Workforce Solutions - Capital Area reports the Austin-Round Rock MSA added 4,900 jobs in April, the third straight month of job growth in the region.  Leisure & Hospitality continued strong growth, adding 3,000 jobs in April.  Professional & Business Services added 1,300 jobs.  Sectors losing jobs included Manufacturing (-700) and Information (-100).  The Manufacturing sector has now lost 5,500 jobs in the last 12 months, a 9.4% decline.

This week, Green Doors is launching the Tex S. Taxpayer Series, an education outreach project to let people know what they can do to stop homelessness.  Green Doors, formerly Community Partnership for the Homeless, is featuring brief video clips on its website.  The education outreach project strives to get beyond the negative stereotypes associated with the word "homelessness" and to address the challenges that face individuals and families in Austin.  The goal is to help ordinary taxpayers understand the positive social and economic repercussions of supporting fiscally responsible, coordinated solutions to eliminate homelessness in our community. Visit Green Doors to see the videos.

The E3 Alliance reports that more than one-third of all babies born in Travis County are born to moms without a high school diploma.  Research shows that a mother's educational level is one of the foremost predictors of a child's educational success.

Helping children enter kindergarten ready to learn is one of four goals of the E3 Alliance Blueprint for Educational Change.  The Alliance promotes the use and distribution of "Born Learning" guides for parents that highlight developmental milestones for all children.  Download the Born Learning guides in English and Spanish.

Travis County Adult Probation Department is soliciting Requests For Proposals (RFPs) for Residential Substance Abuse Services for Adult Offenders who are on probation in the five county area.  An optional Pre-Proposal Conference will be held on Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 9:30 a.m. at 5501 Airport Blvd., Suite 102, Room 111.

Proposals will be received by the Travis County Adult Probation Department, until 11 am on June 26, 2009, at 411 West 13th Street, Suite 600, Austin, Texas 78701, by the Director, Dr. Geraldine Nagy.

For further information or to request a copy of the specifications, contact Lila Oshatz at Travis County Adult Probation Department at (512) 854-3549 or at Lila.Oshatz@co.travis.tx.us.

The City of Austin will receive just over $3 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds for Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-housing.  The City is now seeking qualified nonprofit organizations to serve as a fiscal agent for the administration of these funds and to conduct client outreach and intake. 

Responses are due by noon on Friday, June 12th. Click here to read the NOFA.  For more information, contact CityHS@ci.austin.tx.us.

Travis County and the City of Austin invite citizen input on how to improve the availability of safe, affordable, nutitious, locally produced, affordable food in our community.  Come to the Sustainable Food Policy Board meeting on Monday, June 1st from 6:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Carver Library, 1161 Angelina.

 

Follow these links to fliers in English and Spanish:

Austin-based nonprofit ACTIVE Life is hosting the ACTIVE Life Summit, a celebration of the ACTIVE lifestyle and an opportunity to engage and equip individuals, government and companies to create healthy change in the world around them. The Summit takes place this Friday, May 29th from 8:30  a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the JJ Pickle Research Center. Go to ACTIVELifeSummit.com for the summit schedule and registration. Cost is $50.

On Saturday, May 30th, families are invited to attend the free ACTIVE Life Summit Festival from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the AISD Toney Burger Center. Kids and adults will enjoy interactive and fun activities in Move (fitness), Fuel (nutrition and cooking) and Honor (healthy body and healthy environment) Zones. Activities range from rock climbing, dancing, Nintendo Wii and GameBikes to health assessments, cooking demos and recycling challenges. Go to ACTIVElifetour.com for a complete list of activities.

Texas stakeholders working to reduce chronic disease through primary and secondary prevention programs and practices are invited to a two day conference "Meeting the Challenge of Chronic Disease at the Community Level: Strategies for Creating a Healthy Environment" June 10th and 11th.  Physicians, nurses, health educators, public health professionals, and others working at a state or community level to plan and conduct chronic disease programs will learn

• to identify and locate data to describe the burden of disease in their communities,
  
• to learn about social determinants of health and health disparities, and
  
• to  provide strategic leadership to influence policy  changes.
  

The conference will be held in Austin at the MCC Auditorium on Braker Lane. Learn more at the Texas Department of State Health Services website.

CAN Partners:  Austin Area Human Services Association, Austin Area Interreligious Ministries, Austin Chamber, Austin Community College, Austin Independent School District,
Austin Travis County Mental Health Mental Retardation Center, Capital Metro, City of Austin, Community Justice Council, Integrated Care Collaboration, Seton Family of Hospitals, St. David's Community Health Foundation, St. Edward's University, Travis County, Travis County Healthcare District, United Way Capital Area, University of Texas at Austin, and Workforce Solutions - Capital Area.