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Archive of "Culture" Category
Guest Post: Restore the Innocent
Restore Au
stin, HELP, Music for the City, and Austin Angels are teaming together to raise awareness and support on December 7th, to unify in the fight against sex-trafficking through this event called, Restore the Innocent.We will be showing the film, Call & Response at the Blanton Museum of Art.
Immediately following the film, Music for the City will be hosting an after party in which you can learn about next steps to take in order to personally engage in the fight against modern slavery locally and globally (after party venue TBA).
100% of all proceeds will go to fighting human trafficking! So, join us in raising awareness and engaging the fight!
Please make sure to hold on to your ticket, as it is your ticket into the After Party as well.
Guest Post: Sam Beauchamp of ciee High School Program
This month’s guest blog is by Sam Beauchamp, the regional director of CIEE (Council on International Educational Exchange). Our request for a guest blog came from a member of Restore Austin, Matthew Hansen. Matthew and his wife Sarah are working with them to take in a foreign exchange student in August. As they began to look more into this opportunity they were embarking on, they couldn’t help but feel this would be a great cultural opportunity for many people associated with Restore Austin. From what we understand, not only does the student become part of your family for 10 months, but they are also going to be involved in some sort of service/volunteer opportunities while here in the states, and it gives you as a host family the opportunity to be more involved in the schools they will be attending. Okay, we’re done talking, Sam, will you tell us more about CIEE?
Okay, in a summary, CIEE is a non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to quality exchange and global learning opportunities. The CIEE USA High School Program is designated by the U.S. Department of State to sponsor our students on a J-1 visa to attend high school in America. More simply stated it is our hope to help people gain understanding, acquire knowledge and develop skills for living in a globally interdependent and culturally diverse world. The truth is, there are many benefits for students of the CIEE USA High School Program. Cultural immersion allows students to gain a personal understanding of the “American way of life.” Attending American high schools, participating in school and community-run clubs, and living with a host family give students unique firsthand access to American culture. Many students also come to the U.S. to improve their English skills. After hearing and using the language every day, many students attain fluency by the end of the program.
Now, on a less technical and more personal note, what better city to get these young adults into than Austin? Austin is one of the best areas in Texas for our students and there are not many challenges there with the schools as with other areas of Texas. Austin truly offers these students the opportunity to experience a wide variety of American culture done right! So, here is the deal, I could go on and on about what it means to partner with ciee, but I think it would be better to hear from the students themselves. So, click HERE to read stories and watch videos from some past foreign exchange students. Also, if you would like to read more about the benefits in being a host family, click HERE, and to find us on facebook simply click HERE.
Sam, thank you very much for taking the time and informing us about the great exchange program of ciee. If anyone reading this article knows of anyone who would be interested in this type of cultural exchange, please email Matthew Hansen at matthewdhansen@me.com.
Team: Restore the Orphan
Restore Austin and Austin New Church has created a race team (Restore the Orphan) for the upcoming Adoption Marathon. To go along with that, we have created
a SITE to keep you updated on the team, how you can support them, training recommendations and how you can be involved…This site is for the following:- Runners – If you would like to run in this years Adoption Marathon, please click HERE to register. When you sign up, choose either the full or half marathon, and when it asks you what team you would like to sign up for, type in the team name, Restore the Orphan. After you have done that, please email us at lindsey@portroofing.com or matthew@austinnewchurch.com to let us know you have registered. We will have team dry-fit shirts available for sale, along with non-dry fit shirts for those who want to support the CAUSE.
- Volunteers – Maybe running is not your deal, but you would love to get out there and help us. If that’s you, then click HERE, and email them to register yourself, or your Restore Community. We will have Restore the Orphan shirts available for sale so that your volunteer team can wear as well as support the CAUSE.
- Supporters - Team Restore the Orphan is running to literally RESTORE the Orphan. So, what are we restoring the Orphan to? Good question. There
is nothing more complete than restoring an orphan to his/her new home, new family, and new life – this is true restoration for an orphan. So ALL monies raised for this race will go toward restoring several over-seas orphans to their new homes here in Austin! There will be three ways you can support (1) Simply give financially [we will have a link up soon] (2) purchase one of our Restore the Orphan shirts [100% of the proceeds will go to bringing these orphans home] (3) Attend the carbo-loading dinner on October 21st, in which you will have the chance to give, learn, and eat [details to come soon].
- Beginners – This site is for two types of beginners. Those who are beginning to learn about the orphan crisis, and those who are wanting to begin to start a healthy lifestyle. The Orphan Crisis can seem so overwhelming, that to attempt to be a voice in battling it seems defeating.
Stick around this site long enough and we will help point you in the right direction. If a new life of fitness is your new goal. Pay attention to the blogs, and we get you going in the right direction – we hope you plan on beginning both: a new life of fitness and health, and to become a voice for the orphan.
Be a Parent to the Parentless!
We have heard it said, that as followers of Christ, we should pursue adoption the way that Christ pursued us! We do, however, know that not everyone is called to adopt, but we all need to be involved in this crisis. Your role may simply be to support a family who is adopting or support an orphan in India or Africa or volunteer at local foster agencies. No matter how you feel you are to be involved, we believe the plight of the orphan is something that God calls us all to impact.
Based off of this conviction, Austin New Church and Restore Austin are teaming up with Caring Family Network to host the required classes for Foster Care, Foster-to-Adopt, and Respite Care. If this is something that you or anyone in your church is interested in, please email me at matthew@austinnewchurch.com and I will send you the necessary application for you to complete and send in to Sarah Mercado via fax at 512.719.4073 or email at smercado@cfntexas.com or bring them with you to the opening class. The first class will be at Austin New Church (11530 Manchaca Road, 78748) on February 23rd at 6:00pm. At this class you will receive the schedule for the remaining classes necessary to be completely certified as a foster parent, adoptive parent, and/or respite care provider.
Thank you,
Matthew
Guest Post: Neighborhood Engagement, by Armando Rayo
I met Armando about 2 months ago over some amazing breakfast tacos and great Mexican coffee. It didn’t take me long to figure out that Armando was not only a genius in his line of work, but was very passionate
about it. In fact, on March 6th Armando will be doing a community project leadership training for Restore Austin at Austin New Church. To find out more about the training, click HERE. I asked Armando to do a guest blog for Restore Austin to kick our year off…enjoy!Neighborhood Engagement – A balanced approach
I love it when people give back to their community, especially in neighborhoods. It’ a great way to connect with families, get to know neighbors and neighborhood leaders and you get to find out what the “real” needs are as well as understand what people truly want for their neighborhoods. Working in communities, I’ve seen resurgence in helping out neighborhoods from clean-ups and graffiti removal to starting community gardens and hosting potlucks or block parties. In Austin and across America, more people are involved in “neighboring.” The Volunteering In America report (link: www.volunteeringinamerica.gov/TX/Austin) shows that more people are working with neighbors to fix a problem and attending community meetings, but you don’t need a report to show you how people are engaged in Austin; just go outside and see for yourself!
Helping out neighborhoods is a great way to strengthen communities and this type of engagement can be successful if you use a balanced approach; balancing passion, needs and aspirations.
- Take one part passion: what you care about – what drives you to create positive change
- Add needs to the mix: what is the real need – the critical issues
- Finish it with aspiration (or start with it!): what are the aspirations for the people living in neighborhoods – what do they care about?
We often times, just think of our passions and the need and we forget to ask what neighbors care about (I confess, I’m guilty of doing this in the past). Taking the time to ask people why they’re involved or what issues are important to them builds bridges and trust, especially in low-income neighborhoods. Ever wonder why some projects work in some neighborhoods and not in others? Part of the reasons projects don’t get traction or even work is because neighbors weren’t involved in the process; they weren’t asked for their input and so people don’t come out to support the effort. This is why it’s important to take the time to ask people what they care about; what their aspirations are for their neighborhoods and getting them involved. Taking the time to balancing these three approaches will help not only you with your project but neighborhoods in the long-run.How will you incorporate this approach in your next project or maybe you have already? What did you learn? Pass it forward!
Adelante,
Mando
Director, Community Engagement – United Way Capital Area/Hands On Central Texas
VP, Engagement – Cultural Strategies
armando.rayo@unitedwaycapitalarea.org
Thank you Mando, we look forward to this partnership!
