Dear Friends,

As many of you may have heard over the past two weeks, United Way Capital Area (United Way) has announced the results of its plan to refocus its Community Investment Grants (CIG) program.  Nearly half of current United Way partner agencies will not be funded in the future, and more than a dozen agencies have been awarded CIG funding for the first time.  Texas Advocacy Project is one of the twenty-one current partner agencies that has not been awarded CIG funding for the next three-year funding cycle.

We have confirmed with United Way that even though Texas Advocacy Project will no longer be an official United Way partner agency, we ARE still eligible to be designated as the recipient of donations made through workplace campaigns.  If you have designated Texas Advocacy Project as the recipient of your donations, you do not have to do anything as a result of United Way's change in focus.  Also, you may continue to make such a designation in future campaigns.

For each of the past several years, Texas Advocacy Project has received $30,000 in CIG funding and as much as $10,000 in workplace campaign designations.  The loss of the $30,000 will not cripple the agency, as it represents slightly less than three percent of our revenues, but it will challenge us to increase the funding generated by our supporters throughout the state.  United Way has graciously elected to offer modest transitional funding to agencies losing CIG funding, and we estimate that the Project will receive $7,500 of such funding in 2008.

In the past, United Way has sought to address basic and emergency needs of those with the most critical circumstances.  With its new approach, United Way is seeking to address the issue of poverty itself by focusing on three areas - education, health and financial stability - that are critical to the ability of individuals and families to become and remain self-sufficient.  You can read more about United Way's new approach by clicking on this link:

Learn More

For a list of agencies receiving CIG funding in 2008 by focus area, click on this link.

Learn More

We at Texas Advocacy Project have been fully informed about the new focus areas by United Way representatives over the past few months, and we knew that our services likely would not fit into United Way's new approach.  Despite our loss of CIG funding, we understand the reasons behind the changes implemented by United Way and have great hopes for the long-term success of their efforts.

I want to thank each of you for your ongoing support of our efforts to serve victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.  On behalf of our clients throughout the state of Texas, the board of directors and I offer you our very best wishes for a new year filled with good health and prosperity.

Sincerely,

Andrea Sloan
Executive Director

Texas Advocacy Project is a statewide non-profit organization providing legal solutions to victims of domestic violence and sexual assault.  For more about our programs and ways to support our mission please visit our website at www.texasadvocacyproject.org.

family violence legal line

800-374-hope (Statewide)

512-476-5770 (In Austin)

family law hotline

800-777-fair (Statewide)

512-476-1866 (In Austin)

sexual assault legal hotline

888-296-safe (Statewide)

512-225-9290 (In Austin)

technical advocacy hotline

888-325-safe (Statewide)

512-476-5386 (In Austin)