Gratitude was on display everywhere at our winter grant announcement event on December 19th. It was not only a gathering of all our partners to celebrate the 50 nonprofits who were the recipients of grants, it also served as a final sendoff to our CEO Earl Maxwell, who is retiring at the end of the month. The event took place at Austin Community College’s Highland Campus, the perfect place to highlight our grants which aim to support a thriving healthcare workforce in Central Texas, including our grant to Capital IDEA, which supports students studying toward careers in healthcare at ACC.
With a grant of over $2.6 million from St. David’s Foundation, Capital IDEA will provide comprehensive support to low-income Central Texas students as they build their skills and knowledge and prepare for new careers in the healthcare field. The grant also allows an additional eight qualified students access to highly-competitive Dental Hygiene program at ACC, beginning in the fall of 2020. This year, Capital IDEA will graduate 50 new healthcare professionals from its program.
Beunca Roque-Johnson is one the students currently in ACC’s healthcare program and is a recipient of support through Capital IDEA. At the event, she spoke about the struggles she faced as a young mother trying to navigate funding her education and attending classes while working over 40 hours a week. She is now on track to become an Occupational Therapy Assistant, which she said was only possible through the support of Capital IDEA.
“I want a career as an Occupational Therapy Assistant because I have always wanted to help people. Capital IDEA sounded too good to be true, so I dismissed it at first. A year later, I met a gentleman through an internship at a local hospital and remember thinking, ‘I wish I could have a job like him.’ I asked him about his job and he told me about Capital IDEA. I went home and looked for the next information session.” – Capital IDEA student Beunca Roque-Johnson, who spoke at the event.
In addition to the grants focusing on the healthcare workforce, other grants awarded will fund services including free transportation services for seniors, the expansion of mental health first aid training and community-based Doula programs for underserved Central Texas women. In total, grants totaling over $20 million were awarded.
Our Board Chair Peter Pincoffs did a special sendoff to our CEO Earl Maxwell at the end of the event, which included a “Thank You, Earl” video tribute which many of our grant partners participated in. The event concluded with Earl receiving a standing ovation from our partners, it was the perfect close to an incredible and monumental year here at St. David’s Foundation.
**Photography by Trent Maxwell
St. David’s Foundation’s Winter Grants:
Healthiest Care –
Total: $5,828,147
Austin Travis County Integral Care: $523,413 – Expansion of mental health first aid trainings in Travis, Williamson and Bastrop counties
Capital IDEA: $2,685,305 – Path to healthcare careers for low-income Central Texans
Community e-Consult Network Inc.: $182,272 – Specialty care eConsult expansion in South Central Texas
Goodwill Industries of Central Texas: $500,000 – Expansion of the Goodwill Career and Technical Academy’s Healthcare Education Pavilion
Hill Country Medical Ministries Inc.: $170,000 – Renovation costs of a new clinic site
Huston-Tillotson University: $389,575 – St. David’s Foundation Scholars Program at Huston-Tillotson University
Texas Department of Agriculture: $869,582 – St. David’s Foundation Loan Repayment Program for medical professionals serving low-income populations
Texas Tech Foundation Inc.: $200,000 – St. David’s Foundation healthcare scholarship
The University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing: $308,000 – Support for the UT School of Nursing Children’s Wellness Center
Healthiest People –
Total: $13,653,831
A Gift of Time Adult Day Care: $635,150 – Construction of Georgetown’s first Adult Day Health Center serving seniors with dementia and their caregivers
Alzheimer’s Association Capital of Texas Chapter: $250,290 – nIt’s Time to Talk About Alzheimer’s Project, focused on highly vulnerable seniors and their caregivers throughout Central Texas
Austin Community Foundation: $60,000 – Support for women’s health grant and Women’s Fund operations
Austin Palliative Care: $400,915 – Expanding community-based palliative care services
Austin Public Education Foundation: $1,999,955 – Advancing culturally-responsive tiered systems of support through continued SEL implementation in Austin ISD
Austin Speech Labs: $75,000 – Outreach and speech therapy for low-income senior stroke survivors
Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry & Support Center: $70,000 – Support for the Brown Bag Program, which provides low-income Bastrop County seniors with nutritious food
CAPABLE Model RFP: $733,678
Central Texas Food Bank: $145,051 – Senior nutrition assistance programming
Creative Action Project: $25,000 – Purchase of an accessible, 25-passenger mini-bus to address program transportation needs
Creative Action Project: $125,000 – Intergenerational arts programs and weekly enrichment classes for adults aged 65+ in East Austin
Drive a Senior – Elgin Caregivers: $28,590 – Mobility programs for seniors living in Elgin
Drive a Senior – West Austin: $36,000 – Free transportation services for vulnerable and isolated seniors in West Austin
Drive a Senior Central Texas: $27,568 – Nonrecurring funding to cover additional program costs and consultants during transition year
Drive a Senior Central Texas: $122,090 – Expansion of programming, staffing and support for senior mobility programs
Family Eldercare: $1,958,703 – Funding for an RV to provide services to older adults at Community First Village
Georgetown Community Service Center, DBA The Caring Place: $200,000 – Support for a Senior Independence Program which empowers older adults to age in place
Ghisallo Foundation: $213,432 – Expansion of the Golden Rollers program to older adults in Austin and Pflugerville, including purchase of modified trikes and equipment
Healthy Futures of Texas: $100,000 – Support for the Texas Women’s Healthcare Coalition
Hospice Austin: $941,254 – Charity and unreimbursed hospice care services, Giving Instructions for Tomorrow (GIFT) Program
Intergenerational Grants: $1,080,000 – Funding to support connecting generations and strengthening communities
Meals on Wheels Central Texas In-Home Care: $645,000 – In-home care services for older adults
Mothers’ Milk Bank of Austin: $290,000 – Support for additional staff along with scholarships for four women of color seeking lactation and doula credentials
North Central Caregivers of Austin: $25,000 – Seniors in Motion transportation program
Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas: $163,648 – Juntos44/Together44 adolescent health education initiative in the Dove Springs neighborhood
Planned Parenthood of Greater Texas: $600,000 – Women’s health program services
Senior Access: $190,000 – Support for Senior Connections van programs in Round Rock, Hutto, Pflugerville, East Austin, Manor and Georgetown
Texans Care for Children Inc.: $55,000 – Stakeholder engagement for TX Postpartum Strategic Plan
Texas Pediatric Society: $541,350 – Support for Central Texas Pediatric Trauma Learning Collaborative
Texas Tribune Inc.: $100,000 -Support for a reporter position, covering women’s health issues
The SAFE Alliance (SAFE | stop abuse for everyone): $200,000 – Assessment and planning to launch a SAFE building, financing and capital campaign
The University of Texas at Austin School of Social Work: $221,500 – Gerontology Resources and the Aging Community in Education (GRACE) Program
The University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler: $240,394 – Assessing opportunities for community-based Doula programs to meet the needs of underserved women in Central Texas
The University of Texas at Austin LBJ School of Public Affairs: $199,575 – Navigation Tool for postpartum contraception
Williamson-Burnet County Opportunities Inc.: $235,000 – Program costs for programming focused on nutrition for older adults
Women’s Health and Family Planning Association of Texas: $550,000 – Support for The No Wrong Door Project – leveraging social service providers to improve linkages to reproductive healthcare services
Young Invincibles: $250,000 – Addressing health insurance and contraceptive access to increase college completion in Central Texas
Healthiest Places –
Total: $397,400
Boys & Girls Club of East Williamson County: $150,000 – Support for elevating youth programs in East Williamson County’s rural communities
Lone Star Circle of Care: $247,400 – Additional construction costs for Project Headwaters
Additional Grants:
United Way for Greater Austin: $250,000 – Central Texas 2020 “Get out the Count” initiative