So, here we are! Almost four years into this initiative called Impact Austin. In June, we will award $416,000 in grants which puts the cumulative total at $1,067,000 since extending our first grant in June, 2004. That’s cause for celebration! I treasure each of you for your willingness to climb aboard and share the journey with me.

With your help and continued support, we will extend a $100,000 grant in each of our five focus areas in June, 2008—a goal the founding board members set back in May, 2003. That milestone is significant, but it’s not the end of the story.

We have embarked on our next three-year strategic planning process, and we look forward to sharing that plan with you when it is finalized in late September. We believe a disciplined approach to mapping out our future will lead to Impact Austin making a unique contribution in our community for years to come.

We continue to attract an amazing array of women with varied backgrounds and experiences. We value differing opinions and creative approaches to addressing issues. Please continue to tell your friends about Impact Austin--sharing your experience as a member is persuasive beyond measure.

Paul Hilgers, Director of Neighborhood Housing and Community Development Office for the City of Austin, discusses the challenges of providing affordable housing for low-income/working-poor adults and families.

On Saturday, January 20, 2007, eleven community experts addressed 93 Impact Austin members on topics ranging from arts education and water quality to primary and preventive healthcare. Member Kathy Strand, who sits on a Focus Area Committee, shared her impression of the educational forum, "The presenters gave me a perspective of the size and scope of the needs in our area. It really made me enthusiastic about beginning the grant review process."

Discovery Day is the first in a series of educational forums Impact Austin will offer its members. Be on the lookout for more learning opportunities as the year progresses. Learning enhances who we are--a thoughtful group of women who want to make a positive difference. Remember...we can't change what we don't know!

ARC #3 members: Sarah Daly, Caroline Tulloh, Kelsey Hughen and Stephanie Collins.

The girls have chosen four grant applicants to move to the semi-finalist stage:

• Austin Public Library Foundation
• Southwest Key Program, Inc
• Center for Child Protection
• EmanciPet, Inc.

If you know a member of Girls Giving Grants, please take a moment to commend her for her commitment and dedication. These young women have done a superb job of thoroughly and thoughtfully reviewing the applications, doing so in balance with their winter finals, ice-storms, a myriad of school and social activities and the holidays. They are super women!

For any member who wants to learn more about Impact Austin. Even if you have been to an informational 'coffee' before, you are welcome to attend and get a refresher course. We will talk about:

• Grant review process (currently in progress)
• Yearly calendar
• Annual Meeting on June 7, 2007
• Optional ways to participate
• Past grant recipients and their programs
• Burning questions you want answered

Photographed above from left to right: Dawn Skinner and Kathleen Mack (IA Board members), Sarah Swords (Literacy Austin Board member and IA member), Emily Williams (Literacy Austin student), Dina Mavridis (IA Board member), Sarah Land (IA member), and Irene Garcia (Literacy Austin tutor).

There was not a dry eye in Literacy Austin’s brand new conference room after two adult literacy students shared what learning to read had meant to them. Emily Williams explained that she had only been able to go to school through the fourth grade and could not help her children with their homework. She used to feel so isolated and embarrassed because of her lack of education but now she is much more confident around other people. Fellow student Norma Barcenas said that now she can talk to her children’s teachers about their school work because of her classes at Literacy Austin and can read the menu in restaurants.

These students were the highlight of the ribbon cutting ceremony at Literacy Austin’s remodeled Center, financed primarily by the $108,000 Impact Austin grant with additional support from the Lola Wright Foundation and the Tocker Foundation. The Center now boasts four new class rooms and a large conference room which increases the student capacity by 50%.

Literacy Austin’s Executive Director Gail Harmon, current board president Ricardo Soliz, and past president Kathleen Hamilton, expressed their deep thanks to Impact Austin, especially the members present, including Rebecca Powers who responded by saying how wonderful it was to see the results of everyone’s efforts and how pleased Impact Austin is to be a partner in advancing the mission of Literacy Austin.