Photo copyright Owen Laracuente

This is an essay for the “Why I Give” column of Fall 2009 issue of GivingCity Austin magazine, this time written by Texas musician Sara Hickman. Sara’s remarkable talent (she was 2010′s official State Musician of Texas) is matched only by her big heart. Aside from being a singer-songwriter Sara is a mother and a community leader who lends her talent and celebrity to causes that support homeless people, abused children, the arts and more.

Today, Sara added a Facebook post to her timeline describing her recent experience picking up a young man who was visibly hurting as he walked down the street. She invited him into her car, talked to him about who he was and what he needed and is reaching out to her followers for help.

This is what Sara Hickman does, and it’s why she is such a beloved member of the Austin community. It made me remember this essay…
 

“We Are Each Other’s Angels”
By Sara Hickman
Photos by Owen Larcuente

“When they weren’t playing bridge, my two Southern grandmothers spent their free time volunteering in hospital gift shops, one in Atlanta, one in Rogers, Arkansas. At eight years old, I found no greater excitement than to tag along and volunteer, too.

“Whether counting change to customers or delivering flowers to a patient’s room, I could hardly wait until my 12th birthday when I finally found myself a full-fledged candy striper at the Houston hospital down the street from where I lived. The added joy of wearing a red and white apron, complete with matching hat, was enough to make me giddier than I already was. The sacred grace of walking up and down hospital halls knowing I was helping people to heal was a spiritual magic. I was a child, but I was making a difference in strangers’ lives.

“As I grew, so did my awareness. Although I was shy, my music began to be included in my volunteering efforts.

“Miss Bonner, my high school music teacher, pulled me aside one day to ask if I’d be willing to go and sing in a psych unit for fellow teens. Nervous of what I would sing or say, I agreed to go, and that single act of reaching out led to a wider appreciation and lifetime of music therapy for me—from working with patients in burn units, to singing to premature infants, to comforting those with AIDS or cancer, or just being an ear to kids who have attempted suicide. I realized that I had I become a touchstone of comfort as I reached out to those healing or dying, and amazingly, my own spirituality, my music, my own healing, has expanded as a result.

“Now, at 46, I’m a grown woman with daughters of my own. From day one, I’ve tried to share with the two of them the understanding that people are linked by a fragile thread, that we are each other’s angels. One of the first events my first child ever attended with me was a candlelight vigil in 1997 outside the governor’s mansion when she was about a year old. While she was riding on my back papoose style, we shared the silent hum of hope and forgiveness, the quiet peace of an Austin sunset, and a multitude of candles held by those protesting the death penalty.

“Since then, my children have been involved in a wide array of volunteering moments: My girls have helped the homeless by taking socks, ponchos, knit hats, mittens and food out to those living on the streets. They have sat patiently as I pulled them by wagon to raise money for Crop Walk. They have played with children whose families are in transition and need gentle support via the Interfaith Hospitality Network.

“From gathering clothes, books and toys to send to Romanian orphans or even the simple act of keeping and filling individual ‘giving jars,’ our girls have donated in various ways on behalf of charitable groups.

“I have been lovingly determined to bring up children who understand our actions create reaction, and that those reactions can lead to the greater good for all.

“One of the gifts of involving your children in the act of giving is the gentle unfolding of their own creative outpouring, ideas that might not have existed except for their own ingenuity and sense of wonder. Two weeks ago, after touring the Capital Area Food Bank with her third-grade class, my youngest daughter signed up on the spot to return the next day and scoop rice for three hours into smaller bags.

“My oldest, when she was only five or six, decided to create about 30 drawings, held an “Art Sale” for the homeless on our driveway, and after she raised close to ten dollars, informed me we needed to drive around and find a woman on the streets who would need her collection of change. The woman we approached burst into tears as my daughter handed over the floppy sandwich baggy full of coins. Through her tears she said, ‘Thank you so much. I was just praying for some lunch money…!”’ When my daughter handed her last, small goodbye gift, a tiny drawing of a house replete with the words ‘Some day this will be yours,’ I, too, had to wipe away tears.

“I choke up, still, when I think of these moments with my children. What greater gift? What greater gift for a child to be the creator, and recipient, of the heartfelt reaction of someone’s need fulfilled, even if only temporarily? Could this not lead to our children growing up to create more effective ways of responding to our community’s needs, healthier relationships within families, deeper communication among all, and a broader understanding of how to create positive change? What could this world become…?

“Our children are a reflection of what we teach them. Central Texas is abundant with organizations that need your time and support. Think of what a rewarding and beautiful way to spend quality family time together. Memories that will never be forgotten, lives that will be forever changed – theirs, yours, ours.”

First published in GivingCity Austin #4 October 2009

Entrepreneurship is everything from starting a small family business to launching a venture-capital backed organization with the intent to sell. In Austin, entrepreneurship is not limited to MBAs. Many organizations offer classes and resources that put a business within reach for anyone.

According to PeopleFund, an Austin-based nonprofit organization, 99.88% of Travis County Businesses are small businesses with fewer than five employees. That’s 83,300 small businesses in the county! So there’s no reason to think that you’re idea for a business won’t fly. If they can do it, so can you.

Most nonprofits that focus on entrepreneurship also focus on people with more obstacles to starting their own business. Maybe they lack the capital to launch or the education to know what steps to take. While this might sounds like most entrepreneurs, certain populations have more hurdles.

According to PeopleFund, for example, there are huge disparities in lending between minority and non-minority owned businesses. Further, minorities tend to be more intimidated by lenders, and for good reason: they are more likely to be denied and to pay higher interest rates on loans when approved.

Also, entrepreneurship requires risk and a constant search for resources. PeopleFund’s Hispanic clients often lack the education capacity to pursue traditional funding resources. And they lack the financial stability to take the risks necessary to start a business.

That being said, there are many resources for education and loans that target under-served communities. Take a look at this list of nonprofit organizations that support and grow entrepreneurs in Central Texas. Put these events on your calendar!

Foundation Communities: Primarily focusing on affordable housing, Foundation Communities finds itself also offering resources to help families become financial stable. This includes money management classes, credit counseling and free tax preparation for families that qualify.

In preparing taxes for more than 18,000 families a year, Foundation Communities often identifies people who might think they’re operating as employees but are actually running a small business or are self-employed. “This can include people who do lawn care, hair stylists or other services,” says Walter Moreau of Foundation Communities. “So we enlist volunteers to coach them about running their small business.”

Because of its focus on under-served communities, financial programs are available to self-employed individuals, small business owners or aspiring entrepreneurs with an an annual income of less than $50,000.

Make an appointment or learn more about Foundation Communities financial and business programs.

BigAUSTIN: BiGAUSTIN offers education “for entrepreneurs by entrepreneurs”, with a focus on under-served people in Central Texas. It offers a more comprehensive suite of small business support, with everything from one-on-one training and online training to small business loans and micro-loans.

Of the clients BiGAUSTIN currently serves, 38% are African American and 30% are Hispanic. Of the total it serves 60% are low income and 62% are women. In fact, BiGAUSTIN has a program specifically for women, the Women’s Business Center, the only women-focused U.S. Small Business Administration-backed resource in Central Texas.

According to BiGAUSTIN, women-owned businesses are 26 percent of the greater Austin area’s privately held firms, generating $5.3 billion in sales, and employing 43,000 workers. BiGAUSTIN provides the necessary tools to initiate and grow these businesses through training, one-on-one counseling, effective roundtable discussions, innovative networking opportunities, and lending programs.

PeopleFund: This Austin-based nonprofit provides financing and technical assistance to women- and minority-owned businesses in low-income neighborhoods. Like BiGAUSTIN and Foundation Communities, its courses are available year round to any eligible entrepreneur.

One of the unique programs PeopleFund offers is called “JET: Junior Entrepreneurship Track,” a five-week summer course that leads to a mentorship program in the following academic year. Students 9th-12th grade are eligible to apply, with applications accepted through June 1.

This month, May 20-24, is Innovation Week, a workshop and lecture series for Central Texas entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders with more than 20 unique educational opportunities, including sessions on marketing, working with interns, business law, banking and more. It concludes with a networking event, a chance to meet session leaders and course participants and share stories. Most classes are just $5 and a pass for the entire week is just $20.

RISE Week: RISE is a nonprofit program that hosts an annual series dedicated to empowering entrepreneurs through a free, crowd-sourced, decentralized conference in which entrepreneurs connect and exchange ideas that inspire the entrepreneurial spirit. While its courses don’t necessarily target under-served communities, because all the courses are free, they are open and available to anyone.

One of the great things about RISE is that sessions are led by people who have experience in entrepreneurship. They often use their own stories to walk participants through the experience of starting and running a business. RISE Week starts today, May 13, and runs through May 17 in locations all over the city.

To attend one of the dozens of sessions this week, you must sign up online.

Isn’t it exciting to be an entrepreneur in Austin? Now go start your own business!

Watch our FOX7 “Good Day Austin” segment on nonprofits that help entrepreneurs.

Hispanics have a strong sense of family and responsibility to their families. When one of this siblings has some success as an adult, it’s expected that they share that success – money, contacts, advice – with their brothers, sister, parents, even cousins and friends of the family. From one perspective, it means one person can lift a whole family; but you can also say that a family can hold one person back.

Or… one person’s success can inspire others in the family to persue dreams of their own.

I’ve heard lots of stories about this happening among the clients of nonprofits that focus on making first-generation college graduates. Breakthrough Austin shared a success story like this last month and its annual celebration.

Nearly 300 Austinites made it out to the Breakthrough Austin Champions event at French Legation Museum on April 16th. Donations made at the event support Breakthrough Austin and its mission to help low-income students, starting in middle school, become first-generation college graduates. Breakthrough serves approximately 700 Austin students in grades 6 through college.

To a riveted audience, Breakthrough student Chris and his mother bravely spoke about their personal experiences and how Breakthrough has changed their lives. Chris said, “Breakthrough has helped me realize that there are many things I can do with my life, that I can go to college and become the man I was meant to be.”

Chris’ mother Sonia shared how her son’s dedication inspired a change in her own life: “The biggest change, the one I am most proud of, is that I decided to enroll in college 18 years after high school. I look forward to going every day and I know I have made the right decision. It’s not only the joy of learning, it’s also like having a sense of purpose, of knowing I have a future career ahead of me. Breakthrough has helped me change my language, my family’s language, about what it takes to be successful.”

Inspired? Donations to Brekathrough help them serve more Austin kids better. You might also look into becoming a mentor, tutor or academic coach for the next school year. Breakthrough has orientations and trainings all the time. It can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life.

Learn more about Breakthrough Austin.

Young Women’s Alliance Board of Directors 2012-2013

1. YWA is led by outstanding and committed women professionals like Lynley Prather, Kate Stoker and Sandra Rivera. You know their work from their annual Austin Under 40 event, so you can bet the Spring Soiree is going to be a great party, too.

All that grass screams comfortable shoes!

2. It’s at the French Legation Museum, which means you can’t wear heels lest they sink into the grass. Woo-hoo for cute flats!

Holly Werstein, a past YWA scholarship recipient.

3. It’s for the  Young Women’s Alliance, which has a foundation to awards grants and scholarships to women for causes that benefit women and girls. Let’s face it, it may be 2013 but we still need all the help we can get.

Oo-ooo. Swag bags for first 200 ticket holders.

4. It’s only $30! You can’t buy a better Friday night than that. With featured specialty drinks from Deep Eddy Vodka, food from Chi Town, dessert from Pinkberry, and music by Kathleen Harris you will not be disappointed AND the first 200 ticket holders will receive a Foundation Swag Bag.

YWA members will not dress like this today at the Capitol …. but it’s such a fun photo!

5. Today, YWA celebrates 20 years! The Texas House of Representatives will recognize YWA and its 20 year anniversary, between 10-11am. This is huge for Austin women and worth celebrating.

Okay, CLICK HERE to get your tickets now!

See the exhibit, “Masked: Changing Identities” at the Mexic-Arte Museum through May 25.

Cinco de Mayo in Mexico is just like every other day. Yes, it commemorates the Battle of Puebla, a scuffle against the French where Mexico came out on top. But Mexicans don’t really consider this worth a holiday.

Not like we do! Austinites love a reason to celebrate Mexican-American culture, and Cinco de Mayo is the perfect excuse. But before you’re downing margaritas at Chuy’s on May 5, consider taking time to learn a bit about the nonprofits in Austin that celebrate and preserve Mexican-American and Latino culture.

“It’s important to learn about Latino culture,” says Sylvia Orozco, Mexic-Arte Museum’s executive director, “because it’s such a big part of Austin’s culture.” The arts can be a great medium for learning because in appreciating the art you learn about the experience of the artist and the personal or political circumstances in which they make that art.

Austin Latino Music Association – ALMA’s mission is to increase knowledge and awareness in the community about local musicians and important historical figures in Austin’s Latino music scene, provide exposure and resources to local musicians, and to foster the development of young musicians who will keep Latino musical styles and traditions alive in the Capitol City.

Cine Las Americas - The mission of Cine Las Americas is to promote cross-cultural understanding and growth by educating, entertaining and challenging diverse audiences through film and media arts. Cine recently held its annual film festival, attended by 2,700 audience members to screen a total of 66 feature films and 64 short films, representing 26 countries.

Mexic-Arte Museum – Billing itself as the official Mexican and Mexican-American fine arts museum of Texas, Mexic-Arte Museum exhibits traditional and contemporary works from Mexico and other Latin American Countries. It currently has a space on 4rth and Congress but it has plans for a spectacular new building for the near future. On May 5 Mexic-Arte is hosting its annual Gala de Museo to celebrate its 29th anniversary.

Bellas Artes Alliance – Promoting, preserving, and advancing the music, arts, and culture of the Latino community by producing festivals, educational programs, and events that strengthen the public’s awareness and appreciation of Latino heritage; that encourage social advocacy on behalf of the Hispanic community; and that support and expose Latino artists residing in the Americas. An annual Pan American Festival (which takes place in March) is the highlight of the year.

And don’t forget about Pachanga Latino Music Festival, May 10 – 11 at Fiesta Gardens.  It’s food, music, food (we like the food) and even a special  time for los ninos early Saturday afternoon. Best part is that proceeds from the event benefits FuturoFund, a membership group that pools annual dues to make grants to local nonprofit projects that target Latinos.

(Whether we have the ability to “do something about it” is another matter. As you might imagine, I think each of us kids feels a bit like a superhero but with really useless special powers. It’s frustrating. And I’m about to tell you what we struggle with the most.)

A blog post in Harvard Business Review got me thinking about this again. The author, a leader of Echoing Green, a nonprofit that provides seed funding to social entrepreneurs, calls it a “moment of obligation”:

Everyone is moved this way from time to time, but what sets those who help solve the world’s biggest problems apart is the decision to turn that feeling into action. They say, “Someone has to take responsibility for this problem. And that someone is me.”

In Austin, pick a problem. There’s something here for everyone: Homelessness, education, lack of opportunity, lack of food, lack of family, a general lack of philanthropy (that’s my problem) … But first I urge you, do the research. Find an organization that already addresses what you want to address.

If you find yourself frustrated by a nonprofit and the opportunities it gives you to get involved, don’t run off and start your own organization. You’ll be wasting your energy on red tape and Excel spreadsheets.

Dig deeper with that nonprofit. Chances are they want to solve this problem, too. Find the person in that organization who can help you start or improve a program. It can be a staff person or a board member, doesn’t matter. Get an advocate on the inside. And listen more than you talk. Chances are that nonprofit knows more about the issue than you do, and they also know more about the obstacles.

Athlete, served U.S. Navy, federal employee for 38 years, father of four first-generation college graduates, married for 49 years, grandfather to six, overall nice guy.

I’m telling you guys, THIS is the hard part. Starting a new organization is a pain but it’s not the hard part. Working with people…. that is the hard part. They’ll make your hair fall out in frustration, make you want to give up and go back to watching Murder She Wrote (or whatever) all night because it’s just not worth it.

But it is worth it. It’s called leadership.

Yes, take responsibility for the problem — be the change you want to see in the world, etc. But don’t try to do it alone. It won’t work if you do it alone. And more than anything you want it to work, right?

You want to do something about it, right?

From Communities in Schools, photo by John Langford

To attract those high-paying jobs to Austin, we’ve got to have a prepared workforce, which means helping more students get their high school diplomas and getting them ready for post-secondary training, college and careers. We can’t import everyone from California, can we?

So the key is to create our own highly trained workforce, but here’s the problem: In Austin Independent School District, 80 percent of the class of 2011 graduated. (75% for Hispanic students, 60 percent for English-language learners and 74 percent for African-Americans.)

And according to the Community Action Network, only 59% of Central Texas high school graduates are ready for college. (“College ready” means a student won’t have to take remedial courses before taking college-credit level courses.)

Starting with little kids: Breakthrough Austin
Breakthrough assigns “case managers” to work with more than 500 low-income students across Austin to help them succeed in school and get ready for college. It’s a labor-intensive, but Breakthrough believes there are no easy fixes. Donations at any level help, but there are many special opportunities for volunteers, too.

Focusing on high schoolers: Austin Youth River Watch
An after-school program that combines environmental education with drop-out prevention. They target minority and under-served high school students — and they have a 100% graduation rate. Students are given a much-needed responsibility to monitor our waterways and they get to know each other, have a positive experience outside of school and get the guidance and support they need to finish school. Always seeking your donations to offer their programs to more Austin kids. Just $250 a month supports an River Watcher for an entire year.

Helping them pay for college: Hispanic Scholarship Consortium
Offers a $1 for $1 match on scholarships Hispanic students receive – turning a $5,000 scholarship into a $10,000 scholarship, for example. It also offers support to those students to make sure they do well in college and get their degrees. Make a donation and be part of the 1-for-1 match.

Others that address high school graduation and college-readiness: Con Mi MADRE, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Communities in Schools.

For even more information about the “Blueprint for Change” designed to take Central Texas kids from “cradle to career,” explore the website of the E3 Alliance.

“Immigrants play a vital role in our city,’ says Christina Tzintzun, head of local nonprofit Worker’s Defense Project. “We all benefit from their hard work and contributions, but when their rights are undermined, it undermines the rights of all of us.”

Undocumented immigrants face special challenges. They’re here to work or escape to a better life, but they tend to accept jobs that are so low-skilled, dangerous and/or low paying that no one else wants them. And they live in constant fear that someone will force them to leave the country and leave their children behind.

Worker’s Defense Project, a nonprofit that defends the rights of construction workers. According to WDP, 50% of the Texas construction workforce is undocumented, and an additional 20% of workers are documented immigrants in the U.S. with visas. Immigration reform is a natural concern for WDP because the construction industry has seen many cases of injustices committed against workers, especially those whom unscrupulous construction businesses feel they can take advantage of because of their immigration status. WDP helps workers recover unpaid wages, advocates for safer work environments and educates workers about their rights. Since 2002, WDP has recovered about $1 million for over 1,000 low-wage workers.

Casa Marianella is an emergency homeless shelter that has served recently-arrived men and women immigrants, asylum seekers, and asylees for over 26 years in East Austin. In addition to shelter, Casa offers access to legal and medial resources, food, clothing, English classes, computer access, and job support for Latina women through its full-service transitional housing program for immigrant mothers and children escaping domestic or cultural violence. Casa seeks volunteers to help provide services to clients including everything from leading classes on cooking, life skills and more, and also preparing meals and other assistance around the house.

Bernardo Kohler Center, an Austin nonprofit that serves immigrants throughout South Texas. It focuses on providing legal services to abused, neglected or abandoned juveniles, to victims of human trafficking, and to victims of violent crime. It also attains asylum for people with a well founded fear of persecution in their home country. In 2011 the Bernardo Kohler Center served more than 100 clients. It specifically seeks pro bono attorneys to take on these clients, host families for juveniles, interpreter and translators and financial support.

For a list of more organizations that serve immigrant issues see the Immigrant Services Network of Austin.

If I had a nickel for every Austin for-profit business that wanted GivingCity to help you “get the word out to Austin nonprofits”…

Well, if I had a nickel, that would be a start.

The fact is that you are asking a nonprofit (GivingCity) for help. Repeatedly. Some of you even get a little cranky when I say I can’t. Many of you spend your money on PR firms to pester me until I write about you. Then the PR firms call to ask me for my advertising rates so they can then tell you the value of my writing about you to prove their worth.

In the meantime GivingCity, the nonprofit that helped your for-profit, never gets a dime. Nary a thank you.

The truth is, I would rather not say no. Indeed, GivingCity is often the only media outlet that would cover your story because most local news outlets don’t serve this audience. Many of you have even told me that.

The other truth is that there is no way that any for-profit business would get media coverage just because they gave GivingCity money. That is not now, ever has been or ever will be how it works.

But many of you do have news that really should get to the GivingCity audience, and you have no where else to turn. So let’s go back to that nickel.

Making GivingCity takes time, and there is value to our time. If you can find a way to support GivingCity to make sure it exists, to help us relaunch the print magazine, to support our work… then GivingCity will be here to help you get the word out to our audience. If you’d like to know more about how to make that happen, please contact me.

But this time try using phrases like, “We’d love to help GivingCity” rather than “Can GivingCity help us?”

Thank you,

Monica

Creative Action is loading him up with music, theater, film-making and collaboration. Every day he comes home so much more talkative and curious about the world. My son is a good student — great grades, great behavior, all of that. But he seems more energized after eight hours of camp than he does after seven hours of school.

This is not a slite to his teacher. She is building the foundation for his education. But his experiencing the arts seems to add so much more.

There are other organizations like Creative Action, but it’s the biggest. Because of that, it serves more than 16,000 kids across Central Texas, most of them Hispanic.

Hispanic kids benefit the most from nonprofits like Creative Action because in Austin most of them would not otherwise have these experiences. (My son is Hispanic, too.) Austin Hispanic children tend to be the same children who qualify for reduced lunch and other government-assistance programs. That means their families struggle to make ends meet; arts classes might seem a luxury.

Which is why these nonprofits are so important. Studies show that when a child is engaged in the arts, they are more likely to stay in school, get better grades and behave better. They’re also more likely to have the creativity and problem-solving skills that employers require.

Here are a few other nonprofits that bring arts to Austin kids. Reach out to them and learn how you can help.

Creative Action

The mission of Creative Action is to spark and support the academic, social and emotional development of young people. Through interactive classroom performances, after school arts residencies and community-based programs, Creative Action’s team of professional Teaching Artists inspire youth to be creative artists, courageous allies, critical thinkers, and confident leaders in their community.

Latinitas

Latinitas enables young Latinas to achieve personal and academic success through media and technology outreach, thereby addressing the critical state of Latina girls today. While Latina girls ages 12 to 17 are the largest group of minority girls in the country, they are more likely than their non-Hispanic peers to face the four most serious threats to achieving success: depression, pregnancy, substance abuse and becoming a high school drop out. The solution lies in empowering these young Latinas, strengthening their confidence and expanding their opportunities. With a variety of enriching experiences, Latinitas discover their voice and develop media skills while building a solid foundation for their future.

Anthropos Art

Works primarily in the East Austin community to bring top professional musicians into low-income middle and high schools to offer free music lessons, workshops, master classes, and performance opportunities to economically disadvantaged youth. In a district with an average graduation rate of about 60 percent, students in the Anthropos program have maintained near 100 percent graduation rate with approximately 80 percent of those students continuing on to college, most of on full or partial scholarships.

The Cipher

The Cipher – Austin’s Hip Hop Project is on a mission to build a community of young leaders and engaged hip hop artists and to strengthen the East Austin community in multiple ways. The creative expression and public performances encouraged through “The Cipher” create a group of confident and engaged young people. They leave our program empowered, authentic and connected to the Austin music and poetry community. The program provides these young people with positive learning experiences through which they gain new skills and competencies, build self-esteem, improve academic performance and expand possibilities for their futures.

Each of these organizations treat their volunteers and donors right. Contact them to get involved.