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CAN End of Year Celebration: Dec 13
CAN will hold an End of Year Celebration on Friday, December 13th from 3 - 4:30 p.m. in the atrium of Austin City Hall. CAN will recognize outgoing chairs of the Board of Directors and Community Council and will give special recognition to CAN founder and community leader Travis County Judge Sam Biscoe. If you haven't done so already, RSVP at vsarria@austinisd.org. The event is free.
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CAN Policy Forum on Sustainable Growth
About 200 people attended the CAN Policy Forum on November 8th. Keynote speakers and panels of local experts explored how the Austin region can deal with growth in ways that are sustainable and what can be done to help more residents participate in the opportunities that growth brings.
The keynote presentations are linked below...
A summary of the forum and the evaluation results will be shared soon.
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New Toolkit for Cultural Competence, Inclusion and Diversity
With the help of a work group of representatives from several CAN partner organizations and community stakeholders, CAN has developed a new on-line tool kit of resources and information to help for-profit and non-profit organizations promote diversity, inclusion and cultural competence.
This new resource was shared at at the CAN Board of Directors on September 13. A video of this important conversation can be viewed on-line at Austin Channel 6 under the Boards and Commissions Tab.
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More than 1,000 Twitter followers!
 Join the 1,000 Twitter followers getting updates on news, meetings, research and more at CAN_Austin.
You can also access research at caction.org and dashboard that provides a snapshot of our community's well-being.
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CAN Partners
Austin Chamber of Commerce
Austin Community College
Austin ISD
Austin Travis County Integral Care
Capital Metro
Central Health
Capital City African American
Chamber of Commerce
City of Austin
City of Pflugerville
Community Justice Council
Del Valle ISD
Greater Austin Asian Chamber of Commerce
Greater Austin Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Huston-Tillotson University
interfaith Action Central Texas
Manor ISD
One Voice Central Texas
Seton Healthcare Family
St. David's Foundation
St. Edward's University
Travis County
United Way for Greater Austin
University of Texas at Austin
Workforce Solutions - Capital Area |
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Texas 3rd in Child Births
Kids Count data book shows how Texas' children are doing compared to children in other states
Texas has the 3rd highest birth rate in the nation and Travis County is one of 10 Texas counties that account for 61% of all Texas births. The newly released 2013 Kids Count Data Book notes that, while Texas is often ranked #1 among the states for doing business, Texas ranks 42nd among the states in child well-being. Kids Count is an annual data project of the Center for Public Policy Priorities and is part of a national effort funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.
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Urban Texans Driving Less
Telecommuting and public transit picking up the slack
A new report by TexasPIRG shows Texans in metro areas are driving less and using transit, telecommuting or biking to work at greater rates. The report, "Transportation in Transition: A Look at Changing Travel Patterns in America's Biggest Cities," is based on the most current available government data. It is the first ever national study to compare transportation trends for America's largest cities.
Austin ranked third in the nation for the biggest drop in the percentage of workers who commute by car with a decrease of 4.5%. Austin joined three other cities in having the highest percentage increase in people who work from home.
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FEMA Reassessing Flood Damage
Local area may qualify for emergency assistance
Federal officials are reassessing flood damage in Austin and Travis County in light of a new Travis County report that estimates total damage from the Halloween floods at more than $107 million. Earlier assessments estimated total damages below the $35 million threshold required for assistance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Travis County Emergency Management Coordinator Pete Baldwin says FEMA assistance could come as individual assistance of up to $32,000 for households experiencing the most damage and also a 75%/25% match for local jurisdictions that are repairing or replacing damaged infrastructure.
The County report estimates that 755 homes were impacted by the flooding and more than 500 of those received major damage or were destroyed. Only 147 homes were insured, according to the report. Both the City of Austin and Travis County have indicated they will purchase some homes at the highest risk of repeated flooding. Homeowners can also apply for disaster assistance loans from the Small Business Administration (SBA). The SBA has a representative at the Dove Springs Recreation Center to answer homeowners' questions.
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New Psychiatric ER
Emergency department will increase capacity to serve those in crisis
Local health officials participated in a wall-breaking ceremony this week to celebrate the construction of a new Psychiatric Emergency Department to serve people in the community who suffer from psychiatric crises. The new facility, the first of its kind in our area, is expected to open this spring with an anticipated 2,500 patient visits through the end of fiscal year 2014, which ends June 30. The numbers of patients served in the new facility are expected to increase to 5,500 during fiscal year 2015 and 10,500 during fiscal year 2016. The new psychiatric facility will be staffed by psychiatrists, psychiatric family medicine and advanced practice nurses, social workers, clinical assistants and others.
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Volunteer for Homeless Count
Help with annual Point In Time Count
Teams of volunteers will canvass Travis County to count homeless men, women and children on the streets, under highway bridges and in camps. The Point in Time Count is conducted annually by the Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) and results are reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
The count is a vital component in ensuring the well-being of Austin area's homeless population and in securing the greatest level of funding the federal government will allot Travis County's homeless service providers.
Volunteers work in teams and are trained. Three shifts are available:
- Shift 1: Friday, Jan. 24th from 3 - 7 pm
- Shift 2: Friday, Jan. 24th from 5 - 9 pm
- Shift 3: Saturday, Jan. 25th from 3 - 7 am
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Central Austin Corridor
Group to consider what top priority should be for transit investment
The Central Corridor Advisory Group will consider which Central Austin corridors should receive priority for Austin's next transit investment at its meeting this Friday, December 6th. The Advisory Group, chaired by Mayor Lee Leffingwell, meets at 1:30 p.m. in Council Chambers.
The East Riverside Drive and Highland sub-corridors have emerged as top prospects for the region's next investment in high-capacity transit and were recommended by the Central Corridor team to the advisory group on November 15th. Now the Central Corridor Advisory Group can either move the team recommendation forward or identify other alternatives.
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Will CodeNEXT Promote Affordability?
Learn how revising building code can impact housing costs
The City of Austin Neighborhood Housing and Community Development (NHCD) office and the Planning Development and Review Department will host a community meeting on how revision of the City's Land Development Code can impact household affordability. The session will feature an introduction to CodeNEXT and also a discussion with Abe Farkas, Director of Development Services at ECONorthwest, an Oregon development consultant firm. The meeting will be held on Monday, December 9th from 6 to 8 p.m. at the NHCD offices, 1000 E. 11th Street, Room 400.
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Coats for Kids
Free coats for children and teens
Each year the Junior League of Austin and its partners give tens of thousands of new and gently used coats to Austin children and teens. Coats for Kids is now in its 27th year.
On Saturday, December 14th from 8 a.m to 3 p.m., with the help of thousands of volunteers, Coats for Kids will hand out more than 32,000 coats to eligible children at the Palmer Events Center. To find out more about receiving a coat or volunteering to help with the distribution, visit www.jlaustin.org/coats.
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CAN is a partnership of governmental, non-profit, private and faith-based organizations which leverage mutual resources to collectively improve social, health, educational and economic opportunities in our community.
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