I love this place. It's a true community for our Austin unhoused neighbors to be a part of and…read moreactively create and maintain. Beautiful vision and execution and much needed elsewhere.

A unique project designed to help the chronically homeless and disabled find affordable and…read moresustainable housing in a loving community. Located on bus route 237 in East Austin this housing center helps to empower those less fortunate by giving them more permanent housing. This 27 acre park is split into a collection of tiny homes and RV trailers in a well curated landscape. Resources like a medical clinic, workshop, community gardens, and memorial area really makes this a special place. It is a faith based organization that is open to people of all faiths. Many of the RVs have more permanent structures like a porch that have been built next to them. The tiny homes are incredible with a variety of different floor plans sponsored by local builders and donors. Bathrooms are communal. There is an outdoor movie theater right at the entrance. It feels clean and well decorated with more construction constantly underway. By the far the best part is getting to hear from and connect with current residents about how this unique solution to their problem has resonated with them. It's clear that in addition to providing material needs, the people running this place care about the residents here. This business model of using tiny homes to combat homelessness was written up by CNN. In addition to donating financially, you can also help build. I applaud the efforts underway here and am excited for how this place will continue to help people in need in the future.

These people are great! They partner to give away free trees. I took advantage of this about 3-4…read moreyears ago, and by now the trees are huge! They were delivered as healthy saplings, most about 10-12" tall. Now both of the Mexican Sycamores are as tall as my house. The Pomegranate tree started to produce fruit this year and the Goldenball leadtree has tons of bees and yellow floofy balls. I am not sure what options they have now as far as varieties, but they had a lot when I ordered. They use a map on google to let you know how many trees they can deliver. They delivered at the promised date and put the trees on my driveway by the garagedoor. They have sapling days as well as the drop off service, link here: https://www.treefolks.org/get-a-tree/ You can also volunteer quite often. PS lots of care and watering needs to be done for a few years in the hot summers.

This past weekend, I did my first volunteer event with TreeFolks, and it was so much fun, I can't…read morewait to come back. You don't have to know anything about planting trees - just show up ready to work for 2-3 hours. If you like being outdoors, meeting some plant-loving neighbors, and getting a great workout while getting a little dirty, you'll love it, too! TreeFolks is a nonprofit org operating since 1989 to support planting trees all over Central Texas and educating the community on why trees are so great (i.e., oxygen-makers, erosion-preventers, shade-givers, habitat-formers, and more). From October through March (almost every Saturday & some Fridays), they team up with the City of Austin to host events where volunteers plant thousands of hardy, native tree seedlings that do not require irrigation throughout the city, from creeksides to parks. When wildfires and floods strike (like recent events in Bastrop and Blanco), they organize to replant the damaged forests. They even give away free trees at different times throughout the year so you can plant them in your own yard. Find where they'll be next and sign up here: http://www.treefolks.org/events/. I found the "Ready, Set, Plant!" event I attended recently at Gracywoods Park to be very well organized and welcoming for a new volunteer. There were several groups of diverse backgrounds and ages there to help, some from schools and Scouts, some corporate teams, and several individual neighbors from the area. The check-in tent offered coffee and snacks, plus the promise of a free t-shirt and bumper sticker as thanks after our shift was complete. We had been instructed in advance to wear closed-toed shoes and clothing appropriate for getting dirty and being in the weeds. Upon arrival, we were given work gloves and hard hats to wear onsite, plus a quick demonstration of how to use the tools we'd chosen and how to effectively plant the seedlings we'd be rehoming today. My tool of choice was the bright orange dibbler, a heavy & sharp spade-like instrument perfect for slamming into the earth to make space for a sapling's root ball AND working out any stress one may have over the past year of politics (or perhaps that was just me?). I thoroughly enjoyed putting all of my pent up aggression into giving new life to around 30 baby trees :-) Our group of around 50 amateur arborist volunteers planted 1250 tiny trees over the span of 2.5 hours, of which about 10% would be expected to survive (pretty good, when you consider that these creekside trees get no further intervention after planting). I'm excited to watch how they grow now each time I jog past that area on the Walnut Creek Greenbelt.

Do you ever see those KAB signs along the road and wonder what they are for? KAB stands for Keep…read moreAustin Beautiful and is a nonprofit that helps keep Austin streets and creeks clean and beautiful. KAB is an awesome organization that allows individuals and organizations to adopt a street or creek and clean it up several times a year. Bull Creek is one of my favorite greenbelts so 4 times a year I help clean it up. This year I worked with over 100 4th graders to remove invasive plants and spread Wildflowers. We also educated the kiddos on how litter affects the water and soil and how native plants prevent soil erosion and how important it is to stay on the trails to preserve the natural flora and fauna. KAB is Keeping Austin Beautiful and you should too! It is very rewarding!

Great organization! Kids are very important to KAB! They welcome them as volunteers and provide all…read morekinds of opportunities for them to learn about the environment. We have adopted a creek through KAB which means we agree to clean it up at least 4x a year for 2 years. KAB provides all the supplies we need each time. And they arrange for CoA to come pick up all the trash bags we leave behind. Easy peasy. We do it with a group of kids and their parents. The kids LOVE it. They feel important for doing something good for the Earth and love spending time in nature and always enjoy finding weird stuff and putting it in the trash or recycling where it belongs. Additionally, KAB offers a free camp in the Summer and now only opens it up to their kids who volunteer with them. Can't beat that! We did the camp last year and one day went on the most awesome local tour EVER- The Texas Disposal Systems Landfill. I kid you not. Freakin' awesome!! All the people that work at the KAB office are awesome and truly dedicated. You'd be silly not to go out and adopt a creek or park or SOMETHING right now!! Do your part, people! ;)

I volunteered at Project Transitions one Saturday morning, and let me say that this was a very fun…read moreand interesting volunteering event. This organization is dedicated to helping low income people with HIV. A super great cause just because they lend a helping hand to those in need. Our volunteer manager was super polite and grateful for our work. Sometimes just working with the best people make volunteering so much better then it actually is. In this case it definitely was a fun experience. We helped to clean up the garden, rake leaves, and take out the trash. Overall, project transitions is great in terms of their service and how they treat their volunteers.

You don't have to be Bike Curious to get involved. No matter your orientation, Project Transitions…read morewill make you happy to give your money or your time. They have been creating FUNdraising events to support people living with HIV/AIDS since 1988, focusing their efforts on various forms of housing - Doug's House, Roosevelt Gardens, and Highland Terrace and Community Housing. This past weekend I participated in one of their fundraising events called Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and for a $100 donation, feasters have an opportunity to eat at one of many private gatherings of wonderful food and company. I had the most amazing meal experience at Gateway Guesthouse where Bess and Blaise hosted Mississippi Rising* -the conceptual idea for a meal that seemed to not end. We took a trip down the Mississippi, from Minnesota to Texas... which fits in nicely with my own personal history. The 2 hour meal was followed by dessert and drinks at Nest, with hundreds of dinner revelers from the many other amazing dinners around Austin. This was my first year, but I guarantee that I will do it again. In December, I was treated to their Holiday Swing party by a couple friends and participated in the Silent Auction where I was thrilled to donate a pile of money to PT. In addition, they have a Texas Swing fundraiser and a Red Hot XX party at Oilcan's. They also operate Top Drawer Thrift Store, have a Bike Curious team for Hill Country Ride for Aids, and are a beneficiary of the HCRA. Project Transitions needs volunteers for a variety of activities for their residents and also for throwing these many events. Check out their website and see where your skillz and talents are a fit for an organization that truly makes a difference in Austin. *Michael Barnes was one of the 10 people at the table and wrote about the amazing meal at Austin 360 if you are interested in more details. I agree totally about the fried chicken, THE best I have ever had: http://www.austin360.com/blogs/content/shared-gen/blogs/austin/outandabout/entries/2012/02/05/mississippi_ris.html

Background Information: This organization offers housing for women and children who have…read moreexperienced homelessness. Some, not all, participants come from Domestic Violence situations, however, this is not a battered women's shelter. Their website boasts about how wonderful they are, but I am here to tell you it is all smoke and mirrors. I lived at one of the two properties they own so I have first-hand knowledge of how they run the program. The housing program gets housing subsidies from the City of Austin, is a Rental Housing Development Assistance Programs, and has some affiliation with HUD. It's worth noting, this organization had ZERO policies in place for anyone with a disability, which is required by law for an apartment complex. They knew my son was disabled because it was on my application for housing and not once did they ask about what he might need accommodations for. My son and I moved into Saint Louise House's Program April of 2020, right at the peak of COVID. At the time I moved in, we had been homeless for a year, so I was excited to have my own place again. I was quickly disappointed when I found out it had an extremely bad infestation with German Cockroaches that they failed to tell me about until after I moved in. I was told that it was treated recently, but additional treatments could not be provided until businesses started to open up and I understood this. However, I would have preferred to postpone my move instead of dealing with the disgusting roaches for what lasted approximately 8 months. When everything started opening up, management finally got pest control to come in and spray, however, it was just a general spray, not the proper one you need for treating German Cockroaches. For quite some time, I continued to email management letting them know the general sprays were not working and provided numerous pictures of all the roaches. It was at that time I got an email from the then program director stating that Robin Kampermann, the operations director, wanted me to submit a video of the current roach situation because pest control "had just sprayed my unit." By this time, I had sent numerous emails documenting the issue and told her I was under no circumstances going to provide a video. The infestation was so bad, I ended up having to repack my kitchen because the roaches were in my cabinets, refrigerator and in our food. Roaches carry many diseases as well as feces as they travel so roach feces were on my countertops and cabinets, inside the cabinets, my baseboards, floors and wall. This created not only a major health hazard, but a major inconvenience to me and my son, but management still dragged their feet for getting the proper treatments and did not care about the health hazard this caused us. As a result, my son and I ended up having to eat out for EVERY meal which exhausted all my savings of $1000.00. Management did not care one bit and made no resolution to refund my money, despite having all my receipts. I continued to send numerous emails complaining about the roaches and nothing was done about it. I even contacted the chairwoman at the time, of the board of directors for the program, Molly Trexler, to complain and she told me the board did not get involved in such issues. My son, who is disabled, was traumatized by the rampant roaches crawling everywhere, including the walls and floors in our dining room and throughout our kitchen. I called the Austin Tenants Council to see what could be done and was told that it was a reasonable request to move to another unit due to my son's disability. I requested numerous times to move to another unit and was turned down. Management expected me to live in a unit that was a health hazard. Laura Ward, the Executive Director of the program told me it was against their policy to allow tenants to move. She accidentally sent me an email intended for other management employees, and she attempted to recall her email, but was unsuccessful. In this email she stated that she would no longer be responding to my emails regarding this issue and that they should help me relocate somewhere else. Robin Kamperman, the Operations Manager, and bully of the organization essentially refused to provide treatment despite numerous photos of the roaches and feces and email requests I sent. I literally had to raise hell and get the city involved to get this issue resolved. Finally, they got the pest company to do proper treatments, although I was thankful, it was a big inconvenience. All my cabinets had to be wiped down with a particular solution before each treatment and because the treatment was toxic, I could not be in the apartment for 3 hours afterwards. See photos for the rest of the review.

Vincare does great work for our community and everyone here at Integrity Moving is honored to do…read morebusiness with this wonderful foundation! If you know any mothers that are struggling and trying to make it on their own, please call this organization!

I always try to volunteer when I can. I decided to sign up and volunteer in the warehouse for…read moreCentral Texas Food Bank with my organization. It was well organized and fun. First, it was easy to sign up and register as a group. Secondly, they provided great details through email in preparation of the event regarding the dress code, parking and arrival time. In addition, the coaches were knowledgeable and provided us with an orientation before we began to ensure our safety and gave us guidance on the process. They were also friendly and funny. The event itself was relatively easy and not physically exhaustive. In 2.5 hours, we made a huge difference and sorted over 6K pounds of potatoes. We made a huge difference for the community in a short amount of time. I absolutely plan to return here and volunteer again.

I always enjoy volunteering at the Central Texas Food Bank. I initially signed up for my volunteer…read moreshift online. There is plenty of parking and when you come in, you can check in for your shift at the kiosk and it prints out a name tag. The name tags are a nice touch so that everyone can meet the people that they are volunteering with on your shift. They had several volunteer options including in the kitchen area and also in the food distribution warehouse. The staff is very friendly and accommodating. They start and close the shift with detailed instructions about each volunteer position so you know what to expect. They also allow you to select a volunteer position that is matching your interest and skill level. On this particular occasion, I helped with moving tables and pallets and reorganizing the warehouse space for the weekend shifts. After completing this task, I was assigned stapling papers together with weekly menu instructions to put in each food basket to provide instructions to the families receiving food assistance. Then I worked at the bag station where I tied bags that were used to hold the produce. There were a variety of volunteer positions to choose from and the shift passed very quickly. The shift lasted for 3 hours and they are respectful of your time to complete the shift timely. There was a nice restroom and break room space for volunteers. Someone had prepared beef sliders for the volunteers and there were also coffee options. The process is clean and sanitary and the emphasize hand washing and wearing gloves. At the end of the shift they tell you how many pounds of food that you provided to families as a result of your shift. In our case it was 9K pounds. Overall a very enjoyable volunteer experience to provide food to families in the central Texas area.

Stopped by the Sunshine Community Gardens annual March 1st sale. This is a nonprofit organization…read morewhere you can buy discounted garden plants. We paid $3 per jalapeño, basil, pepper, and tomato plant. Mulch was $5 and compost was $7. The staff was extremely friendly and they even load the mulch/compost in your car for you. We will be back next March for the annual sale again. Dog friendly! Lots of cute booths to stop by inside and kids can pick carrots in the carrot garden.

It's totally gem!!!! I love this place, they have all different kinds of plants, veggies and…read moreflowers, and the location is quite central Austin so it's not as far as those ranches. I'm going to come here as frequently as I could lol!

A Tale of Two Entities…read more Useful: 1. Settlement Home: Helps young girls who were abused have a place to live and thrive. It's a great nonprofit residential center that I hope no one on Yelp ever has a chance to use. 2. Settlement Home Garage Sale: At Palmer Events Center the first weekend in November. Friday you have to pay to get in. Don't bother. Saturday, it's free and it's a great day to scout out the merchandise and buy things you just can't go without. Sunday, the morning is pretty picked over, but the afternoon is the highlight of the whole thing. At a certain hour, they start selling boxes. Get there early, buy one or two boxes, depending on whether you think you can manage it. Plan to be trampled, nudged, elbowed, et cetera. Stuff your box as fast as possible and get the hell out. Funny: 1. My freshman year of college, my rooommate worked for Settlement Home, where abused girls get their lives on track. Some have been sexually abused, physically abused, and so on. I really respected that. This same roommate thought it was funny to tell her mom and boyfriend (stationed in Iraq, by the way) that she was pregnant. After he got someone to buy the ring (within 24 hours) and freaked out sufficiently, and her mom went a little nuts, she called both of them back and said, "Just kidding!." I don't respect that at all. 2. The people at the Settlement Home Garage Sale are friggin' animals. After I bought my box, I went to stand in front of the Center. "GET BACK BITCH! I'VE BEEN STANDING HERE FOR 20 MINUTES!" Wow. I stepped back about 10 feet, actually closer to the door. I think I actually got in before this woman. She had two of the largest boxes available, $8 apiece, duct taped together and on a big luggage rack. I went to the art section. She was sweeping entire tables full of frames into her boxes. She swept in a picture I was in the middle of grabbing. "Can I have that please?" "No!" "Are you even looking at what you're taking?' "NO! I JUST CARE ABOUT THE FRAMES, NOT THE ART, STUPID!" Well, she got a really interesting picture of Michaelangelo's "David" in the deal. Lucky lady. Cool: 1. The Settlement Home basically runs off the funds raised by the gigantic garage sale once a year. What a neat concept. But you can donate to them at any time. It's a good cause, really. 2. For a $3 box, I got the following: An antique intercom that doesn't work A bunch of Royal Doulton "Thistledown" bone china (valued at about $15 a plate) 3 novels 2 small framed photos A large framed photo of a broken window A toothbrush holder A citrus zester Two original, one-of-a-kind paintings What a deal!

I stayed at the forsaken place for a year and a half tooooo long!! I can't begin to tell you how…read moredreadful that this place was. I left fifteen years ago on my eighteenth birthday. My first opinion is that, if they still do, the settlement does NOT need to hire people who are basically kids themselves. I used to wonder if the "houseparents" had bad days, which I'm sure they did, we all did. It appeared as though they took their frustration out on the girls who lived there. Everytime you turned around somebody got a consequence for SOMETHING! Damn! I wonder if giving the girls a consequence for something made them feel taller and better about their egos, especially if they personally had a bad day before they got to work. I heard and saw how the "houseparents" used to gather around and talk about how they punished someone and how they had to restrain a girl and then they mentioned what kind of punishment they had given them. I feel I got punished every time I breathed fresh air. Instead of being punished, I felt as though they should have taught me the values of life. What's out there in life and PREPARE me for it!!!! I felt that there was no need to punish someone THAT often. Instead of punishing a girl, damn, get to know their past. See why they what they do, look behind the problem to correct it. A punishment is not going to do it. Work with them slowly. I should never have been in such a place anyway, but that is another story, in which my family and I are in court as we speak against the state for what their CPS worker did when I was eight years old. One of the houseparents told me that I had to be put on birth control, (I was not sexually active at the time), or else I would not be allowed to go anywhere on my own while I stayed there. I gave in and she ordered the birth control: I took the birth control for a month and a half and cheeked the bitch for the remainder of the time there. She never knew it, either. Then she told me that once a girl comes to the Settlement, it would be hard for she to leave it; I often still wonder sometimes if the Settlement home gets "high money" per girl who stays there. No wonder it would be difficult for she to leave unless she runs away. One of the staff had gone to court exactly two weeks before I left the hell hole, two weeks before I turned eighteen. She tried to testify to make me look bad. She told the court all kinds of fake crap and a bunch of lies!! I couldn't believe it, but then again, they are the state employees, which explains why the CPS worker ten years prior to the date did what she did. HEY!! I was trying to get emancipated, which didn't make sense at the particular time because I turned eighteen two weeks later, in which, I still left the hell hole! She couldn't stop me and didn't! My over all opinion of this place is that you people can do better and don't chastise the girls for not having a loving home who want them, they didn't ask to be born. It's not their fault that they are in such a place. Oh, yes, birth control and prozac, they call it, are popular drugs with this home and they have you open your mouth to show them that you swallowed them, but....damn I am good! I cheeked that crap all of its days! Oh!...& there is no need to feel as though you have to threaten me to not tell others that a houseparent was seen at a refund raiser for GAY people...or I would get a "consequence". They forever used that threat. God be with us all!!!!