First, we have great news! We are doing more for our clients this spring at our new north Austin location than we were doing last fall from our previous base near the UT West Campus. Here are two examples:

  • In September before the move, we served 240 unique clients. In March afterward, we served 281.

  • Also in September, we served 16 new clients in our age range. In March after the move, we served 22.

  We do have our challenges, but we're working through them. Here are projects our amazing team is doing to serve better from our new location, including some new services that clients need but aren't finding easily of late:

 • Improving our Wi-Fi stability. Alan is leading a project so our team and our clients have better access to information.

 • Improving our resource cards. Terry still needs a helper to move resources to Canva with a cleaner background (since so many clients need glasses), easier to read bullets (client feedback),and a common template to simplify updates.

 • Getting SYMin recognized by ECHO. Jessica is leading this because clients are finding access to ECHO's information and benefits more challenging these days. It's a long process that requires a lot of time and patience.

 • Reinvigorating our incarceration pen-pal team. Suzanne is leading this. We don't want to have many people in jail, but good things can happen in jail. Clients want us to renew our letter writing.

 • Getting prescription eyeglasses. So many clients need them, and they are no longer easy to obtain. We once could offer VSP certificates, but these are no longer available. Pray that changes! In the meantime, we are searching for a local optometrist to do low-cost exams and a local or mail-order shop to fulfill the orders. We have a $3,000 grant to do a pilot program.

 • Starting a laundry program. Mandy (our intern who just completed her second term) got this up and running with a neighborhood laundromat. It gives clients a degree of independence and accountability. We will soon have a way for donors to sponsor laundry online.

 • Improving our plumbing. Matt is working with a local plumber and our landlord so we can hook up our mini-dishwasher and ice machine and improve our shower.

 • Upgrading our food access. Jessica has been working with Whole Foods on a staff-led pilot. We're now defining how volunteers can become involved in the Saturday morning pickup and delivery of great food! Matt is working on providing refrigeration space that volunteers can use for the drop-off.

 • Invigorating our San Marcos outreach. Terry is working with the team to define outreach interns who train in Austin and serve and lead volunteers weekly in San Marcos.