I Live Here, I Give Here

September is here and at I Live Here, I Give Here, we are welcoming the changing weather with open arms. 

On the final night of August, we hosted a happy hour in support of the BIG Give at Kung Fu Saloon. Not only was it a great time, it was also a complete success! The Jenga competition was a riot and some of our lucky attendees won some pretty impressive prizes, including free tickets to the BIG Give on September 25. If you are curious, be sure to check out our Facebook page to see pictures:  

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Having grown up in San Antonio, I’m very comfortable with a “military presence” in my community. I lived in neighborhoods and went to school with lots of kids whose dads, mostly, served in the Army or Air Force. But in San Antonio in the late 60s, early 70s, soldiers walked around in their uniforms. You saw them and knew they were there. Not so in Austin. I had no idea of the significant number of military families there are in Austin. According to the American Red Cross of Central Texas there are 130,000 veterans in the Austin Metro area.

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What does it take to birth an organization? Vision, passion, friends and colleagues.  Most of all energy and perseverance!  And what do you get in return? Challenges, frustration, immense satisfaction and pleasure, new friends and colleagues. In October 2006, I left United Way Capital Area

to focus fulltime on a project we began in 2004 in collaboration with Public Strategies, Inc. , the Austin Community Foundation , The Austin Chapter of the Ass’n. of Fundraising Professionals and The Junior League of Austin .  We launched I Live Here, I Give Here  one year later and I, along with more friends and colleagues than you can imagine, have been pushing the campaign forward, full-tilt, since. 

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Last night I Live Here, I Give Here hosted the coolest event.  Our partner agencies have been asking for this event for over a year now, and it finally came together.  Beautifully, I might add. The event was a meeting of the minds – Non-Profit executive directors from across the board.  We had folks who were heads of the biggest and most successful groups sitting right next to one-man/woman- shops.  The mixing and mingling alone was very cool to watch.  To up the ante, we set aside a portion of the evening to make sure everyone got to learn something.  We asked Judge Scott McCown of the Center for Public Policy Priorities to speak on the current state of public funding.  While, to be quite honest, the take-away was bleak, if there is a silver lining, it's that knowledge is power.  Next, Mark McKinnon, “…political advisor in the United States, the President of Maverick Media, and the Vice-Chairman of Public Strategies, Inc., a business advisory firm located in Austin, Texas. He has worked for causes, companies and candidates, including former President George W. Bush, 2008 Republican presidential candidate Senator John McCain, late former Governor Ann Richards, Congressman Charlie Wilson, Lance Armstrong and Bono.” took the stage.  He led an incredibly engaging presentation on messaging.  Even the most seasoned veterans in the group said that this was the kind of presentation that they’d pay for.  All in all, the response from the group was fantastic.  It was even suggested to hold these events quarterly!  While that frequency may not be exactly feasible, it’s so rewarding to have such wonderful feedback from an event, and we will definitely start thinking about the next one soon!

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I consider myself to be extremely fortunate to have spent the vast majority of my professional career working with Non-Profit agencies.  But surprisingly, I did not end up here deliberately.  My mother was a Social Worker, and I, like many young women, did not want to become my mother.  Not in my early 20’s anyway.  Acceptance (and eventual embrace) of the inevitable would come later.   My roundabout journey began back in 2001.  I was working in Real Estate and hating my job.  But at least the phones kept ringing, and it was paying the rent.  That is, until 9/11/01.  The phones literally went silent.  The real estate market tanked, and I was forced to do what I should have probably done many months before - re-evaluate my career choice.  I abandoned my ill-fitting real estate career in search of something – anything – else.  I scoured the newspaper classified ads (wow-remember those?) for any opportunity for which I was qualified and might find remotely interesting.  Finally, in the appalling job economy, I practically threw myself on the doorstep of a temp agency.  I got my first call early one morning, asking me to report immediately to United Way Capital Area to fill in for their receptionist who was on maternity leave.  After those two months, I was head-over-heels-in-love with the idea of making a career working for Non-Profits.  Luckily that assignment led to full time employment and 7 fulfilling years with the agency, where this temporary receptionist ended her United Way career as the Executive Project Manager.  I’ve since held roles with the Austin Humane Society and have been fortunate to have spent the last year helping to further the mission of I Live Here, I Give Here.  I truly do love my job.  I get to learn about new issues every single month at our Community Needs Spotlight Lunches – Financial Literacy, Foster Care and Adoption, Childhood Obesity and Teen Dating Safety - just this year so far!  I get to hear moving stories from established philanthropists at our See Jane Give! and Give Back Jack events.  I get to be part of the process of giving away The BIG Prize of $10K to a very deserving Non-Profit agency every year. But most rewardingly, I get to work with people who are passionate about making Austin better, who are here because we share the belief that it is the responsibility of all of us to care for those who need the most help.  I get to work with compassionate, empathetic, smart, hard-working, passionate people every single day.  I may not have known that this is what I wanted to be when I grew up, but I am grateful every day that this is where I landed.

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I love a good video. When I first saw the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas "Meet the Digits" video, created by Shiny Object, I giggled out loud. First of all, there's something really cute about finger puppets, but the best part...the Mom and Dad of the Digit family are named "Phil" and "Angie"...get it? Clever.

So, when I heard that they were nominated for the DoGooder Non-Profit Awards, i was not surprised! Their video was viewed by over 100,000 people, and WON on Saturday. This is a great example of a video that while cute and clever, delivers the message and mission of the organization while letting the public know how they can help. 

So, congratulations to our partner agency, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Austin and Central Texas! Another example of the great work that you do. 

Watch "Meet the Digits" here.

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Taking action towards solving community problems on both a systematic and individual level is crucial. This approach can help keep service providers and concerned community members from becoming overwhelmed by the vastness of some community issues. For example, the societal factors which lead to over 10,000 child abuse and neglect reports being filed in Travis County every year are innumerable and tangled up in family relationships. People who want to help stop child abuse face the daunting challenge of figuring out where to start. As I did research for I Live Here, I Give Here’s Community Need Spotlight on Foster care and Adoption, I learned about an initiative called The Heart Gallery, which is an art exhibit featuring photographs of children waiting for adoption after being removed from their homes because of abuse or neglect. The Heart Gallery photographs introduce us to the actual children who are living in foster care and who have been affected by child abuse. Children who grow up in foster care are twice as likely to drop out of high school and only 3% of Texas’ foster children go on to receive a college degree. When one hears these statistics, it seems like a hopeless task to ‘do’ anything for these kids. Yet, after seeing the face of a Cental Texas child who needs a new home – people are taking action on an individual level. The positive ripple effect that begins when a child is adopted out of foster care is amazing. I am revitalized to continue to try to change the system by these individuals who have taken such momentous action towards changing the life of one child. 

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If you’re anything like me, at the end of the year, my schedule virtually overflows with things to do.  We have Holiday parties to attend, dishes to prepare for potlucks, gifts to buy and wrap, trees to decorate, lights to put up, cookies to bake and charity and volunteer activities galore!  And for some reason, way back in the spring, when I got engaged, December seemed like a great month to plan a wedding.  Yeah, like we didn’t have anything else going on, right?  Haha!  So, on top of it all, we have our wedding and honeymoon to carry out this month!  Who needs sleep, right?  Thankfully (insert shameless plug here), there’s a cool new feature right here on the ILH,IGH website that makes it a little bit easier to balance my end of year commitments.  With busy schedules in mind, we created our Community Calendar.  To find it, click on “Community of Giving,” then scroll down until you see the current week.  Right below it is a button that will bring you to the full calendar.  Click it and you’re on your way to managing your very own community event schedule.  Need to know when the Ronald McDonald House Lights of Love celebration or the Austin Humane Society’s Rags to Wags gala is this year?  It’s all right there!  Planning an event for 2011?  Use our calendar to make sure you’re not double-booking with another event.  You can even submit your own events for inclusion.  It’s an incredibly useful tool. I know I’m relying on it a lot lately and I hope you will too!  Here’s wishing each and every one of you a very (organized and) happy holiday season and a very merry New Year! 

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I Live Here, I Give Here is focusing on Senior Services for our Community Spotlight in November.  This is a topic that many people avoid, until they are confronted with issues related to aging in their own life.  I would probably be the exact same way if it had not been for a job I had at a non-profit that served Seniors.

I am so grateful that at a young age I learned about the issues Seniors face – like health care costs, transportation difficulty, isolation and abuse – through this role.  My job was focused on educating the community – so I became an expert on the government programs that strive (but are seriously failing) to meet the needs of Seniors in our country.  One of the most important lessons I can pass along is that it is never too early to begin communication about, and planning for your own - or your loved ones – aging.  Starting points for such a conversation can revolve around your vision of the ideal retirement.  What would that look like?  A hammock on the beach?  Along with the hammock you might need to have your heart medication – and it could cost you hundreds of dollars a month.   If you get a Social Security benefit of $1200 a month then what would your budget include?  When one starts these discussions early, it is much easier to avoid the hard choices and stress that often come with meeting the needs of an aging loved one. 

Join us on November 18^th to learn more or see our website for videos about the non-profits that provide crucial senior services and information for caretakers. 

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I love my job at I Live Here, I Give Here for many reasons; one of which is that I get to learn about the great non-profits in Austin and their amazing community work. The organization I have most recently become acquainted with is the Heritage Society of Austin. The Heritage Society works to preserve Austin’s history and heritage through a variety of methods. I had heard of some of these methods, like getting landmark status for a building, but wanted to learn more details because there is a building in my neighborhood that I think should be preserved from demolition.

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