Foundation Communities is honored to have been awarded a grant of $126,365 for COVID-19 vaccine outreach and education from the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Texas A&M University Health Science Center. The grant is part of an $8.6 million effort to fund local organizations across the state through the Texas Vaccine Outreach and Education Grant Program, which seeks to increase the number of fully vaccinated people in Texas.

“As our statewide COVID-19 vaccination efforts continue to show progress, DSHS believes these grants will have an immediate effect in neighborhoods across Texas,” said Imelda Garcia, DSHS associate commissioner for laboratory and infectious disease services. “Local organizations are trusted sources of information that can use their direct community connections to educate and help those who may be hesitant to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.”
The grant funding will help Foundation Communities continue and expand our COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Since May of this year, we have helped hundreds of Central Texans get vaccinated against COVID-19 through our Health Initiatives program, in partnership with East Austin Medicine Shop and Austin Public Health. We have also made efforts to inform Central Texans about the effectiveness and importance of COVID-19 vaccinations.

”We are excited to be trusted with this grant opportunity to reach additional people and expand our vaccine outreach and education efforts across five Texas counties,” said Aaron DeLaO, director of health initiatives.

Priority for the grants was given to applicants focusing on outreach to rural communities, Texans with disabilities and communities of color. Foundation Communities’ Health Coverage team is already focusing on these and other underserved populations as they work to get Texans enrolled in affordable Marketplace health insurance plans.

Simply put, Foundation Communities’ Health Coverage team is on a mission to simplify health insurance enrollment for clients, and to enroll many more clients. “This is a really big year for the Marketplace in Texas because we have more providers, more plans, and more financial assistance than ever before,” said Aaron DeLaO, Director of Health Initiatives for Foundation Communities. You can sign up for an appointment with our Health Coverage team at prosperhealthcoverage.org.

The Open Enrollment period is the only time of year people can change their health plan unless they have a qualifying life event such as moving, getting married or having a baby. Open Enrollment started on November 1 and will end on January 15. That represents an extra month our Health Coverage Team will have to get people signed up. At an Open Enrollment Kickoff at the Prosper Center South on November 8, Foundation Communities and elected officials announced more changes.

“We’re also really excited that we’re gonna be welcoming clients back into our Prosper Centers for in-person appointments, though we will still maintain telephone appointments for people who want those,” said Foundation Communities Deputy Executive Director Julian Huerta. “We are extending our outreach to 12 counties in Central Texas, and we’re stepping up outreach in communities that have high numbers of uninsured folks, because always our goal is to simplify the process of signing up for health insurance so that people can stay healthy and have the peace of mind that comes with having health insurance.”

The expanded outreach is largely due to Foundation Communities being awarded a three-year, $3 million grant from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. It’s part of a renewed emphasis on the Affordable Care Act by the Biden Administration. The American Rescue Plan enacted earlier this year significantly increases both the amount of financial help available to lower monthly premiums through the HealthCare.gov Marketplace, and the number of people who qualify for it.

Congressman Lloyd Doggett said, “A significant number of people will find that for the first time, they will pay no premium at all to get the coverage that they need, because we’ve tried to improve and strengthen the Affordable Care Act coverage for many working families who are economically disadvantaged.”

Doggett said his number one priority is to end Texas’ run as the most uninsured state in the country. Austin Mayor Steve Adler echoed that sentiment. “Twenty-one percent of Texans live without any form of health insurance, and that is criminal, criminal in a day like we have here today. Especially after we’ve seen the importance of access to health care in our community as we’ve gone through this past pandemic,” said Adler. “There are 162 plans to choose from (in Travis and Williamson Counties) and Foundation Communities can walk anybody through what is not a terribly complicated process.”

“Healthcare should be a right, not a privilege,” said Austin Council Member Greg Casar. “And, it is days like this, and organizations like Foundation Communities that make that right real for people.”

The Kickoff opened with a performance from Austin musicians Alejandro Rios and Roddrinskee “DRINT” Johnson. Later, Rios took center stage to talk about how the Health Alliance for Austin Musicians (HAAM) and Foundation Communities helped him get coverage for surgery on a spinal cyst that threatened to leave him paralyzed. Rios encouraged everyone to sign up for Marketplace health coverage. “I’m excited to be doing another year. This is the time to sign up, while it’s hot,” said Rios.

“What many of our neighbors don’t realize is that musicians that make this the Live Music Capital of the World, just like Alejandro and DRINT, are basically small businesses,” said Doggett. “And, if they had to go out and get health insurance on their own, it might be prohibitively expensive for their business. But, through HAAM, and through Foundation Communities, and through the Affordable Care Act, they can get the coverage that they need to continue performing.”

Anyone in the state of Texas can schedule a health coverage appointment with Foundation Communities by calling 512-381-4520, or by signing up at ProsperHealthCoverage.org. Enrollment assistance is available in many languages.

FC Creates supports many different types of projects at Foundation Communities. We work with  our residents and clients, staff members, and local artists to create artwork, host events, and more. Learn more about some of our current projects below!

Hope Mural at Garden Terrace

Image Credit: Bryana Iglesias

Residents at Garden Terrace chose a concept and design elements for a mural to celebrate their community. Artist Bryana Iglesias from Imagine Art used their ideas in the design for a two-piece mural that will be completed by the community in Spring 2022. Click here to learn more.

Our Many Paths Home: Laurel Creek Community Art Project

Beginning in February 2022, we will design and create a piece of community art to welcome people into the Laurel Creek Leasing Office. A local artist will collaborate with Laurel Creek residents to create a design. That design will then be split into over a hundred smaller pieces which will be painted by residents over the course of several weeks or months. We will gather and install all of those pieces into one big piece of art. Our hope is to have an unveiling celebration for the community in late 2022 or early 2023.

From the artist, Russell Freeland–

I have always liked personal stories as the driver for artistic ideas. With ‘Our Many Paths Home,’ I hope to gather personal symbols from Laurel Creek community members and work them into the mural on colored, curved paths moving into an image of the place they have come to live.

I will give you an example from my life:
Despite often running out of money and having to eat beans and rice for the last week in many months, my mother would only ever allow real maple syrup and real butter in our house.
A meaningful lesson for me was that whatever situation one finds themselves in, there can be a proud commitment to an ideal even if it is impractical. I would apply this story by putting a small bottle of maple syrup on one of the paths as one of the personal symbols that sustains me.

Image Credit: Russell Freeland

This original design concept by Russell Freeland was selected by a group of residents & staff from Laurel Creek. In the final design, the images and words in each of the colored “paths” will be personal symbols chosen by Laurel Creek’s residents.

Once the artwork is finished, it will be installed on this teal wall in the Laurel Creek leasing office. This is one of the first spaces new residents will see, and this art project will be there to welcome them to their new home.

Laurel Creek Lobby

Prosper Financial Wellness offers a Fresh Start Loan to help clients get out of predatory loans such as payday and title loans. The Fresh Start Loan reports to all three main credit bureaus: Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. This flexible loan never charges extra fees. In fact, it offers discounts if borrowers are able to pay back the loan early. This loan also offers APRs way below typical payday and title loans, regardless of the borrower’s credit score.

Clients may qualify if they currently have payday or title loan debt of up to $1,000, a valid Social Security number, regular take home pay, a checking account they regularly use, and online banking set up (a Financial Coach can help set up online banking). A Fresh Start loan helps borrowers build credit, while saving them over $500 in the long run.

If someone you know is struggling to pay off payday or title loans, this may be the option for them! To apply, schedule an appointment with a Financial Coach, by visiting ProsperFinancialWellness.org or calling 737-717-4000.

You may qualify if you:

 * Are working toward goals with a Financial Coach Currently have Payday and/or Title loans with a total balance up to $1,000

* Have a valid Social Security Number

* Have a checking account that you use regularly

* Have online banking set up with your bank or credit union (a Financial Coach can help set this up)

* Have regular take-home pay

In Austin’s Riverside area, an old church stands in a grassy field among towering shade trees. The Parker Lane United Methodist Church (UMC) building has been on the eight-acre site for more than 60 years, but in 2019 it was forced to close because of declining membership.

On a sweltering Austin day, Foundation Communities Executive Director Walter Moreau stood underneath one of those majestic trees with a UMC official to discuss plans for the property’s next chapter. You can watch the conversation between Moreau and Brooks Schuelke, UMC Austin District Lay Leader in this video.

“The typical default for the United Methodist Church is just to sell the property,” said  Schuelke. “We thought that this property is too big of a resource to just sell.”

What they decided to do was enter into a lease agreement with Foundation Communities to allow FC to build an affordable apartment complex here for 135 low-income families with an onsite learning center. Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs has approved $15 million in tax credits for the construction, and the City of Austin will contribute $4.1 million in matching funds.

The plan is to start construction on Parker Lane Apartments next spring and welcome home families by the end of 2023. They’ll find an apartment community that’s environmentally friendly and comforting.

“(We’re) incorporating as many elements of “trauma-informed design” and “healing-centered design” as we can to better respond to the mental health needs of the community we serve,” said Megan Matthews, FC’s Director of Design.

Service to community is the main reason UMC chose to partner with Foundation Communities, as it’s a big part of Parker Lane UMC’s legacy. They especially love the learning center concept, which primarily houses after-school classes for children.

“Many, if not most of our churches are also involved in local schools doing similar kind of work,” said Schuelke. “You’re gonna have a food pantry. Many of our churches do food pantries.”

• We are saddened to note that Manny Nanez passed away on May 6, 2022. We are continuing to publish his story below as a tribute to the contributions he made to the community at Capital Studios. 

Manny Nanez greets everyone he meets as he walks around Capital Studios. As a Community Engagement Specialist, he’s constantly looking for ways to help others. He even delivers food from the food pantry to his neighbors through his work with Foundation Communities’ Supported Employment program.

You would hardly know it, but Manny has serious health problems. He’s on the waiting list for a new liver because the one he has been living with for almost 63 years is failing. He attributes that to his struggles with alcoholism, which also caused him to become homeless.

“I was lost,” said Nanez. “I had a rupture in the inside of my abdomen due to my liver damage.” Manny says he didn’t know it, but he was also suffering from depression and brain damage. In 2014, he was fortunate that a cousin found him and recognized that he needed help. His relatives took him to a hospital. “I was constantly bleeding (internally). How they stopped it, I don’t know. All I know is, I ended up in ICU and I went into a coma.”

When he came out of the coma, Manny’s relatives put him in a nursing home. His time there had a deep impact on him – the support of family, having nurses care for him and becoming friends with other people who had health problems worse than his. Manny decided he would get to work to regain his ability to walk without assistance. He succeeded. Then, he started encouraging other patients.

“I was going to people’s rooms that were in wheelchairs talking to ‘em, telling them if I did it, you can do it,” said Nanez. “My life, I know what I’ve done, but the only way to fix it is to go forward.”

With the improvements to his condition, Manny left the nursing home and moved into his sister’s home. While he was glad to be reunited with his family, Manny felt it would be better for his mental health if he lived on his own, as part of a community. In 2014 he applied for residency at Capital Studios, a Foundation Communities’ community for single adults in downtown Austin. Three weeks later he was preparing to move in.

At Capital Studios, Manny stays busy, attending therapy sessions and classes on mental health, chronic illness, yoga and meditation. In his free time he goes for walks to his church, the capitol building or UT. Staff at Capital Studios check on him regularly and they’ve  helped him get grants for free transportation to his many medical appointments and other medical needs. He really appreciates the flexibility of the Supported Employment Program. “That’s what keeps me going. I have to be busy,” said Manny. “And, me doing the work that I do, it gives me more faith to keep on living because, I’m not just feeding the people, to me it’s an honor to give to people that are hungry.”

The threat of liver failure still looms large. Manny keeps an emergency transmitter around his neck to call for medical assistance if he needs it. He’s now sober. As for depression, he says all the support he gets at Capital Studios has been like medicine for that.

This just in: our Health Coverage program has been awarded a $1 million federal grant for the next three years! This win will help us sustain the program, plus expand Health Insurance Enrollment to now serve 12 counties, including several rural counties in our region.

“Our team is excited and looking forward to utilizing this amazing grant award to expand our work in helping those with no insurance find high-quality health insurance plans,” said Aaron DeLaO, Director of Health Initiatives for Foundation Communities.

Since 2014, FC has assisted more than 20 thousand people find comprehensive health coverage. Even with the challenges presented by the pandemic, FC’s Health Coverage team helped almost 700 individuals enroll in health insurance plans during the Special Enrollment Period, which just completed on August 15th.

The CMS Navigator grant was awarded last Friday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

2021 CMS Navigator awardees like Foundation Communities will focus on outreach to particularly underserved communities. This includes people who identify as racial and ethnic minorities, people in rural communities, the LGBTQ+ community, American Indians and Alaskan Natives, refugee and immigrant communities, low-income families, pregnant women and new mothers, people with transportation or language barriers or who lack internet access, veterans and small business owners.

You can learn more about Foundation Communities’ Health Coverage program at https://foundcom.org/prosper-centers/health-coverage/.

These are uncertain times, and for many of us, that means uncertain income. Fluctuation in the availability of work and childcare, as well as complicated tax credit rules can make it difficult to know how much money you can rely on in the near future.

So what do you do when you have more or less money than expected?

When you have less: If you won’t have as much as normal to count on, prioritize your expenses and cut where you can. Are there subscriptions you don’t use much? Can you spend less on going out to eat? What else can you do without until your income is back on track? You can also talk to your creditors about making alternate payment arrangements during financial hardship. Some creditors will allow you to skip a payment, change your due date, or change the minimum monthly payment. Whatever you do, try to avoid skipping payments altogether, or taking out expensive loans like payday loans.

When you have more: Are you getting a tax credit you weren’t expecting? Were you able to work extra hours? Rather than spending the extra on immediate wants, consider paying off debt or past-due bills. If you’re on track with bills, you can also consider putting some money aside in a savings account to help you weather financial storms to come. Your future self will thank you!

Would you like to talk through your options with a Financial Coach? Coaches are ready to meet with you! Call 737-717-4000 or visit www.foundcom.org/financial-wellness to schedule your appointment.

The Foundation Communities Supported Employment Program allows FC residents to receive work experience and pay as they provide vital services for neighbors in their communities. This video takes us on the job with some supported employees as they sort and pack food items for delivery to other FC residents.  This food delivery program became more important during the pandemic and the severe winter storm. The employees express how this work has also nourished their souls.

As we mark the return of in-person instruction at all Foundation Communities learning centers this week, we highlight a true FC education success story. Andrea Arias- Zarate was a regular participant in the After-School program at the Sierra Ridge Learning Center. On June 3rd, Andrea graduated from David Crockett High School, decorated with an array of honor cords! She graduated with high honors and was in the top 10% in her class. Andrea was also awarded the Texas State Merit Scholarship, University of North Texas Excellence Scholarship and the University of Texas at San Antonio Distinguished Presidential Scholarship. She will be attending UT Austin in the Fall majoring in journalism.

Growing up with her mother and sister, Giselle, Andrea had plenty of challenges. Her mother worked hard to provide for her daughters, and they found an affordable home at Sierra Ridge through our Children’s Home Initiative (CHI).

“ I am proud of my daughter , she works so hard and think it is important for other Hispanic families like us who may not have much like us but we also have many accomplishments. I am very proud.” said Andrea’s mother Mirtha Lugo.

The family was featured in the Austin American-Statesman’s Season for Caring campaign in 2018. You can view their story here.

Congratulations, Andrea on seeing all your hard work paying off!