A Tale of Two Entities 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! read more

I stayed at the forsaken place for a year and a half tooooo long!! I can't begin to tell you how dreadful 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!!!! read more

I had an opportunity to stop in and sit down with the Settlement Home staff today to find out more about what and how they are helping their underserved residents and walked away very impressed. The commitment of Darcie's staff to leverage technology in helping transform the lives of their clients and helping them achieve positive Outcomes is inspiring. I am very much looking forward to monitoring their progress as they move forward to implement processes that will ultimately lead to true evidence of social impact in the communities they serve....stay tuned...-T read more

I first met Megan Zellner, Foster and Adoption Program Direct for the Settlement Home, back in 2012 when my husband and I finally decided we wanted to move forward with adopting a boy. We worked very closely with her and her staff over the next couple of years through numerous trainings, home visits, therapy sessions, fun events, etc. Any time I had a question or needed help, they were there for us and they truly helped make the adoption process much smoother than it might have been. I would, and have, recommended The Settlement Home to friends interested in foster and adoption, some of whom have completed successful adoptions as well. They are first class and truly love helping kids and families. read more

I've never actually been to the Settlement Home itself, but I have been to their well-advertised, annual garage sale umpteen times, so I wanted to share info about that. This sale, which usually happens in early November (this weekend, in fact), is G-I-G-A-N-T-I-C. The Citywide ain't got nothin' on the Settlement Home sale. Many, many, many volunteers work year-round to amass enough stuff to fill the Palmer Events Center. And they get some pretty good stuff, too. Things I've purchased at this sale: Kate Spade shoes, Kate Spade handbags, designer clothes, games, a set of pom-poms for a Halloween costume...and surely much, much more that I can't think of right now. Don't let my clothes-centric list fool you - there are items in pretty much every category, including furniture, collectibles, electronics, garden stuff, toys, bedding, books, clothes...you name it, it's definitely here, somewhere. There's even some new stuff at the sales, too - I know I've seen items here that started out life at local retailers like Breed & Co. However, be prepared to dig for the good stuff, as the sheer volume of goods here can be extremely overwhelming. Prices are higher than regular garage sales, but it's for a good cause; the Settlement Home is a home for neglected and abused children and also provides foster home services. On Sunday, they have their bag and box sale where you can stuff a bag or box as full as you want for like $3 or $5, depending on the size of your container! I try to avoid this time, though, because it would encourage me to buy a bunch of stuff that I REALLY do not need. But if you've got room to expand your collection of stuff, this is the place to be - and you can feel good about supporting a terrific local non-profit in the process. read more

The settlement home garage sale is amazing! I save up things every year to give away. I know it's going to such a great cause. Fantastic organization! read more

I am so impressed with the work that The Settlement Home does. The wide array of programs they offer to kids is amazing. They have a long history in Austin for a reason. They do good work all the way from the way they raise funds to the impact they have on the lives of children in need. We are fortunate that a place like this exists. read more

Megan and her team are as good as they come. From getting us certified to become foster parents to supporting us through 3 years of fostering and walking us through the adoption process, they have been with us every step of the way. Their support is top notch, answering calls at all hours of the day or night, providing advice and insight based on their unmatched experience and supporting us through all the ins and outs of the system; these are just a few of the resources that you have access to when you work with the Settlement Home. The Foster and Adopt team care about their families and most importantly the children that they serve, it was apparent every step of the way. read more

We have had 3 successful adoptions through Settlement Home. This is an agency that remains part of your family for as long as you need. All of the staff were so helpful and truly wanted to see our family succeed. From in-home visits guiding us on being first time parents to emergence phone calls when we had no idea what to do, Settlement Home was there. We recommend Settlement Home to all new families looking to foster or adopt. read more

Such a great organization. Always love donating to and attending the garage sale each year. The staff truly cares about the girls they serve. read more

love the apartments. The apartments are nice and the therapists are great. overall its a pretty nice place.

I was a "patient" at the settlement homes when I was 17 years old. It was the only place that didn't actually seem like a treatment center but more of a group home. ( but offered all the same activities such as therapy, group therapy, etc, as a RTC does. which I have been to 3 RTC's and 1 short term Treatment center).. We called it a group home. Now I read the one review that was pretty nasty and from my experience there you are completely wrong. But that was 6 years ago. I am not sure how they run the place now, but I do know when I was there it was the most decent, and had the most caring and loving care givers there. The employees that were there at the time I was, there was none of this sexual abuse or any of that. Now I moved on and got out of CPS but I kept in touch for quite awhile with them. Seeing as I was being released from CPS back to my parents before I turned 18 they were not able to help assist me with life once I turned 18. But I saw that they were building or have built a new area for kids over 18 that need assistance (not sure if it's for kids already established with the settlement homes, or if anyone coming out of cps can be accepted in). When I was there I never got mistreated by staff and I found it quite offensive that somebody would just assume that because of the reputations of other RTC's. Anyone who does not live in these places or know someone personally close to them who do will never truly know or understand the ins and outs of these places. And each person is different. I didn't have a problem being there, it was the best place out of the total 4 I have been to. In fact I made a lifelong friend there. We met there and we are still best friends to this day. My experience there was actually a very good and rewarding one. Now I'm not gonna tell you what I've done with my life since then, because I am not done completing my goals, but I do have a family, and college is in my future, just trying to get my kiddos in school. so once I accomplish my goals completely I will let you know how well I have done after leaving the Settlement homes. read more

The annual garage sale is fabulous and alot of fun. I have been attending for over ten years and never miss it. However, I have stopped as of last year going to the Box Run. For some reason, the majority of people there become mean, rude and almost dangerous just waiting in line to get in and load their box. it is obvious that many people load boxes full of t-shirts, or books, frames or whatever to sell on their own at a later date. Fine, they donated the money for the box and are entitled to it. However, the Box Run is no longer the fun, check out what you can find, dash it once was. People are so ugly and almost violent. The Home hires off duty police but for the last two years they have done NOTHING about the behavior even though they are witness to it. Essentially, paid by a charitable organization to look like cops but not act like them. I will be attending the sale this year but will not be attending on Sunday, it just is not worth the ugliness you have to witness. read more