YWCA Greater Austin Receives $16K Grant

AUSTIN, TX — YWCA Greater Austin has received a $16,000 grant aimed at expanding mental health services to geographically isolated areas across Central Texas, officials announced Thursday.

The funding is derived from the Access to Innovative Mental Health Services (AIMHS) initiative. Last year, YWCA Greater Austin received $45,550 from the St. David’s Foundation to lay the groundwork for this initiative, and in 2019 received an additional $100,000 from the Moody Foundation for capital funding.

“We are beyond grateful and honored that Austin Community Foundation has served as a catalyst to help us address the barriers that exist in the delivery of mental health services. Although mental health opportunities may be available to rural regions of Texas, they are not always accessible and affordable,” Daphne Garza, YWCA Greater Austin Interim Executive Director, said in a prepared statement. “By promoting both equality and equity, we are committed to improving the availability, accessibility, and affordability of quality behavioral health services for Central Texas’ rural residents.”

YWCA provides no-cost, trauma-informed mental health services for victims of crime and veteran women, and sliding fee services for the community-at-large out of the South Central Austin office and satellite offices in Round Rock and North Travis County, officials explained. YWCA therapists use a cultural relational theory-based approach to ensure the provision of culturally and linguistically appropriate mental health services for children, adults, individuals, couples, and groups, officials added.

As part of its mission, Austin Community Foundation is dedicated to closing the opportunity gap in Central Texas. To that end, the foundation has for more than 40 years invested in Austin in serving as a catalyst for generosity and change. For its part, YWCA Greater Austin has provided mental health services to thousands of Central Texas residents. For more information or to schedule a counseling appointment please call (512) 326.1222.