000 – Funding will provide support for leaders, caregivers, individuals and programs addressing dementia in Black, Hispanic, LGBTQ and rural communities.
Alzheimer’s Texas: $59,590 – Funding will support existing programs that provide education and support to family caregivers in Central Texas.
Austin Community Foundation: $50,000 – Funding will provide support to Latino-serving nonprofits meeting the urgent and evolving needs of their diverse clients during COVID-19.
Austin Cops For Charities: $30,000 – Funding will help with the purchase of about 50 air conditioner units for older adults living in Austin’s Eastern Crescent.
Austin Palliative Care: $500,000 – Funding will help provide community-based palliative care services to adults with a serious illness in Travis, Williamson, Hays and Bastrop Counties.
Austin Public Education Foundation: $212,000 – Funding will support a family engagement pilot program at three elementary schools in Austin’s Eastern Crescent.
Austin Speech Labs: $75,000 – Funding with help provide intensive and affordable speech therapy to senior stroke survivors.
AVANCE-Austin: $460,942 – Funding will support the expansion of an evidence-based home visiting model for low income families in the Pflugerville area.
Bastrop County: $175,000 – Funding will help expand the network weaver leadership approach in Bastrop County.
Bastrop County Cares: $150,000 – Funding will support the expansion of Bastrop County’s Parents as Teacher’s Home Visiting model.
Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry & Support Center: $70,000 – Funding will help provide monthly access to shelf-stable and fresh healthy food to low-income seniors in Bastrop County.
Boys & Girls Club Of East Williamson County: $149,462 – Funding will support the continuation of mission-focused services.
Capital Area Initiatives Foundation: $348,843 – Funding will support the introduction of the innovative, evidence-based CAPABLE intervention in Bastrop County.
Central Texas Food Bank: (multiple initiatives) $270,051 – Funding will advance the Central Texas Food Bank’s critical emergency response during the COVID-19 health and economic crisis, and support the The Nutritious Food Incentive Program, which allows SNAP households to purchase more produce for less money at participating grocers.
City of Luling: $133,200 – Funding will support renovations of a basketball court to support healthy and safe recreation in a park founded in the original City of Luling plat in 1874.
CommuniCare Health Centers: (multiple initiatives) $1,279,085 – Funding will provide access and affordable health care and dental care services to underserved populations, as well as help patients understand the relationship between dental health and the management of systemic diseases.
Community Action Of Hays, Caldwell, & Blanco Counties: $357,004 – Funding will support the expansion of PAT Home Visiting model to Caldwell County.
Community Health Centers of South Central Texas: (multiple initiatives) $2,303,157 – Funding will provide health care services, as well as essential oral care treatment in to uninsured and unfunded patients in Caldwell and Bastrop Counties.
Connected Nation: $80,000 – Funding will support an in-depth, broadband assessment in Caldwell county to evaluate the community’s current state of technology access, and inform a plan to address barriers to a digitally inclusive community.
Creative Action: $125,000 – Funding will support virtual youth, family, and community programs that foster holistic health and wellness through arts education during the coronavirus pandemic.
Drive A Senior – West Austin: $61,000 – Funding will help provide free transportation and social connection for older adults through volunteer drivers and group vans to access critical services including medical appointments and shopping in Travis County.
Drive a Senior Central Texas: $130,000 – Funding will help provide free transportation and social connection for older adults through volunteer drivers and group vans to access critical services including medical appointments and shopping in Travis, Hays and Bastrop Counties.
Ending Community Homelessness Coalition: $850,000 – Funding will support operations in 2021 with a focus on systems-level improvement necessary to address Austin’s homelessness issues.
Family Eldercare: $353,110 – Funding will provide support to older adults living at Community First! Village including money management, tax preparation and other case management.
Foundation Communities: $1,000,000 – Funding will provide support to complete the community center at Laurel Creek, Foundation Communities’ newest affordable housing community, located at Braker and N. Lamar.
Ghisallo Cycling Initiative: $87,396 – Funding will provide opportunities for older adults in the Eastern Crescent of Travis County to maintain physical activity and social connection.
GO! Austin / VAMOS! Austin: $180,000 – Funding will support operations to work with neighborhood-based community organizers in Austin’s Eastern Crescent to implement activities that address health equity developed for, by and about communities of color.
Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM): $390,500 – Funding will provide access to affordable oral health care for Austin’s low-income, working musicians, with a focus on prevention and wellness.
Healthy Futures of Texas: $100,000 – Funding will support operations for the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition.
Huston-Tillotson University: $389,575 – Funding will provide scholarship opportunities for college freshmen who intend to pursue careers in health care.
Little Herds: $25,000 – Funding will help procure, prepare, deliver and distribute meals to students in need via AISD’s meal-gap replacement program.
Lone Star Circle of Care: (multiple initiatives) $5,979,033 – Funding will support enhancements to clinical infrastructure, health information technology and care coordination and improvements to the Big Pink Bus mobile mammography services, as well as provide high-quality patient-centered dental care in Central Texas.
Mama Sana/Vibrant Woman: $170,000 – Funding will support culturally congruent holistic prenatal and postpartum care for Black and Latina women in Central Texas.
Manos de Cristo: $536,186 – Funding will provide dental care with a holistic approach by providing patients with skills they need to be successful in the community, help in times of emergencies, and by creating healthy smiles which in turn leads to healthy lives.
Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute For Texas: $200,000 – Funding will help secure a strong statewide mental health system.
Meals on Wheels Central Texas: (multiple initiatives) $1,417,233 – Funding will provide support for physical and technological improvements for MOWCTX headquarters, as well as introduce the CAPABLE program and various holistic services for homebound older adults.
Meals on Wheels Central Texas In-Home Care: $645,000 – Funding will enable older adults to live in their homes as long as possible through the support of dedicated personal care attendants who help with the necessary activities of daily living.
People’s Community Clinic: (multiple initiatives) $4,991,680 – Funding will provide high-quality, affordable health care and dental care uninsured and unfunded patients, as well as pilot the Healthy Steps program for triage families in need of more intensive parenting support.
Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas: $765,000 – Funding will support direct service provision, such as annual exams, cancer screenings, birth control and pregnancy testing, vaccinations, STI testing and treatment and sexual health education.
Round Rock Area Serving Center: $160,000 – Funding will help provide assistance for housing, utilities, prescriptions and food for elderly clients.
Sacred Heart Community Clinic: $7,500 – Funding will help provide dental care to those in Williamson County who are without health insurance and cannot afford to visit the dentist.
Samaritan Health Ministries: (multiple initiatives) $201,250 – Funding will provide quality primary care and behavioral health services as well as adult dental care to the uninsured population in Williamson and Travis Counties.
Senior Access: $190,000 – Funding will help provide free transportation and social connection for older adults through volunteer drivers, group vans, and paid rideshares to access critical services including medical appointments and shopping.
Texas Department of Agriculture: (multiple initiatives) $942,261 – Funding will support loan repayment under the St. David’s Foundation Loan Repayment Program and a FTE to administer the program, as well as the expansion of the Texas State Office of Rural Health’s (SORH) efforts in recruiting and retaining health care providers in rural Texas.
Texas Ramp Project: $90,000 – Funding will help provide 381 ramps for elderly and disabled people in financial need in Central Texas.
The Caring Place: $200,000 – Funding will provide case management and basic needs assistance to address food insecurity and emergency financial assistance to support housing, utility and transportation needs, as well as some medical expenses.
The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing: $308,078 – Funding will provide acute, chronic and well child health care, and support the expansion of services provided including social support, navigation and case management.
The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work: (multiple initiatives) $488,132 – Funding will provide internships, fellowships, educational enrichment, and the GRACE Graduates Network for Masters of Science in Social Work (MSSW) students entering the workforce in aging, as well as support the improvement of health outcomes for Black mothers in Central Texas through Black Mamas ATX.
The Vision Voucher Program: $1,606,154 – The Vision Voucher Program is administered by CommUnityCare, which provides vouchers for vision services, including eye exams, glasses, and diabetic retinopathy screenings, for low income residents in Central Texas.
We Are Blood: $100,000 – Funding will help to ensure there is adequate COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma (CCP) in Central Texas to treat COVID-19 patients during the pandemic.
Williamson-Burnet County Opportunities: $235,000 – Funding will support the Meals on Wheels Program for older adults living in Williamson County.
Young Invincibles: $250,000 – Funding will help train college students to connect with young people (18-34) and offer information on health insurance, facilitated enrollment support and information about reproductive health services available to them.