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

Katherine Saldana She is one of the coldest people I've ever spoken to. She comes across as very…read morecondescending and impatient. If you don't immediately understand her question, she makes you feel unintelligent or small. I only spoke with her a few times over the phone, but every interaction left me feeling uncomfortable and dismissed.

Donate to them instead of scammy nonprofit businesses like Goodwill. They will use it for abuse…read moresurvivors not to resell Easy in and out donation the times I've been there. Remember to check their hours, not open all regular business work days but most

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.

Where to start. I was in a bad situation when a relationship is broken. You end up starting from…read morescratch. I didn't have any confident to be on my own with my two beautiful smart boys whom I've raised for so long. When someone mention to me about TBCH, I was scared to reach out to them maybe because of being judged or rejected. Few weeks later, I had to take that chance and do it for my boys. Being a single mother isn't easy, people look at you differently, but now I understand. You become who you are and should be proud that you have desire's and can accomplished anything. TBCH is a AMAZING program for single mom's who is going through tough times. They help you get resources that you need, career choices, help you save, your able to pay off debit, education, counseling, daycare, food, church, and mostly a safe place to live. TBCH-I want to say thank you for the bottom of my heart saving me from my heart ship and stress I went through and helping my boys succeed.

They helped me and my family through a tough time. They were very kind to us. The rec is also a…read moregood place to take kids(7th-12th). The people there at the rec are so kind and they go for dinner on Friday and some breaks they go on fun adventures. I would 100% recommend it if you need somewhere to recoup.

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.

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 volunteered at Inside Book Project tonight and it was a great experience! IBP is a volunteer led…read morenon profit organization that provides free books to people incarcerated in the state of Texas. All of the books provided are free of charge! You read letters for book request, curate a small package of books found in IBPs library and write a letter to send back to each person. This is a really awesome way to provide support to all kinds of humans, who've been through all kinds of challenges. The 30 minute volunteer orientation was thorough and informative! They have volunteer time slots on Sundays and Thursday starting at 6pm! I hope you consider volunteering! I'll definitely be back to volunteer again.

I just started volunteering with IBP and have loved the experience so far! My boyfriend and I found…read moreIBP at an event at Meanwhile Brewing Co maybe a month ago and immediately signed up for an orientation training session. IBP is located in East Austin, housed inside of a church (although IBP is NOT a religiously affiliated organization). They have a huge library built on donations from the community. Every Thursday and Sunday evening, volunteers come to read letters from people incarcerated all over Texas, match them with books, and write handwritten letters back to them. It's truly such a wonderful initiative. People who are incarcerated have the opportunity to request books every 2-3 months and get books sent to them completely free of charge. IBP received around 1500 letters requesting books per month, which is so incredible. If you are someone who enjoys volunteering, this is the place for you! If you don't have the time to volunteer, consider donating to IBP!

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! ;)