AVANCE, Inc. CEO Rick Noriega, AVANCE-Austin Executive Director Sofia Casini and AVANCE participants at the Capitol

Child abuse, poverty, unemployment — these are some of society’s costliest problems that have roots in the earliest years of a child’s development.  Quality early childhood education programs, including voluntary monthly home visits, help at-risk families get the right start. AVANCE offers monthly, one-on-one home visits to  families as a part of our holistic approach to promoting school-readiness in underserved communities  On March 15^th,  AVANCE  graduates joined AVANCE, Inc. CEO, Rick Noriega, and Executive Director, Sofia Casini,  for Home Visiting Advocacy Day at the Texas  State Capitol.

For more information visit http://www.texprotects.org/site/News2?id=5974 

Rubisela poses with her two children, Ruby (3.5 years) and Alondra (3 months) during a home visit. Mother and both children were participants in AVANCE'S class of 2011.

After impacting families across Texas for almost forty years, AVANCE has been named one of the top-performing nonprofit organizations in the United States on a newly launched online giving platform. The Social Impact 100 (S&I 100) (www.SI100.org) is the first-ever broad index of U.S. nonprofits that have evidence of results and the potential to grow. The Index helps nonprofits find the capital they need to reach more people and empowers donors to make a bigger difference. Out of over 100 organizations, AVANCE is the only early education-focused nonprofit headquartered in Texas to be featured in the S&I 100, and is helping to place Texas at the forefront of discussions surrounding the importance of early education.

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To view the full report and demographic data on our participants:

AVANCE-Austin End-of-Year Report 2012

(Left to right) Telemundo anchor Karla Leal, Judge Orlinda Naranjo, and supporter Janis Pinelli

Friends and supporters of AVANCE-Austin gathered at the Driskill Hotel on October 17^thfor the 5th Annual Fundraising Luncheon. This year’s event was one of the most successful to date, bringing in over $40,000 in donations to support the important work of the Parent-Child Education Program (PCEP). 

 Judge Orlinda Naranjo, the first Latina elected to countywide bench in Austin was honored at the Luncheon for her years of public service and commitment to justice for the underserved. She shared her inspiring life story with attendees and applauded mothers in the AVANCE program for taking the first step to give their child a brighter future:

“Moms who have gone through the AVANCE program are successful because they’ve dreamed bigger and better things for their children,” Naranjo said, ”They have made a commitment to take their children down the path of success.”

Angelica Mendez, AVANCE-Austin parent graduate shows luncheon guests the doll she made for her daughter in the program.

Judge Naranjo was born into a working-class, Spanish-speaking household in New Mexico. Her mother was a maid and school cook, while her father operated heavy equipment. As a young woman, Judge Naranjo was able to pay her own way through college despite obstacles such as the death of her father when she was just fifteen, and becoming a mother at seventeen.  In 2012, Judge Naranjo was appointed to The National Consortium on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the courts, served for six years on the Texas Indigent Defense Task Force, and currently serves on the Texas Judicial Council, working to improve the Texas legal System.

Luncheon guests also heard firsthand about the impact of the AVANCE-Austin program from parent graduate Angelica Mendez.  Angelica credits AVANCE-Austin’s Parent-Child Education program with making her a better mother: “I learned how to be a better parent, to make toys and play with my daughter. After AVANCE, my daughter was ready for Pre-K. Her teachers trust her to do errands and she knows all her colors, numbers and letters. I am very proud of her.”

Ladies of Impact Austin… 517 Members Strong!

Impact Austin selected AVANCE-Austin to receive $100,000 grant! Impact Austin is an extraordinary group of women who combine annual donations from members and give multiple grants of more than $100,000 to local, worthy causes selected by their members. This year out of hundreds of applicants Impact Austin chose AVANCE and 9 other organization as finalist to give a 5 min presentation at their annual meeting. This grant will enable AVANCE-Austin to expand their parent-child education services to Del Valle, an underserved community with the highest child poverty rate in Travis County. More than 85% of children in Del Valle public schools are low-income. To date, there is no formal parenting program operating yet within the Del Valle School District.  The need for intensive child services to get these children school ready is great, as is the need for parental involvement. You all have made it possible to change the lives of so many children and their families. Gracias desde el fundo de nuestros corazones!

Executive Director Sofia Casini and Catherine Morse, General Counsel and Director of Public Affairs at Samsung.

United Way’s recently published research study found that children living in these communities were the least prepared in the city, with 18% in Dove Springs and 14% in St. John’s found to be “developmentally challenged” upon school entry. Thanks to funding made possible by Samsung and United Way we can extend our services to more families in these areas and make a greater impact not only one family at a time, but also on the neighborhoods they live in, and the larger community.

AVANCE board member Rebecca Leal with graduating mom.

We would like to thank our many supporters for such a successful year. With your help AVANCE was able to expand to new neighborhoods, serve over 200 parents and children, and increase our graduation rates. This year we saw the highest number of moms graduate than in the the last five years!

Our ceremony held on May 19th was the culmination of all of your support and the hard work from staff and our determined moms. We were so proud of our moms and children, for many of whom this is the first of many graduation ceremonies to come, we just had to share the happiness and joy of the day with you. We would like to especially thank MC Karla Leal of Telemundo and keynote speaker Claudia Santamaria, Director of Parent Support with AISD, for taking their time and dedicating it to our families to make this event that much more special.

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