FY23 Community Project Funding Requests
Project Name: Foundation Communities Solar Sustainability
Proposed Recipient: Foundation Communities
Address of the Recipient: 3000 S IH 35 Frontage Rd Suite 300, Austin, TX 78704
Requested Amount: $1,550,000
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
Foundation Communities (FC) seeks to install new or replace aging photovoltaic (solar) panel systems at four of its affordable housing properties in Austin, Texas. In addition, FC plans to replace damaged and aging vinyl and aluminum siding and trim at one of their older properties with fiber cement siding and trim, a more sustainable and longer-term solution. Besides fitting their established priority to build sustainably where possible, the estimated yearly savings by kWh for this project are $790,590 per year. These savings will be used for programs and services for low-income families and individuals, such as afterschool and summer education programming, free tax preparation, case management services for individuals and families exiting homelessness, health care coverage enrollment assistance, free ESL classes, financial coaching assistance, and healthy food pantries.
Project Name: Austin Public Health Substance Use and Misuse Expanded Programming
Proposed Recipient: City of Austin
Address of the Recipient: 301 West 2nd Street Austin, Texas 78701
Requested Amount: $2,000,042
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
The City of Austin, the 11th largest city in the United States, has seen an increasing trend in substance use/misuse and drug-related overdose deaths since 2006. However, preliminary mortality data indicates that the City of Austin has seen a 40% increase in the number of overdose deaths since 2017. While deaths for 2021 have not been finalized, the increase in overdose deaths is expected to surpass the number of deaths from 2020. Other data indicate that deaths are the result of multiple drugs with a rise in methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl use.
Mortality data only represents a small proportion of the overall picture related to substance use/misuse within Austin and Travis County. Emergency department (ED) data shows that Travis County has the third-highest rate of opioid-related ED visits (112.4/100,000 population) with 54. 6% of these occurring in persons ages 18-44.
The city will use the requested funding to implement a public health prevention and education strategy. The strategy will use data to educate the community on substance use/misuse, and the associated risk of drug use, identify high-risk populations, and establish a Health Equity Helpline and Substance Use Prevention Programs that will support educational outreach, provide case coordination and assessment for at-risk populations, and ensure clients are linked to the appropriate prevention, treatment, harm reduction, and recovery programs. Funding will also support expanding Narcan Risk Reduction education and training of first responders, health care professionals, and other community members, including Community Health Workers and other community members, and funding for a public education campaign.
Project Name: Texas State University Meadows Center Climate Change Impact on Water Initiative
Proposed Recipient: Texas State University
Address of the Recipient: 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666
Requested Amount: $2,475,000
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
According to a publication in ScienceDirect, funding for research to mitigate climate change continues to be extremely limited and not at pace with the rapidly closing window for maximum impact. The study finds between 1990 and 2018 only 0.12% of research was spent on climate mitigation. Without taxpayer funded research, efforts to mitigate climate change will continue to be stagnate and unable to address the impending challenge.
Texas does not consider climate change when planning for its water supplies. This is an issue because a warming climate is expected to increase evaporation; increase water demand; decrease soil moisture; decrease water running into our stream, rivers, and reservoirs; and decrease water percolating to our aquifers. Climate change’s impacts to water resources will have profound effects on our agriculture, industry, municipalities, and environment. To inform citizens, planners, decisionmakers, and policymakers, Texas State University is implementing a multi-year project to (1) develop actionable, down-scaled climate projections for the state (corrections to the global model projections to better reflect local conditions); (2) assess what these projections mean for water resources and the environment; and (3) provide a policy roadmap for individuals, communities, and the state to prepare Texas for the challenges ahead to our water resources, economy, and environment. The Meadows Center aspires to be informational as well as inspirational: providing actionable science accessible to all Texans while producing inspirational science-informed storylines on how Texans can take charge of their future. The Meadows Center is grateful to have received a community grant in 2022 to support this work, but accomplishing the goals requires additional funding.
Project Name: City of Austin – Northern Walnut Creek Trail Section 3
Proposed Recipient: City of Austin
Address of the Recipient: 301 West 2nd Street Austin, Texas 78701
Requested Amount: $5,000,000
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
The Walnut Creek Trail System was identified as a high priority in the 2014 Urban Trails Plan as it provides a safe and dedicated bicyclist and pedestrian path connecting dozens of Austin neighborhoods, numerous parks, recreation centers, and green spaces, Austin Community College, many schools, and employment centers. Phase 3 will provide safe and dedicated crossings of I-35 and US-290, breaking down highway barriers and provide direct access to Copperfield Elementary School.
The Walnut Creek Trail System also connects to the proposed Mokan Trail, providing access to downtown; to the Austin to Manor Trail providing direct access to Manor; and to the Shoal Creek Trail and Red Line Trail resulting in a 30-mile trail loop around the city. Completing the Walnut Creek trail will improve access to opportunity, improve bicyclist and pedestrian safety and mobility, and reduce vehicle miles traveled and their related emissions. This serves to implement the City of Austin Climate Action Equity Plan, which has states a primary goal that: “By 2030, 50% of trips in Austin are made using public transit, biking, walking, carpooling, or avoided altogether by working from home.”
(https://www.austintexas.gov/page/austin-climate-equity-plan)
The requested funding will complete the 3.5-mile segment of Phase 3 extending from the existing Southern Walnut Creek Trail to Braker Lane. This includes a safe, dedicated crossing of US-290, connecting neighborhoods north of the highway to over 15-miles of trail with direct connections to east Austin and Manor. It also provides a direct connection to a large Samsung facility, offering employees more options on how to travel to work. This segment is proposed within the abandoned Mokan Corridor, transforming an unused corridor into a vibrant urban trail.
Project Name: Charging Infrastructure for the Transition to a Zero-Emissions Public Transportation Fleet
Proposed Recipient: Capital Metro
Address of the Recipient: 2910 E 5th St, Austin, TX 78702
Requested Amount: $4,169,920
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
Capital Metro is a public transit agency accountable for providing mass transit service within the City of Austin and the surrounding communities of Leander, Lago Vista, Jonestown, Manor, San Leanna, and Point Venture, as well as the unincorporated area of Travis County within Commissioner Precinct 2 and the Anderson Mill area of Williamson County. Capital Metro services include bus, ride-share programs, special event services, and special transit services for the mobility impaired. Capital Metro has made a pledge to transition their fleet to zero emissions by 2035.
Community Project Funding would allow Capital Metro to design, build, and install necessary electrification infrastructure at their South Operations bus yard located at 2910 East 5th Street, Austin, TX 78702. Capital Metro has made a pledge to transition their fleet to zero emissions by 2035. As a step forward to meet this commitment, Capital Metro has begun to purchase battery electric buses and has initiated charging infrastructure modifications to support this new fleet. Community Project Funding would allow Capital Metro to provide the charging infrastructure needed to accommodate 42 battery electric buses, or almost 20% of the total buses stored at their South Operations bus yard.
Capital Metro needs to purchase two (2) 1.5 MW chargers with thirty (30) dispensers to charge buses at the South Operations bus yard. Additional required electrification infrastructure includes equipment such as transformers, concrete pads, conduits, electrical service wiring, charging wiring, and switchboards. Much of the equipment requires design, ongoing coordination with Austin Energy (the local utility provider), and installation. Updating our South Operations bus yard will require repair to the existing 40-year-old pavement, design and installation of bollards, and new barriers and striping to protect people and equipment.
The South Operations bus yard currently has a canopy to help keep buses cool, increase the potential life of the assets, and protect the buses and equipment from the elements. The chargers will be installed and integrated into the existing structure. Extra structural foundations and supporting hardware may be needed to support overhead cables and wires from the chargers to the dispensers. This structural analysis is part of the design process; any supporting hardware required would be covered by included contingencies.
Project Name: City of Austin Neighborhood Peace Project Expansion
Proposed Recipient: City of Austin
Address of the Recipient: 301 West 2nd Street Austin, Texas 78701
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
The City of Austin Office of Violence Prevention will use earmarked funds to expand a Community Violence Intervention Pilot (CVI) known as the Neighborhood Peace Project. The program will expand services beyond current piloted hot spots, reaching more areas impacted by violence. Based on learnings from the pilot, program strategies may include street outreach, case management, life coaching, conflict mediation, and community engagement and be supported by training and technical assistance from the City of Austin and national experts in violence prevention. This approach is in-line with Austin’s participation in the Biden-Harris Administration CVI Collaborative designed to reduce gun violence. The program will tailor services to the needs and strengths of neighborhoods and create more opportunities for living without violence. By investing in the healing, safety, and stability of community members most likely to commit violence, the program will break cycles of violence and reduce gun violence.
Project Name: City of Kyle Reclaimed Water Master Plan
Proposed Recipient: City of Kyle
Address of the Recipient: 100 West Center Street, Kyle, TX 78640
Requested Amount: $2,000,000
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
The City is requesting funding to construct critical components of the City’s Reclaimed Water Master Plan, the goal of which is to reduce the use of potable water and to utilize the existing and proposed network to provide reclaimed water for a number of commercial, industrial, residential and recreational uses.
According to recent data, 87% of Texas is in drought, with 49% of the state dealing with severe drought conditions. Under the plan, reclaimed water from the existing Wastewater Treatment Plant would be used via the existing and proposed network to provide reclaimed water for irrigation to subdivisions, park areas and medians, golf courses, school yards, and athletic fields, as well as for industrial uses such as cooling tower make up water for the Ascension Seton Hays Hospital wherever possible to conserve the use of potable water and to help the region manage scarce resources especially in a time of drought.
Project Name: City of San Marcos Emergency Management Communication Platforms
Proposed Recipient: City of San Marcos
Address of the Recipient: 630 East Hopkins, San Marcos, TX 78666
Requested Amount: $1,000,000
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
The project improves secondary communications infrastructure to critical infrastructure and citizens of the City of San Marcos, TX, during extreme weather events. Specifically, the project establishes a redundant means of communication to critical infrastructure water tanks, wastewater pump and lift stations, electric substations, and traffic signal control SCADA. A primary fiber optic communication system would enable reliable means to continue managing and monitoring these systems during an emergency event. Additionally, the project enables improvements to the City’s outdoor siren system, which has been disabled for several years, and emergency radio station, for which the antenna needs to be moved to enhance coverage and signal clarity. Both improvements would enhance the City’s ability to communicate to citizens during certain natural emergencies.
An investment to improve the City’s secondary communications infrastructure to protect critical facilities and provide undisrupted communications to citizens will protect public health and enable critical utility service even under adverse conditions. The provision of water, wastewater and electric service is paramount to a community, both during and immediately after a disaster. With a secondary communication system, the City would be able to continue managing and monitoring these systems during an emergency event. During the most recent extreme weather event, such infrastructure was compromised and that negatively impacted critical health infrastructure including the hospital. Learning from these disasters and improving the ability to handle the next are key to community resiliency. The requested investment of tax dollars to this project reduces the impact of future disasters and contributes to the health, safety and quality of life for citizens.
Project Name: People's Community Clinic Electronic Health Records
Proposed Recipient: People’s Community Clinic
Address of the Recipient: 1101 Camino La Costa, Austin, TX 78752
Requested Amount: $850,000
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
People's Community Clinic (People's) respectfully requests funding to support evaluation and migration to a new electronic health record (EHR) system. The mission of People’s Community Clinic is to improve the health of medically-underserved and uninsured Central Texans by providing high-quality health care with dignity and respect. People’s was established in 1970 by a group of volunteer doctors and nurses operating from a church basement in Austin, Texas. Over half a century, People’s has grown into a comprehensive, compassionate, and culturally-sensitive health care center for low-income individuals living in Central Texas. The clinic has earned a reputation for operating at the highest standards of care and employing best practices to serve vulnerable populations—becoming a Federally-Qualified Health Center in 2012 and being recognized as a Patient-Centered Medical Home by the National Committee on Quality Assurance since 2014. Serving more than 20,100 patients in 2021, People’s offers comprehensive primary care for all stages of life, as well as a robust menu of wrap-around services and programs that aims to encourage patients to be active in managing and maintaining their own health, and help patients address the barriers keeping them from reaching optimal health. The clinic’s major departments correspond to the human lifecycle beginning with reproductive health, pediatrics, adolescent health, and adult medicine, combined with integrated behavioral health, and integrated dental care. Core services address prevention (e.g., wellness exams including cancer screenings and immunizations), as well as care for acute and chronic conditions. Wrap-around services include healthy cooking classes, social work services, yoga, medical legal services, access to alternative medicine such as acupuncture, assistance enrolling in the WIC and SNAP programs, a host of educational opportunities brought to the clinic by community partners, and more.
As the clinic has grown to serve more than 20,100 patients a year, the need for a robust and integrated EHR has become more apparent. People's approach to healthcare engages providers and staff from various departments within the clinic and the community; however, our current EHR significantly limits People's integration capabilities. For example, People's providers are unable to review a patient's social determinants of health (SDOH) within a medical visit, as this information is stored in a system that is outside of the patient's medical record. People's recognizes the importance of considering SDOH and the provision of medical and behavioral healthcare as it plays a role in a patient's ability to seek treatment.
Project Name: Community Mental Health Surveillance Training Program
Proposed Recipient: Texas State University
Address of the Recipient: 601 University Drive, San Marcos, TX 78666
Requested Amount: $1,995,552
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
Despite the vast amounts of data available to understand and address key mental health challenges among at-risk populations, research suggests as few as 40% of health-related nonprofit agencies regularly use data to drive decisions. The proposed Community Mental Health Surveillance Training Program will build upon Texas State University’s currently funded Central Texas Community Mental Health Collaborative grant to provide a customized, evidence-based mental health data analytics training and professional development program to local Austin-area nonprofit and healthcare practitioners, early childhood and K-12 educators, employees of city service agencies, and clinicians. Researchers at Texas State’s Translational Health Research Center are currently working with a large coalition of community stakeholders to improve mental health in the region through data-driven, culturally appropriate, and cost-effective mental health services, but expertise and training to sustain these efforts is lacking. The proposed training program stems from needs identified by coalition participants who are seeking applied data analytics training to help their organizations use mental health indicator data more effectively, and increased interest in data dashboards based on widespread use of COVID-19 dashboards used during the pandemic.
Several recent reports from organizations including the Commonwealth Fund and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement warn that a tsunami of mental illness in the wake of COVID-19 threatens to overburden an already stressed mental health infrastructure. Increasing demand for affordable, accessible mental health and substance use treatment programs in Travis County contributes to similar resource needs to address escalating incidents of depression, interpersonal violence, and suicide, increasing burnout and turnover among healthcare professionals, and inequities in our safety net mental health systems. This program will greatly expand marketable skills needed by the mental health workforce in Austin and Travis County to create a data-driven mental health infrastructure and provide data analytics to support numerous local community organizations, mental health service providers, and nonprofit agencies in Travis County.
Project Name: Open Door Preschools Laurel Creek Project
Proposed Recipient: Project Normalization dba Open Door Preschools
Address of the Recipient: PO Box 302527, Austin, TX 78703
Requested Amount: $824,900
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
Furnish and launch a high-quality, nationally accredited preschool in a current childcare desert in North-Central Austin, TX. This new center is based on a successful model and is co-located in a new Foundation Communities housing development specifically designated for families. (Laurel Creek Apartments). A significant portion of the families served will be exiting homelessness.
Funds for this project will be used to fully furnish and equip the school, and to allow for full-time family support staff, along with additional resources for family support including sliding-scale tuition assistance (for those not receiving public tuition subsidy through Texas Workforce), and also to help pilot extended hour care at the same level of quality for those parents of young children working retail and other essential service-industry jobs, including healthcare.
Per the National Collaborative for Infants and Toddlers, our country is at a tipping point, and our children’s futures hang in the balance. Support for children and families, particularly those in vulnerable communities, will yield meaningful dividends far into the future for our communities, our economy, and the future our country.
For every dollar we spend on comprehensive, high quality early learning programs like Open Door that support children from infancy through kindergarten readiness, we see a 13% annual return in economic benefits. This includes improved educational outcomes, reduced incarceration, and a stronger, better-prepared workforce. Some estimates show that the lack of affordable, quality care for infants and toddlers cost our economy $57 billion annually.
According to the First Five Years Fund, studies consistently show that early childhood education has at least a 4X-9X return on investment per dollar over the lifetime of the children and families affected. Quality childcare not only benefits the health, education, and development of young children and supports parents currently, but also leads to increased earnings, employment, and safety far in the future.
Project Name: AISD College and Career Preparation Pilot
Proposed Recipient: Austin Independent School District
Address of the Recipient: 4000 S. IH 35 Frontage Rd, Austin, TX 78704
Requested Amount: $1,862,600
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
This request will fund a pilot project to provide enhanced support for students to increase their awareness and preparedness for post-secondary education. It includes additional advising and financial support for students from low-income households; summer and transition support for 500 students; family outreach and engagement events for families of high school students to provide education and support in completing the necessary paperwork, including FAFSA; college fairs for 10th and 11th grade students; and college visits for 37,000 6th - 11th grade students. To support students in determining their career path, funds will support industry visits for 1,000 students and launch a student workforce internship program.
The prosperity of Central Texas depends on the preparedness of its citizens to enter the workforce with the credentials needed to be successful. The demand for greater college and career preparation is high. These strategic, targeted opportunities will help students from communities that have been historically marginalized get back on track after missing out on college and career preparation experiences for the past two years.
Project Name: Austin ISD: Equitable Access to Outdoor Spaces
Proposed Recipient: Austin Independent School District
Address of the Recipient: 4000 S. IH 35 Frontage Rd, Austin, TX 78704
Requested Amount: $2,015,750
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
This project request includes funding for the design and installation of outdoor classrooms on five campuses including shade, groundcover and seating; updated age-appropriate playscapes on four elementary campuses; and large shade structures on four elementary campuses.
This one-time use of funds will have lasting impact on both the children and the communities in which the funds are used. Access to nature and outdoor play enhances the mental and physical health of children. According to recent fitness data, 55% of low-income Austin ISD students do not meet physical fitness standards for their age, compared to 33% of non low-income students. Children who are obese are at risk for a number of poor health outcomes including high blood pressure, high cholesterol, respiratory problems, orthopedic problems, psychological problems, and Type I diabetes. This project will enhance outdoor spaces for learning and play in order to improve children’s well being and prevent health problems long-term.
Project Name: Foundation Communities Learning Centers Programming
Proposed Recipient: Foundation Communities
Address of the Recipient: 3000 S IH 35 Frontage Rd Suite 300, Austin, TX 78704
Requested Amount: $1,107,925
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
Foundation Communities (FC) requests Community Project Funding for Education include support for programming costs for 13 Learning Centers (LC); Furniture, Fixtures, and Equipment (FFE) and Site Furnishings for the new Parker Lane community Learning Center; a playground for Parker Lane Apartments; and Wi-Fi broadband internet for over 2,300 residents—students and their families—in five FC communities.
Research has shown time and again that education is one of the most effective ways to predict success in a person’s future. Children from low-income families face unique challenges that their higher-income counterparts do not. The gap in test scores between students from low-income families and higher-income peers is well documented, with achievement gaps present as early as kindergarten. Education is a gateway to break cycles of generational poverty, and Foundation Communities’ Learning Centers provide students (80% of whom come from families that qualify for free/reduced-cost lunches) with additional supports to enrich their learning experience. Last year alone, 100% of our students were promoted to the next grade level.
This appropriation will directly foster educational progress for those most in need, specifically over 650 students across Foundation Communities programs. Investing in education directly improves self-sufficiency and independence. Last year in our Out of School Time programs, 64% of our students increased their reading levels. With FC educational and enrichment programming, we are able to narrow learning gaps for low-income children. These benefits only increase over time as program participants follow their success towards a pathway to higher education and career success. Broadband internet provided for over 900 homes—over 2,300 people—will ensure digital equity and access to the fast, dependable internet needed to compete in today’s digital world and attain educational success for all students and their families.
Project Name: Cyber Security Training Center at ACC Rio Grande Campus
Proposed Recipient: Austin Community College
Address of the Recipient: 5930 Middle Fiskville Rd., Austin, TX 78752
Requested Amount: $1,467,542
Explanation of the request, including the purpose and why it is a valuable use of taxpayer funds:
The Austin Community College District is developing expanded offerings in cyber security education to not only capitalize on the college's successful partnership with the Army Futures Command, but to also provide needed training for Central Texas residents in an emerging critical field.
This request will allow the college to purchase the following equipment:
This funding will cover the following for this new center which is being planned for the ACC Rio Grande Campus:
• Multiple Routers
• Multiple Servers
• Multiple firewalls full licensed with state-of-the-art cybersecurity software
• Multiple different high-capability switches for diverse cybersecurity training and instruction set-ups
• Biometric recognition equipment and software
• Computers (various, both desktop and laptop)
• Software watchdog/scanner fully licensed for cybersecurity.
• Additional software
The location of the Army Futures Command Software Factory at Rio Grande Campus has led the college to prioritize cyber security as a field with great growth potential and strong local workforce need among companies moving to Austin. This program will build upon the successes of the Software Factory partnership and create a critical mass of cyber security educational opportunities centered in Downtown Austin serving the next generation of cyber security professionals who will live and work in Central Texas.