Megan Navarro
BUDA — In its 15th year of operation, Austin Angels is expanding how it serves the foster care community by opening a new facility in Buda.
The nonprofit organization’s mission is to walk alongside children, youth and families in the foster care community in Hays, Travis and Williamson counties by offering consistent support through intentional giving, relationship building and mentorship.
This is done through multiple programs, including Love Box, where foster families are matched with volunteers who walk alongside them on a monthly basis for customized support, which could look like anything from babysitting, tutoring, providing household essentials, offering emotional support when going to court and more.
“This is support that is really specifically tailored to meet the family’s needs. We recognize that every family and every child has completely different needs and so, we really want to make sure that the support that we are providing is customized to meet those needs,” said Catherine Marler, executive operations manager of Austin Angels.
Another program, Dare to Dream, offers one-on-one mentorship to youth in care ages 11-22. It matches mentors with youth to navigate life’s challenges together, providing advice, encouragement and a supportive community to prepare them to be an independent adult. Similar to Love Box, Austin Angels also created this program to be customized to what the specific individual wants and needs.
“They are there just to walk alongside them through life's challenges [and] life’s celebrations. They help to meet practical and emotional needs. So, some things that they will do with the mentees is to help them go through some tailored developmental milestones; that could look like opening up a bank account, getting a driver's license, creating a resume and applying for jobs,” Marler said. “We want this to be really customized to what the youth specifically is interested in. So, perhaps there's a youth who is in high school and they really want to make the football team, but they need some help getting their grades up to be able to do that, and then, maybe the mentor is going to come alongside them and help them with tutoring, support, be there to encourage, help them get to a place where they can then try out for the team and just achieve these different goals that they have for themselves.”
Austin Angels’ newest venture is a 8,500 square-foot Foster Care Community Center in Buda. The safe haven and gathering space will offer free programming, enrichment events, workshops and celebrations, including: spring break camp, summer camp, fall festivals, holiday parties, mother and father night outs and more. It will also serve as a public visitation center for children in the programs and their biological families, as well as a site for collaborative efforts with other foster care nonprofit groups.
The team moved into the building, which used to be a church, off FM 967 in January 2022 until it was demolished in mid-July to officially enter the construction phase of the Foster Care Community Center.
According to Marler, the team was beginning to outgrow the 4,400 square-foot space, leading them to want to expand it to nearly double in size to continue to serve the Central Texas area, but also the national organization, which has 19 chapters that span across 14 states.
The new building, which will include two stories, will have an upper level with office spaces for the Austin Angels team members; the downstairs level will serve as a community center, kitchen area, Love Box resource room, Dare to Dream learning lab and large training center to host events.
“This space is going to be available to all of the children, youth and families who are in our programs, as well as those who are on our wait list. Our hope is that our impact will continue to grow as we continue to work to reach more children and families who are not currently in our programs,” Marler explained. “There's some devastating statistics that surround the foster care community, like 80% of foster homes close within the first year and oftentimes, this is due to burnout and lack of support. Then, another statistic is that children in care will move on average seven times in two years. So, our hope is that through our programs, we can help to reduce this and we believe that offering the center as a warm and welcoming space that not only provides resources, but really wraps these children and families in community is what's going to help continue changing these statistics.”
Once the building is complete, Marler said that they will be working with a muralist who will design some large angel wings that will be placed on the exterior, wrapping around a portion of the side. The community can help Austin Angels’ mission in its Wings of Hope fundraiser. For every $100 contribution, individuals can receive a feather that will make up the wings of the mural and they can dedicate a name to it as well.
Austin Angels anticipates the Foster Care Community Center to be complete around May 2026.
To learn more about how to support Austin Angels’ mission, visit www.austinangels.com.
