Travis County Commissioners Court
September 19, 2006
Item 6
6 is to receive presentation from american youthworks regarding recent national council on la raza family strengthening award. Richard brought several individuals with him today. Most of whom are a little bit younger than I am, it looks.
>> just a couple, judge.
>> four of you can sit down and join richard.
>> good morning.
>> good morning.
>> good morning, county Commissioners. I am richard habpin, county attorney, founder and c.e.o. Of american youth works. Before I begin my presentation, Commissioner ann richards was the first county elected official who invested in these young people, invested in their pred s.tors, believed in these young people, believed in all these young people and believe they make the most tremendous return on investment if we give everybody a chance. The results that we have today were because of the people before us and Commissioner richards really fought for this program. I remember the criminal justice division of the governor's office told us one day they had put the budget to bed; in fact, it was done. The budget could not be changed in any way. And Commissioner richards said, well, we'll just see about that. And she said richard, you leave me alone for a few minutes, I'm going to make some phone calls and come back here in about an hour. I came back in about an hour and she said, you know, that budget was not ready for bed yet. It just had to be -- brush its teeth and get a little snack. And they've agreed to invest for five years in american youth works creative rapid learning center so you can help young people not get tied up in the criminal justice system. So in the spirit of the impossible, making the impossible, get that done first, I also want to acknowledge your extraordinary staff. Don chapman, charles berg, joe geiselman, lawrence lyman, john bradshaw, mae and several other people on the county team who without their help we couldn't do the extraordinary things we do. We have been nationally recognized. We bring this recognition to you today because without the partnership we have together, none of this would happen. Without Commissioner richards jumping in and going to pat bat for these people, we wouldn't have been in the budget. Without you jumping in and going to bat for these young people. At that point we didn't even have Commissioner richards or Commissioner moya or the judge able to get trails built or homes built. We've progressed so much these young men and women are building homes that win gold medals across the nation and trails that also receive national award. So here's a quick presentation of what these young people are giving to us in Travis County based on your investment. Here are the faces of inclusion. Here are the faces of the young men and women who show up on the workforce rolls. Here are the homes that have won gold medals for their work and have actually transformed neighborhoods once run by gangsters, crack houses and drug lords. Now people don't have drive-bys anymore, kids can play in the streets. This home won the gold medal of the national home builders for most energy efficient home in the southwest built by these young men and women. It's all about building houses and trails and lives and a greater Travis County. 90 new homes have been built for families of low income bringing back to the tax revenues over $870,000. And this is councilmember la cumulative so even though you have cut the tax by a little bit, the cumulative amount will keep coming into Travis County because of the return of investment of these young people and the savings in the homes they've built have energy efficiency and the violent crime down 40% or more in some neighborhoods. Looking at some of the parks that are built through this investment and this award, we've got west cave preserve, I think that's in your jurisdiction, mr. Daugherty. We've got southeast metro. We've got northeast metro, ms. Sonleitner. East metro, mr. Davis, and the steps at hippie hollow. We also are doing work with the black capped vireo with more work on the stairs at hippie hollow. And the -- putting in the new park and the new disk golf course, mr. Davis. And the railings and trails in northeast metro and the work at mansfield dam, Commissioner Daugherty, and the hiking trail and viewing deck at southeast park metro. These young people, thousands of them are now working in our community because of the investment you make. Because of the work we do together. Lives are transformed. This young lady is now going to law school. I think ann richards would have really particularly enjoyed that. The huge energy efficiency savings that are created by these homes are replicated by some of these things you see here. We are now being asked to teach people across the nation how to do green home building, affordable energy, fishing ent home building smght together we're building a future. We're building our next workforce. We're building a strong foundation for future tax revenues and future community leaders. This is a window to the future because of the americorps work we've been doing the last 10 years. Block by block and person by person we're building blocks, not cell blocks, but we're building opportunities for people. So do we invest enough in our crucial young people, do we create more ways tore them to be successful and to answer the problems he have with and be at the solutions we face. As you look at the budget, I ask you to make sure that the appropriate investments so that the work that's being done here that I'm flashing through can continue and grow. The national council of la raza is the largest hispanic organization in the country. We're a grass-roots, proud affiliate that came to view our builders program that you fund and the work we do in the county parks, and they said this is fabulous, and they have named us one of five affiliates in the nation to receive the national council of la raza strengthening families award. And we're here to present that award to you. If you men and women would go up to the county Commissioners and county attorney and present them with awards at this point.
>> in summary, judge -- [applause]
>> this work is done in 105-degree weather, day in, day out. These young and women don't complain, much. [laughter] and they certainly don't get paid enough, but they do an extraordinary amount of work that will be the legacy this court will leave for people in the future. I can't get by without complimenting our extraordinary team. Ted is the crew leader for this team. We have crew leaders that work closely with the crew leaders from Travis County parks and natural resources. We couldn't do this work without. We want to congratulate them. So I didn't get up, June, when the budget talk came up a few minutes ago for the hearing on the budget, but as you know, and all of you I think believe, investing in these young and women is one of the most extraordinary returns on investments we can make and I want to thank you for your investment and hope that will be expanded in the future as the return on investment will be as well.
>> thank you.
>> how many children -- young persons, not children, but young persons have we actually been able to assist in this in going on to bigger and better things? Do you have any ballpark number?
>> I would say easily 10,000.
>> 10,000?
>> in the last 10 years alone.
>> and can you approximately tell me how many homes have been impacted for youth?
>> yes, sir.
>> just ballpark. You don't have to be accurate.
>> actually in your precinct --
>> precinct 1 got significant --
>> we built over 90 brand new homes, three and four star homes and helped retrofit for folks who needed housing help, we probably helped 250, 300 homes. Just to be a conservative guess. And I don't know, we probably brought $7 million in college scholarship money through our americorps program. And with the money we get from if county, we probably matched that 20 to 1 with federal grants and other government resources we've brought in. So I think the win, the investment, the return on the investment is to multifaceted that it's just exciting to be a part of this and to see this --
>> taking advantage of that scholarship matching.
>> young men and women right here are going to acc right now.
>> I was just trying to lay things out so the public can really know the significance of what you are doing and how you are doing it and what you are working with and then the results of all of these investments. That's why I posed the question to you.
>> I appreciate the question, sir.
>> keep up the good work.
>> thank you very much.
>> thank you.
>> keep on keeping on.
>> thank you.
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Last Modified:
Wednesday, September 20, 2006 10:25 AM