Latest / Austin Signal / LifeWorks program helps youth avoid homelessness

Transcript

LifeWorks program helps youth avoid homelessness · Austin Signal

0:09
Nonprofits are considering different
0:11
ways to get people off the streets
0:13
here in Austin, especially after the
0:14
city council made funding cuts for
0:16
homeless services in their latest
0:18
budget. One way they're thinking of
0:19
lending a helping hand, giving cash
0:21
to Austinites who need it most.
0:23
We're gonna hear the story of one
0:24
person who said that money helped
0:26
her at a critical time.
0:27
That's coming up on Austin Signal.
0:29
We're glad you're spending part of
0:30
the day here with us.
0:32
The Austin Signal is a production of
0:34
K U T News, hosted by Jerry
0:36
Kihano.
0:37
Plus, out in Williamson County,
0:39
folks are looking into where its
0:40
cities get their water from and how
0:42
they could better work together.
0:44
And 'tis the season for some
0:46
end-of-year traditions.
0:48
Today we're talking holiday tunes
0:50
and unwrapping my favorite present,
0:52
the Males.
0:53
Those stories are coming up next,
0:55
and they're right here on Austin
0:57
Signal.
1:08
Howdy out there, and thank you for
1:10
starting the week here with Austin
1:12
Signal. We are listener-powered
1:14
public radio.
1:15
It is Monday, December 8th,
1:17
and we've got a lot happening in
1:19
today's show.
1:20
So let's jump right in.
1:23
Nonprofits looking to get
1:24
people off the street in Austin are
1:26
looking for new ideas as the city
1:28
cuts funding to homeless services.
1:31
One way to do that giving
1:32
cash directly to people who need
1:34
it most.
1:35
KUT's Andrew Weber brings
1:37
us the story of one Austinite
1:39
who says that assistance helped
1:41
her at a critical time.
1:43
Over the last year, Bri Belcher
1:46
has learned to be her own safety
1:47
net. She aged out of the foster care
1:49
system, managed to find an
1:51
apartment, but was still struggling.
1:53
I wasn't prepared at all.
1:55
I got into debt with the apartment
1:57
complex, you know, behind on rent,
1:59
behind on utilities and I
2:01
was at risk of being homeless
2:03
again.
2:04
And I was scared,
2:06
I was nervous, I was angry, I
2:08
was confused.
2:09
Then she got connected to the
2:11
targeted housing assistance program
2:12
through the Austin Nonprofit
2:14
LifeWorks.
2:14
Belcher is one of nearly three dozen
2:16
Austinites who avoided homelessness
2:18
in the year-long cash assistance
2:20
pilot program, one that could be a
2:22
model for nonprofits amid cuts to
2:24
homeless services in Austin.
2:26
Lifeworks program helped Belcher pay
2:28
off debt, save up money, and
2:29
get a new apartment.
2:31
For me personally, I got to a
2:33
spot where I was like, Okay,
2:36
grateful for that help.
2:37
Now how can I how can I help myself
2:39
now? I've been blessed to be in a
2:41
position to where I have another
2:43
chance to do that.
2:44
And LifeWorks CEO Liz Schoenfeld
2:46
says Belcher wasn't alone.
2:48
Nearly all of the clients who
2:49
received thirty five hundred dollars
2:51
on average stayed off the streets.
2:53
Schoenfeld says it's cheap
2:55
and effective, something especially
2:57
important amid cuts to homeless
2:58
services at City Hall.
3:00
All service providers are being
3:01
called upon to think differently and
3:03
to act differently and
3:05
to try new models
3:07
where we could potentially get
3:09
further, faster with less money.
3:11
And this is one example of
3:13
how we in our community
3:15
are trying to innovate
3:17
and push the envelope.
3:19
On top of that, the population of
3:20
homeless youth in Austin has
3:22
quadrupled in the last five years,
3:24
which led to LifeWorks partnering
3:26
with Point Source Youth, a national
3:28
nonprofit on the Cash Assistance
3:30
Pilot. Point Service CEO Larry
3:32
Cohen said the nonprofit has had
3:34
similar successes with homeless
3:35
youth in cities like Tucson,
3:37
Seattle, and Los Angeles.
3:38
Cohen says the programs cost
3:40
way less than other more
3:42
traditionally funded programs like
3:44
shelters that tackle homelessness
3:46
after the fact.
3:47
We know that shelters and the
3:49
homeless experience cost tens of
3:51
thousands of dollars.
3:52
So, like, why not spend three to
3:54
save thirty?
3:55
You know, it's a logic that appeals,
3:57
I would say, to everybody.
3:59
Looking back on the program, Bree
4:00
Belcher said it was a challenge,
4:02
but it felt more like a hand up than
4:04
a hand out.
4:05
She says the cash and case
4:06
management she got through LifeWorks
4:08
not only helped her get stable
4:09
housing, it also helped her secure
4:11
a job.
4:12
I'm still young, I still have things
4:13
to learn, life is
4:15
still life in.
4:17
So yeah, it's it's definitely
4:20
been a challenge, but it
4:22
I wouldn't change anything.
4:24
Yeah. Belcher hopes other
4:26
people with similar experiences take
4:27
advantage of these kinds of programs
4:29
if they have the opportunity.
4:30
I'm Andrew Weber in Austin.
4:38
This is Austin Signal.
4:40
Water is becoming an ever more
4:41
precious resource here in Central
4:43
Texas, and that's why officials in
4:45
Williamson County are banding
4:46
together to form a coalition of
4:48
local and regional water providers.
4:50
Their first task will be to explore
4:52
the long-term water supply needs for
4:54
the fast growing area.
4:56
The newly formed Williamson County
4:58
Water Group includes representatives
5:00
from the county, from Cedar Park,
5:02
Leander, Round Rock, Georgetown,
5:04
and the Brazos River Authority.
5:06
Williamson County Judge Steve Snells
5:08
says the group will help oversee the
5:09
county's upcoming five hundred
5:11
thousand dollar study, which aims
5:12
to better understand the area's
5:14
water and infrastructure needs and
5:16
identify new water sources.
5:19
We can't do anything without water.
5:21
Our citizens need it.
5:23
We need to protect it.
5:24
It's limited.
5:25
We have aging water infrastructure
5:28
in several of our cities and
5:30
we all need to work together and use
5:31
our expertise.
5:33
Cedar Park Mayor Jim Pennerman Morin
5:35
says it's important now, more than
5:37
ever, that communities work together
5:39
to ensure everyone has enough water
5:41
for the future.
5:43
For us to achieve our long term
5:44
goals as a community, particularly
5:45
economic development, you know, all
5:47
our neighbors have to thrive as
5:49
well. There is no version of Cedar
5:50
Park as successful as it should
5:52
be without all our neighbors being
5:54
equally successful.
5:55
Georgetown resident Jonathan Moore
5:57
agrees, a self described vegetable
5:59
gardener. Moore says he's always
6:01
looking for better and more
6:02
efficient ways to use water, but
6:04
he's also afraid officials are
6:05
putting too much pressure on
6:06
consumers to fix the water supply
6:08
issue. He says he hopes the study
6:10
will provide some alternative
6:11
conservation strategies, especially
6:13
for new developments.
6:15
I think it's important at the
6:17
the governmental level to
6:19
acknowledge that the consumer, while
6:21
they do have some sway over these
6:22
things, they're not them they're not
6:24
the big contributor.
6:26
County Judge Snell stresses that
6:27
this new Williamson County Water
6:29
Group will not be coming up with
6:30
solutions overnight.
6:32
He says it will be a process,
6:34
and the group will start assessing
6:36
those needs early next year when
6:38
they pick an engineering firm to
6:39
conduct the study.
6:41
It's Austin Signal, and it's
6:43
right here on KUT News.
6:45
We are community-powered public
6:46
radio. We got more signal coming
6:49
your way after this break.
6:59
This is Austin Signal.
7:01
Welcome back. Tamales are at the
7:03
heart of comfort food here in Texas.
7:05
Eating one or two
7:07
or a dozen can turn a terrible
7:09
day right back around.
7:10
Trust me. Now, Chef Rick Martinez,
7:13
who grew up here in Austin, says you
7:14
can absolutely make tamales by
7:16
yourself for yourself, but
7:18
there's something magical about a
7:20
tamalada when a group of people
7:22
get together to make this home
7:24
cooking. It's why Chef Martinez
7:26
teamed up with Austin Brand Siete
7:27
to host a community tamalada,
7:29
and Austin Signal was there.
7:34
Like that.
7:35
Like that.
7:37
And then you fold the ends of mine.
7:39
And these things are like big.
7:42
Find it.
7:44
It's Rick Martinez.
7:45
You know, there were Christmas
7:46
parties, but to me, I actually
7:48
enjoyed the tamaladas butter
7:50
because I mean it was it was just a
7:52
part of Christmas, right?
7:53
It like it was just fun.
7:54
It was everyone getting together and
7:56
you had a mission and
7:58
you know, there was still the
7:59
laughing, the cheese meh,
8:01
the the drinking, but
8:03
you know, it started at 9 a.m.
8:05
And it started with donuts and
8:06
breakfast tacos and bandulce.
8:09
You know, I guess at a r regular
8:10
family gathering, you know, you're
8:12
just sitting around eating and
8:13
talking. At a tamalada,
8:15
you know, you're working.
8:16
It brings you together when you have
8:18
like a combined mission and a
8:20
purpose, right?
8:22
And you're doing something
8:24
so that you can enjoy the food
8:26
at the end and take it home
8:28
with you. And so there's
8:30
something so tasty
8:32
just loving and beautiful about an
8:34
it you know, a group of fifty people
8:36
cooking together, eating together,
8:38
and then taking it home with them.
8:40
And that to me is just beautiful.
8:42
And that's that's what I wanted to
8:43
do here.
8:49
That is too small.
8:50
So one of the things is that you do
8:51
want to you want it to be about this
8:53
big and so you can always layer it.
8:55
My name is Anna Amesqua.
8:57
Well, I am attempting to spread
9:00
masa on these oca
9:02
here. Attempting to the operative
9:05
term.
9:06
Hi, my name is Liz Garcia.
9:08
So the the masa was spreading
9:10
the masa was one of my assignments
9:12
as a kid.
9:13
So that actually happened for
9:15
more it was like muscle memory.
9:16
Yeah.
9:17
I use the spoon like he was talking
9:19
about. So I've got my filling
9:22
going and about to wrap my first
9:23
tamala. Alright, I'm struggling.
9:26
Let me know if you want me to help.
9:31
So is it better to do it while like
9:33
the masa is warm?
9:34
Does that make it more appliable?
9:37
My preferred technique is
9:39
how my grandma had showed me and
9:41
she would always have a small glass
9:43
of water and she would dip the spoon
9:45
in and then get a little bit of masa
9:47
and then you know put it onto the
9:49
husk and spread
9:51
it evenly.
9:52
My name is Al Lomboria.
9:54
I'm making some tamales.
9:56
We're doing
9:59
the corn with
10:01
we've got green chile with
10:04
chicken and we're
10:06
just showing everybody how to make
10:07
some traditional tamales and
10:09
this is the the corn husk and then
10:11
we've got the banana leaf as
10:13
well.
10:15
Great job guys, thank
10:17
you.
10:19
Oh, Keely Gray.
10:21
The I really like the idea of,
10:23
you know, you don't have to do what
10:25
I guess we think of the traditional
10:26
where it's the masa and then the
10:28
filling, that you can mix it all
10:30
up. So that's to me is the
10:32
great thing about tamales, is that
10:33
you like you was saying, you can
10:35
throw a little bit of anything in
10:36
there, but you know, as long as it
10:38
tends to go more meat, of course,
10:40
and if it has a little spice and
10:41
gets your nose running a little bit,
10:43
that's always good too.
10:46
Yeah.
10:46
My name is Scarlett Aguilar and I'm
10:48
executive chef of Brandet Siete.
10:50
Tamales are really, it's not
10:51
just a holiday food.
10:53
Tamales are a
10:55
Sunday morning kind of thing, right?
10:57
Where you go, you have you have
10:58
barbacoa and you have tamales
11:01
with it, right?
11:02
It's like more of a new tradition
11:04
that we call it a tamalada,
11:06
which I feel like I've I
11:08
heard it as my as an adult,
11:10
but as a child being around an
11:12
actual tamalada
11:14
at the house. We never called it
11:15
that, right? It was just like we're
11:16
just making tamales, like we're
11:17
gonna whatever that's what we're
11:18
gonna have for dinner.
11:19
But it was never this like big
11:21
thing. It's just you just know that
11:23
if they're making tamales, oh, it's
11:25
gonna require everybody and
11:26
everybody's gonna take part of it.
11:30
My name is Richard Martinez
11:32
and I'm Rick Martinez's
11:35
father.
11:37
Well my Aunt Lucy
11:39
lived on 2nd Street
11:40
and she and my mother
11:43
got together and made tamales
11:45
and chicharrones and
11:48
we always use a hog head
11:50
because of the skin and the
11:52
you put everything into it, yeah.
11:54
But that's what we we made the
11:56
tamales.
11:57
Then of course when we got
11:59
married, my wife Gloria,
12:02
she she was a good cook
12:05
and we
12:06
made tamales by ourselves
12:08
and we used our recipe, you know.
12:10
And we didn't have a recipe for a
12:12
long time. I mean we just threw it
12:13
together, but then when they were
12:15
growing up, we decided we better
12:17
write it down.
12:19
The last time we did it, it was
12:21
Right.
12:22
Twelve years ago.
12:23
Part of part of the reason why I
12:25
think we don't do the tamales
12:26
tamaladas anymore is because you
12:28
know the and
12:30
people are getting so old.
12:32
You know, I think it's it's I think
12:34
it's important now for the
12:36
older cousins or the
12:38
the grandkids who are now old
12:40
that are getting married and have
12:41
kids, that they are the ones that
12:43
need to carry on the tradition.
12:44
Um, 'cause like, you know, he's one
12:47
you were one of eight children
12:49
and now there's only three left,
12:51
you know, and they're all in their
12:52
upper eighties and nineties.
12:54
And so I think it's
12:56
I think it's important that we keep
12:58
it going, you know, and that that's
12:59
that's another reason why this
13:01
is so important to me.
13:05
That story was produced by Austin
13:07
Signals managing producer Kristen
13:09
Cabrera.
13:10
And hey, if you or your family or
13:12
your friends have your own
13:13
tamaladas, we want to hear from you
13:15
and we want to crash your tamalada.
13:17
Let us know. Email us AustinSignal
13:20
at K U T.org.
13:22
And in case you forget, we're going
13:23
to have that email in our show
13:25
notes.
13:26
Austin Senior Songwriter Melissa
13:29
Carper is out with a new Christmas
13:30
album titled Simply Enough A
13:32
Very Carper Christmas.
13:34
She talked with Texas Standard about
13:36
her new holiday record.
13:37
Here's the Standards, David Brown.
13:40
You hear some version of this
13:41
question every year, when is it
13:43
time to break out the Christmas
13:45
music?
13:46
Oh hurry up and plug in the
13:48
tree It's November
13:50
twenty three and I can't
13:52
wait to
13:54
plug in the tree
13:56
Well, Austin singer-songwriter
13:58
Melissa Carper's probably had
14:00
that on her mind much longer than
14:02
most of us.
14:03
For a while now, she's been working
14:04
on her latest album, a collection of
14:06
holiday tunes featuring her own
14:08
songs and a few covers too.
14:10
It's called A Very Carper
14:12
Christmas. And Melissa Carper,
14:14
welcome to the Texas Standard.
14:15
Thank you, David.
14:17
Congratulations on the new record.
14:19
Why why a Christmas album?
14:21
Well, actually a friend
14:23
of mine, who's who's
14:25
a manager and and he'd been
14:28
giving me some advice on on what
14:29
he thought I I should do with my
14:31
career, I asked him and he
14:33
said, I think you should make a
14:34
Christmas album and I'd
14:36
I'd never thought of the idea before
14:38
and and actually at first I was
14:40
like, I don't know about that.
14:41
That sounds kinda cheesy.
14:43
Like I don't I gotta know if
14:45
I could pull that off and
14:47
and I for some reason I was
14:48
imagining myself trying to cover
14:50
the standards that had been covered
14:52
over and over kinda too many
14:54
times and then then I thought
14:56
well what if I r read an entire
14:58
album of original songs
15:00
And so then it kinda became a
15:02
challenge for me, like can I
15:03
actually do this?
15:09
Shley.
15:14
Crouch the word
15:16
in just one day.
15:19
And I have a lot of co-writes
15:21
on the album because I
15:23
asked my good friend Gina Galena
15:25
if she would want to get together
15:26
and try to write Christmas songs.
15:28
And and so we have eight co-writes
15:30
together on there and and she
15:32
came up with a lot of the song ideas
15:34
so I did not do this on my own at
15:36
all. It's a big collaboration.
15:39
When you were thinking about
15:41
you know, how you would write songs
15:43
for your own Christmas album,
15:45
how were you thinking about
15:46
Christmas music?
15:47
Well, I've always loved Christmas
15:49
music.
15:50
Really?
15:50
Yes, you know, Frank Sinatra,
15:52
Nat King Cole, and I I
15:54
I have them in their names
15:56
in one of my songs on the album.
16:00
Smok.
16:02
Memories
16:04
singing songs so
16:06
joyfully
16:09
Franks and Natra
16:11
and Ecking Coke
16:15
Fue His glowing
16:17
us.
16:18
What we ended up doing, me and Gina
16:20
just coming up with sort of a
16:22
more a slightly more modern
16:24
day take on our own
16:26
experiences from Christmases.
16:28
And so I think this album has
16:30
since Gina and I grew up in like
16:32
the seventies and eighties, it kinda
16:34
has that feel to it to me.
16:36
Like you can picture Christmases
16:37
from that era.
16:39
Yeah.
16:39
As you're listening to these songs.
16:41
You cover a lot of moods too.
16:42
You got a a kid's excitement for
16:44
the season, wistful
16:46
sadness, even homelessness.
16:49
You know, yeah, I I feel like the
16:50
album starts out with with that
16:52
feeling of what it's like to have
16:55
what Christmas is like for a
16:56
lot of kids, you know.
16:58
I have really good memories
17:00
of my Christmases, luckily.
17:01
Like w I had a I had a great family
17:03
and and we would always
17:05
have a, you know, Christmas
17:07
all together and then
17:09
kinda moves into, you know, there's
17:11
some some nostalgic stuff
17:13
looking back and then some romantic
17:15
stuff and and then getting
17:17
into like I wrote a song
17:19
about Christmas in New Orleans which
17:21
was actually the first Christmas
17:23
that I spent away from
17:25
home. Yeah, we should
17:26
Yeah.
17:27
All Jimmy Rogers
17:30
songs And we drank
17:32
from a cheap box of
17:33
wine
17:35
We open the presents
17:38
we got from my mom
17:40
Can we show her the good
17:42
Christmas time
17:45
So then that's kinda like a
17:46
progression in life where you stop
17:47
going home.
17:49
Christmas changes.
17:50
Right.
17:51
And then I have a couple of songs
17:53
about about spending Christmas
17:55
alone which I've experienced
17:57
that myself and I know of course
17:59
a lot of people that have.
18:01
And I I think
18:03
that probably there's more
18:06
probably more people out there that
18:08
that don't have good Christmases, so
18:10
Yeah.
18:11
Just one.
18:15
And one broken candy
18:17
cane alone on Christmas.
18:22
One dollar too much.
18:25
Do you have a a favorite on the
18:26
album?
18:29
I've got a I've got a few I mean I
18:31
there's different moods I'd say like
18:33
my favorite sad one is just one
18:34
stocking.
18:36
And then I'm finding that a lot
18:38
of people like the
18:40
the cult classic could perhaps
18:42
be Oh cheese ball.
18:44
Oh
18:45
Who will bring the cheese
18:47
ball and center it
18:49
on the table
18:51
adorn it with crackers
18:53
as we all gather
18:55
round Oh beautiful
18:57
delicious cheese ball you're
18:59
in?
19:00
My my mom would always have a
19:02
have some cheese balls, just the
19:03
kind you would buy from the grocery
19:04
store, you know, she didn't make
19:05
homemade cheese balls, but I just
19:07
remember it was always a part of
19:09
the holidays.
19:10
And then I noticed my sister putting
19:12
them out too and I'm like, Oh,
19:14
she's carrying on the cheese bowl
19:16
tradition and then and then Gina,
19:18
my friend who I wrote a bunch of
19:19
these songs with, she was like, You
19:21
know, a couple of the Christmas
19:22
parties I've had you've always
19:23
brought the cheese ball.
19:25
Jesus,
19:31
the little baby
19:33
Jesus lying
19:36
in the net.
19:39
There's a I guess the first single
19:41
from the album is Made with Love.
19:43
Tell us about that song.
19:44
Yeah, made with love.
19:46
So it doesn't mention, you know,
19:48
the holidays at all.
19:49
It just talks about making gifts
19:51
and food with love and
19:53
how those are always the best.
19:55
And yeah, actually inspiration for
19:57
that song came with
19:59
my my friend Brennan Lee
20:02
and and Kevin Skurla.
20:04
They they showed up with a homemade
20:05
jar of granola and it said made
20:07
with love on it.
20:09
And and I was like, Well, I gotta
20:11
write that song.
20:12
Yeah, that's perfect.
20:14
Joy bring
20:17
to make the same,
20:20
then make your love
20:22
once smile
20:24
grow strong.
20:26
Brennan Lee.
20:27
She's such a wonderful singer
20:29
songer.
20:30
Yeah, and we we've got a song on
20:31
here that we wrote together.
20:32
It was her her idea, she said
20:34
she always wanted us to write a song
20:36
called I Want a Dog for
20:37
Christmas 'cause she always wanted a
20:39
dog for Christmas.
20:40
Did she ever get her dog for
20:41
Christmas?
20:42
I believe she did get a dog when she
20:43
was young yea
20:45
I'm sing
20:48
all my praise
20:51
for what I want
20:53
most of all.
20:55
I want a dog for
20:57
Christmas.
20:59
Please, mom and
21:01
dad.
21:02
I want a dog for
21:04
Christmas obey.
21:08
Looking back, I mean, this started
21:10
as as a challenge of sorts,
21:12
right? Given your experience
21:14
putting this together, would you do
21:16
it again? Did you enjoy doing the
21:18
the the Christmas album or or
21:20
was it especially you did.
21:22
Oh yeah. I I I'm expecting
21:24
volume two to show up one
21:26
of these days.
21:27
I it was so much fun and
21:29
we had extra ideas.
21:31
We didn't even get to write all the
21:33
songs. I mean, it I
21:34
feel like m this could turn
21:36
into my entire career at this
21:38
point.
21:39
I love it.
21:41
I love it.
21:43
I'll admit I love the bustle
21:45
of the holidays when pretty
21:47
lights and candy cane slime
21:49
the streets.
21:51
Melissa Carper's new album, A Very
21:52
Carper Christmas, and she's
21:54
starting a new tradition with it
21:56
too.
21:57
Melissa, thanks so much and
21:59
a very Merry Christmas.
22:02
You too David, thank you so much.
22:06
I just wanna sit
22:08
by fire with you.
22:11
We've been so cordially
22:13
invited to attend
22:15
a few parties and they sound
22:17
like
22:18
And that's it for today's episode
22:20
of Austin Signal.
22:22
Thanks for being with us.
22:23
And thanks to KUT's Andrew Weber,
22:25
Kailey Hunt, and Texas Standards
22:27
Leah Scarpelli for their help with
22:29
today's episode.
22:30
Rayna Sevilla is our technical
22:32
director. Kristen Cabrera is our
22:34
managing producer, and thanks to her
22:35
for reporting on the Tamalada.
22:37
Don't forget, if you're having a
22:38
Talmalada soon, tell us, invite
22:40
us, send us an email at AustinSignal
22:43
at K U T.org.
22:44
We're gonna have more in our show
22:46
notes at K U T.org
22:48
slash signal.
22:49
I'm your host, Jerry Quijano.
22:51
Austin Signal will be back on the
22:53
air tomorrow.
22:54
We'll talk to you then.