The Equity Action Team (EAT) is a coalition of community members and City of Austin staff focused on advancing racial equity in our communities through partnerships with City departments, non-profits, philanthropic entities and community-based groups.
The EAT meetings are dedicated to critical discussions and strategizing on how to best improve the quality of life for most directly impacted communities in Austin. Join the EAT and find more information on the dashboard.
Everyone is welcome to join the EAT! As a member, your responsibility is to attend and bring your community with you. During our meetings, we hear from community members and City staff to understand community needs and City projects and work together to produce better outcomes for all.
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EQUITY OFFICE ANNOUNCEMENTS |
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✨Join us for our November/December Combined EAT Meeting✨
Register here for the meeting or just come through!
Wednesday, December 4th from 6:00pm to 8:30pm
Agenda:
We reserve room for community shout outs and updates, too!
👉🏽Enjoy a delicious meal from Alegria Catering! (We will have vegan options!)
👉🏽Warm welcome and grounding activity
👉🏽Presentation from Children's Defense Fund on GA-46: This Executive Order requires Texas hospitals to ask patients seeking medical care whether they are "lawfully present" in the United States; but, it does not require patients to answer. Join us on Dec. 4th to learn more about your rights and what this Executive Order means.
👉🏽Let's reflect on 2024, and start thinking about our collective identity as the EAT--what do we hope to focus on and accomplish in 2025?
👉🏽REMINDER--Looking for ways to get involved in equity work? The interest form is still open to learn more about the Open Government Partnership Equity Assessment Working Group opportunity! Fill out the form here: https://rebrand.ly/vc2jj
The November/December Combined EAT Meeting will be at:
Street-Jones Building
1000 E 11th Street, Suite 120
4th Floor, Conference Room 400A
Austin, TX 78702
🍽️ Dinner will be provided and there will be vegan options.
💧 Please bring your reusable water bottle so that we can reduce waste.
🫱🏽🫲🏿 We look forward to being in community with you!
As always, you can reach out to the Equity Office at our team email: equity@austintexas.gov and we'll answer your questions or find someone who can answer them!
With gratitude for our amazing EAT,
-Natalie Hulsey, Equity Office Public Information Specialist, Sr. and the Equity Office team |
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Join the
The City of Austin is a partner in the OGP - an international organization dedicated to making governments more open, inclusive, and responsive. Interested in being a part of the working group as a civil society partner?
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There is one more session to give input on the budget! The JIC wants to hear from you about your experience with the budget, and how you think the City should spend its money. You can keep up with all things budget by visiting the 2024-2025 Budget Public Input site here.
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This past week, Equity Office staff, Equity and Inclusion managers, and City staff from various departments gathered for the nationwide Facing Race Conference in St. Louis, Missouri.
Above, you can see Kellee Colemen, Equity and Inclusion Program Manager for the Equity Office, speaking at the session titled 'Solidarity Economies: Hyperlocal Strategies to Create Durable and Equitable Communities During Times of Political Transformation'. In this session, Kellee represented the City of Austin and the Equity and Inclusion Office. They spoke about homeownership as wealth building for households of color, and how pathways to ownership are fraught with a legacy of discrimination. Alongside Kellee were Miguel Algarin and representatives from Living Cities' Closing the Gaps Cohort co-leading the workshop.
Thank you to Ricardo Garay, Business Process Consultant Sr, for the wonderful photos! |
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WHAT'S IN THE NEWSLETTER? |
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Click one of the buttons below to go to that section's content |
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At the EAT meetings, we always open with a Land Acknowledgement and with information on how to look up whose land you are on, and we talk about the returning of Native American remains. But what does this mean to return the remains? How did UT get these remains? What does the return of these remains mean to Native Americans? The University of Texas at Austin continues to hold remains of Native American ancestors--there is an open letter to President Hartzell calling for the return of these remains so that they can be reburied.
This month, we are sharing a video* where Dr. Mario Garza, Cultural Preservation Officer for the Miakan-Garza Band of the Coahuiltecan people, and Maria Rocha, Executive Director of the Indigenous Cultures Institute, spoke to the UT Student Government Assembly on September 8, 2020. They spoke about the four-year struggle to retrieve three ancestral remains from the University of Texas for reburial.
*Video is about 17 minutes long |
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In
As We Have Always Done, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson explores recent Indigenous resistance movements across North America. Indigenous activists have defended forests and waterways, stopped pipeline construction like at Standing Rock, and fought for justice for missing and murdered Indigenous women. Simpson argues that Indigenous resistance goes beyond trying to fit into a multicultural society. Instead, it rejects colonial systems, like capitalism and white supremacy, and promotes Indigenous-led alternatives rooted in their own values and ways of living. |
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SURVEYS + COMMUNITY INPUT |
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Travis County will be working over the next several months to develop the Travis County Safe Streets for All (SS4A) Safety Action Plan (SAP).
Public input will play a key role in the development of the SAP. We need to hear from you! Please use the links below to take our survey and leave comments on an interactive map.
Take the survey here!
You can also leave comments on the interactive map here.
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Community As Medicine: QTBIPOC Parents and Guardians Check In
Parenting and caregiving are some of the most demanding roles, and QTBIPOC parents and guardians, often face unique challenges. The physical, emotional, and mental energy can feel stretched too thin.
Join allgo for an afternoon gathering to breathe, share, and support one another. Whether you’re going to lean in, listen, or share your story, this space is for connecting, recharging, and uplifting each other as a community.
You don’t have to navigate it alone. Join allgo to create new ways to support families and nourish yourselves in the process.
Light snacks, coffee, tea, and other refreshments provided.
See you at allgo!
Saturday
11/30/24
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM CST
Register at: bit.ly/qtparentcheck |
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Join Texas Preparatory School for their Stronger Connections Event!
THE GOAL: To unite various community organizations to foster meaningful relationships and stronger connections.
Collaboration is crucial for growth in our society, and building Stronger Connections is the key. When collaborating to achieve a goal, we can do so much more. By working together, we can establish mutual respect, understanding, and trust, capitalize on each other's strengths, and overcome our disadvantages. This approach can lead to innovative solutions to complex problems and better outcomes for all involved.
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📅 December 7th, 2024
🕛12pm to 4pm
📍 Fiesta Gardens Building
2101 Jesse E Segovia St.
👉🏽Local vendors, community organizations, and City of Austin programs will be giving out swag, informational resources, immunizations, and STI testing--all for free! Be sure to bring a friend! |
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📅December 10th, 2024
🕛6:30pm to 8:30pm
📍CRAFT, 916 Springdale Rd., Building 4, Suite 102
Join allgo and come together to support each other in establishing intentions that promote well being.
A new year is right around the corner - you might start hearing a lot of talk about New Year’s Resolutions, people creating new goals for themselves, friends making plans and setting expectations for how they want things to turn out. That might either excite you, have you feeling anxious, or maybe someplace in between. Whatever the case is for you, allgo is here to help you walk into 2025 with a clearer vision and a pep in your step. |
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GRANTS + TRAINING + SERVICES |
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The ACLT creates permanently affordable homeownership opportunities in Austin.
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Triple WIC is back and now here to stay year-round ONLY at Sustainable Food Center's Farmers’ Markets!
SFC is excited to offer SFC Farmers’ Market customers shopping with WIC the chance to TRIPLE benefits to buy fresh, local fruits and veggies at both the Downtown and Sunset Valley SFC Farmers Markets locations. Thanks to funding from Travis County, they are now offering Triple WIC all year long starting Nov. 2nd.
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Join us at the Wednesday, December 4th EAT meeting to learn more about GA-46
On August 8, 2024, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott issued Executive Order GA-46 requiring the Texas Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC) to direct public hospitals and acute care facilities that accept Medicaid and/or CHIP funding to collect demographic information on patients. Under Executive Order GA-46, hospital staff are directed to ask about patients’ immigration status. Moreover, the Order requires HHSC to direct hospitals to collect and report the healthcare costs associated with undocumented patients. Hospitals are to begin collecting this information on November 1, 2024.
Although hospitals are required to ask you for this information, it DOES NOT require you to answer.
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TLACT knows you have questions about the process to correct your name and gender marker on your ID documents and need help now. TLACT is offering TEN - COUNT ‘EM - TEN opportunities for you to meet with volunteer attorneys for free and ask questions about correcting you name and gender marker on your ID documents. They will provide written and video resources to explain the process, as well as fillable forms for you to get the court orders you need or get existing combined orders split into two separate, usable orders.
Sign up is required to attend and space is limited.
Sign ups will close three days before each clinic. |
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Parent-Directed Special Education Services (PDSES) - $1,500 Grant for Parents of Students Served Through Special Education
Join SpedTex for a free statewide webinar!
📅December 4, 2024
🕛12:15 p.m. (CT)
Huck Spear, Family Engagement and Outreach Coordinator at the Texas Education Agency will provide an informative presentation on Parent Directed Special Education Services (PDSES).
Over the past 4 years, more than 160,000 students have benefitted from the Parent-Directed Special Education Services (PDSES), previously the Supplemental Special Education Services (SSES) grant, which gives $1,500 online accounts to the families of public-school students served by special education in Texas.
Families can use PDSES funds to purchase educational items like books, computers, and/or sensory items, and services like tutoring or therapy for their student.
The presentation will provide an overview of the program, guide parents through the application process, outline the PDSES online marketplace, and address some of the most frequently asked questions regarding the program. Register here.
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Join AISD via Google Meet for a virtual session focusing on transition supports, services, and agencies throughout Austin ISD and the surrounding area to support 18+ programming and post-secondary goals for your students.
👉🏽Wednesday, December 4, 2024
12 - 1 p.m. or 6 - 7 p.m.
Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/bcc-nesk-xsh
For more information, call 512-414-SPED or email
maria.mi.martinez@austinisd.org
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Do you want to be the first Austin Poet Laureate?
First-ever Austin Poet Laureate Program Now Accepting Applications
The Austin Poet Laureate Program is now accepting applications from local poets interested in becoming Austin’s first-ever Poet Laureate. Applications are open from October 1, 2024 through November 30, 2024. The selected Austin Poet Laureate will be announced in April 2025 and will serve a two-year term from April 2025 until April 2027.
The application portal is available at the Austin Poet Laureate Program’s page on the Austin Public Library website: library.austintexas.gov/poet
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Convocatoria abierta para el primer programa de Poetas Laureados de Austin
El Programa de Poetas Laureados de Austin tiene la convocatoria abierta para aquellos poetas locales interesados en convertirse en el primer Poeta Laureado de Austin. Las solicitudes están abiertas desde el 1 de octubre de 2024 hasta el 30 de noviembre de 2024. El Poeta Laureado de Austin seleccionado se anunciará en abril de 2025 y cumplirá un mandato de dos años desde abril de 2025 hasta abril de 2027.
El portal de solicitud está disponible en la página del Programa de Poetas Laureados de Austin en el sitio web de la Biblioteca Pública de Austin: library.austintexas.gov/poet
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The AARC’s Community Exhibits Program displays year-round exhibitions that celebrate the diverse and dynamic cultural heritage, history, identity and creativity of Asian American and Pacific Islanders. The AARC's Community Exhibits Program invites artists and curators based in Central Texas to submit a proposal for exhibits for our 2025-2026 Exhibit Calendars. The AARC’s Community Exhibits Program aims to foster and promote exhibits that embody the AARC's mission, vision, and values to create spaces of belonging and healing for Asian American communities in Austin and beyond.
Selected Artists and Curators will be provided with support to showcase their work and research, with access to AARC exhibiting spaces, facilities, funded community outreach/professional development opportunities, marketing and other resources.
The application will open on Monday, October 7, 2024. The deadline to apply is January 12, 2025 at 11:59pm.
If you have any questions or need assistance with the application, please email AARC@AustinTexas.gov.
The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. For assistance, please contact (512) 974-3914
or Relay Texas 7-1-1.
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Want to help deliver tangible local impact?
to improve the effectiveness of our local Homelessness Response System (HRS).
You can indicate your interest by filling out the Voting Seat Interest Form, found here.
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Looking for ways to be in solidarity with people most impacted here in Austin? Check out this list curated by Austin Mutual Aid (AMA) |
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