Heart House Austin is a free after school program dedicated to providing a safe haven and academic support to low-income children and encouraging them to become good citizens.

To grow up to be healthy and productive citizens, children need critical resources now to build a better future, including:

-Ongoing relationships with caring adults; -Safe places with structured activities during non-school hours; -Health and mental health; -Marketable skills/competencies acquired through education and youth development; and -Opportunities to give back through community service and civic participation.

Heart House keeps kids safe and on track.

-0% of Heart House children were victims of violent crime or engaged in juvenile delinquency.

-Children were well-supervised: The average daily adult to child ratio was 1 adult to every 4.6 children.

Heart House improves kids’ behavior at school and at home.

-Teachers believe 74% of Heart House children have shown an improvement in behavior with adults and other children at school.

-96% of parents report that they have seen their child exhibit positive and productive interactions at home since attending Heart House.

Heart House improves kids’ achievement at school.

-96% of parents believe their children are doing better academically because Heart House offers homework hour and reading time every day.

-Teachers agree, and report that 81% of Heart House children have shown an improvement in quality and frequency of homework turned in.

-100% of Heart House children improved their reading level by at least one level or improved their TAKS reading scores.

Heart House helps working families.

-While the work day grows longer for working parents, the school day has not. The gap is as much as 25 hours per week for some families. -Polling nationally shows that 87% of working mothers say the hours after school are when they are most concerned about their children’s safety. The need for afterschool care in Austin is great. -70% of school-age youth in low-income Travis County zip codes do not have access to afterschool programming.

VOLUNTEER Volunteers are the key to ongoing well-being of Heart House. Without this invaluable resource, we would be forced to engage large numbers of paid staff.

There are, of course, considerable potential benefits to the volunteer. Volunteering can be one of the most rewarding experiences ever. Getting involved in community life demonstrates responsible citizenship and combined with the efforts of many others, makes our community a better place to live.

Volunteers are the BACKBONE of Heart House: without them we’d be forced to hire an army of staff to keep our low child to adult ratio. Please consider choosing Heart House as your volunteer commitment—you’ll be making a BIG difference for underserved children in distressed neighborhoods. Our greatest need is for caring adults to donate 1-2 hours per week as afterschool program volunteers. No experience necessary! Our fun programs make Heart House a community of learning for everyone! Austin Volunteer Opportunities and Orientations:

Children’s Daily Schedule: **Monday-Thursday (Fridays are fun, free time days)

3:00-3:15 Snack and Free Time 3:15-4:15 Homework Time 4:15-4:30 Book and Announcements or Outside Time 4:30-5:30 Thematic Activity or Computer Time 5:30-6:00 Clean-up Time and Free Time outside Heart House Austin is currently seeking these volunteers:

2:00-3:00PM – “Program Prep” The Program Prep Volunteer assists staff in preparing the program before the children arrive. Responsibilities include such things as setting up chairs and tables, sharpening pencils, organizing supplies, preparing snack, and making worksheets.

3-4:30 PM – “Volunteer Tutor” The Volunteer Tutor, under the guidance of the Program Leaders, will be assigned a study group to work with. This volunteer’s primary role is to aid children with their homework. This volunteer will also help serve snack and help children transition to book time.

Duties include: -Aid and encourage children in the completion of homework. -Discuss the importance of academic achievement and college with the children. -Praise students when they excel on a test, assignment, or retention of a concept. -Serve snack and encourage children to sit down while eating and clean-up after themselves. -Remind children to be quiet during reading and announcements

4:30-6 PM – “Afterschool Volunteer” The Afterschool Volunteer, under the guidance of the Program Leaders and the Program Director, will supervise the children during activity time, computer time and clean-up. This volunteer’s role is primarily socializing with, supervising, and mentoring the children.

Duties include: -Begin and supervise assigned thematic curriculum activity with kids. -Supervise children in computer lab and/or outside. -Remind children to respect the Heart House and clean-up after themselves. -Talk to kids about their day and about the day’s theme. -Supervise the clean-up of Heart House.

4:30-6:00PM – “Reading Buddy” This volunteer will receive specialized training, in addition to the Heart House orientation, that focuses on working with struggling readers. Depending on the number of children in the group (usually between 1-4) this volunteer may be paired up with another volunteer to work together. Reading groups meet on a weekly basis.

Duties include: -Do Getting to Know You Interview with the children in your group. -Develop lesson plans and fun activities for weekly meetings. -Start dialogue journals with each child in your group. -Do Guided Reading exercises with group. -Maintain Personal Word Wall with group.

Important information: -Volunteer orientations for Heart House Austin take place at our center at Heart House at Vintage Creek. -To volunteer or learn more, please email our Volunteer Coordinator or call 929-8187. -Feel free to set up a tour and short orientation with our volunteer coordinator, as well.

— Hawk Mendenhall