Austin News

For more than a decade, nonprofit Austin Angels has been helping Central Texas foster care families, children and caretakers with support and various services. 

"Our kids who we are seeing come through the central Texas child welfare system are experiencing neglect, abandonment and and, you know, often they are the victim of physical, sexual or emotional abuse. And just for safety, they're removed from their homes. And the goal is for parents to work a service plan and for them to simultaneously the kids have a safe place where they can heal and recover in that process," Christa Wilbur, case manager and program events coordinator for Austin Angels, said in a podcast with Inside Austin.

Wilbur said that more than 4,400 children are in the foster care system in regions from Waco to San Marcos. 

"50% won't graduate from high school, 97% won't go to college, and anywhere from 31% to 46% of youth who are in foster care experience are homeless," Wilbur said.

Wilbur said because of this, the organization is mission-focused on helping those in the foster care system. 

"Our whole mission really is to walk alongside children in foster care systems and their caretakers and really being smart, offer a consistent support through intentional giving, relationship building and internships that we want to come alongside families who are fostering and using children who are experienced foster care and really provide limited, consistent support to them and ultimately change the way the foster care system, the child welfare system functions," Wilbur said.

The three core values of Austin Angels is community, empowerment and hope, Wilbur said.

"So first of all, community is so essential." Wilbur said. "So our programs and our organization is a really practical, tangible way to say, OK, you are not ready to foster and you're not ready to adopt. But we have this this bridge that we can help from this program that can help bridge the gap between families and the need for foster parents. And so we get to engage our community and we get to provide that community for everyone who is experiencing any part of foster care."

Wilbur said that a lot of children in the foster care system have experienced some type of trauma, and the community is important in helping children heal that trauma by developing healthy relationships.

"We are are engaging our local community and we are also providing community to families and kids and creating more sustainable, healthy relationships for them and then empowerment," she said. 

As the second important factor of Austin Angels core values, Wilbur said the organization wants kids to know and feel they have a voice. 

"We want kids to have a voice. We want you to have a voice. You want them to feel like they can speak up for their needs," Wilbur said. "We want them to feel like they have a say in who they're becoming and their futures. And that is what we do through our programs. We really give them the tools to come alongside their caretakers and give them the tools that they can. We always say so they can grow out who they were always intended to become. But then we also really want to empower our community again."

Wilbur said by providing children and caretakers with a solid foundation of support and community, while also helping those in the system feel heard and empowered, they offer many children hope who did not have hope before. 

CEO Suzanne Ramirez began Austin Angels more than 10 years ago, Wilbur said.  Ramirez and friends used to volunteer monthly at organizations around the Austin area. After Ramirez heard startling statistics about the children in the foster care system, they began the Luvox program.

Wilbur said to continue the kind of work Austin Angels does, and to help more children living in the foster care system, it is important for people to volunteer. 

"Our No. 1 need is volunteers," Wilbur said. "We have families that we want to support in our family-focused program. We need a committed volunteer who is going to show up for them every single month for at least a year. And we need mentors. We're going to commit to mentoring youth at least twice a month. And so you can apply for both of us programs on our website."

For more information, or to sign up to volunteer, visit austinangels.com.