Proposition A, the ballot item associated with Capital Metro's Project Connect plan, passed Nov. 3 with 57.94% of the vote—240,433 votes to 174,528 against—across Travis and Williamson counties. (Amy Denney/Community Impact Newspaper). Community Impact- December 2020
Newly appointed transit board to oversee implementation of $7.1B Project Connect plan
Monica Guzmán from Go Austin/Vamos Austin said the communities of color were not engaged in the selection process for the Austin Transit Partnership. Many others complained that the notice for the meeting was only posted 72 hours ahead of time, well shy of the week, and sometimes two-week, notice practice of Austin City Council…
Medium- October 2nd, 2020
Engaging Communities to fight a climate crisis
Frances Acuña has lived in the Dove Springs neighborhood in Southeast Austin for 23 years. She knows every place it floods when it rains — such as the intersection at Brassiewood Drive and Pleasant Valley Road, in the street along Turnstone Drive, and near the Nuckols Crossing Bridge that spans Williamson Creek….
Laura Olson, Director of School Health Equity, and Michelle Mejia, Early Childhood Health Equity Organizer, spoke with KXAN on September 18th, 2020.
Pandemic silver-lining: Why more parents are looking into home-based child care
“We know that the first five years of life are crucial for setting the tone for a child’s lifelong learning, and when a child is in a family childcare environment, they are receiving that fundamental base of learning, and support, and security that will allow them to be successful in the future,” said Laura Olson, the director of Early Childhood & School Health Equity with GAVA…
Carmen Llanes Pulido, Executive Director, speaking to Community Impact about Project Connect, August 27th, 2020
Austin looks to ensure potential $7.1B Project Connect investment does not deepen city's inequality
“Displacement is imminent with a light-rail system. You better have all your anti-displacement and affordable housing initiatives penciled in from the beginning,” said Carmen Llanes Pulido, Executive Director of Go Austin Vamos Austin…
GAVA organizer Frances Acuña works with the Office of Sustainability in August 2020.
As August Scorches Austin, Volunteers Map City's Hottest Streets
Volunteers have fanned out in Austin and 12 other U.S. cities this summer to take the temperature of their neighborhoods – literally. The data collection is part of a project to help protect people as the world warms. And, in many places, it is highlighting how already-vulnerable communities suffer the most from climate change and urban heat…
Monica Guzmán, Policy Director for Go Austin/ Vamos Austin speaks with Farm & City 2020 on July 8th, 2020
Policy Drivers Episode Two: Monica Guzmán of Austin’s GAVA
Policy Drivers is a series of video conversations that Farm&City’s 2020 Summer Interns are conducting with public policy leaders across the state. They spoke with Monica Guzmán, Policy Director at GAVA about her work and the future of policy at GAVA…
KXAN- June 11, 2020
aisd expects ‘blended model’ for the fall, likely students will continue to work from home
One of the task force members, Laura Olson, said she is representing community group Go Austin! Vamos Austin! and working to make sure every family’s situation is considered. “Different kinds of schedules or different kinds of calendars, and whether we have children at home alone or families who are working,” she said. “We are making sure those types of things are being thought through.”…
Texas Tribune - June 11, 2020
Austin city council unanimously limits police officers’ use of force and asks for cuts to department
Monica Guzman, Policy Director for Go Austin/Vamos Austin, a community health coalition, expressed support for reallocating funding from police as a more cost-effective solution to promoting community safety than investing in law enforcement…
Austin 360 - June 11, 2020
St. david’s foundation gives first $3.5 million in coronavirus relief to 77 local nonprofits
St. David’s Foundation Thursday announced the recipients of the first part of its $10 million COVID-19 relief fund. The first $3.5 million will go to 77 local nonprofit organizations, including Go Austin/Vamos Austin…
Photo by Phil Roeder
Council approves $6.9M in agreements for remaining RISE funds
May 11th, 2020- Monica Guzmán, policy director for Go Austin/Vamos Austin, or GAVA, demanded at least $70 million of the Coronavirus Relief Fund be allocated to the RISE fund and distributed by the Equity Office in the form of prepaid gift cards, direct deposits or bank-to-bank transfers…
Policy Director, Monica Guzmán spoke with KXAN on May 7th, 2020.
Austin and Del Valle parents and caregivers can soon get food from school districts
“This pandemic has really shed the light, you know, and made it more obvious about the inequities, the lack of access to healthy food,” said Monica Guzmán, Policy Director at Go Austin Vamos Austin…
Austin Chronicle- April 2020
first nonprofits receive rise funds
Family Independence Initiative, a national nonprofit that has an office in Austin, will also receive $2 million to administer to “several small community-based organizations,” per the city’s announcement. One such partnership is already in place, with Go Austin/Vamos Austin, a nonprofit that primarily helps East Austin residents access healthy foods and maintain active lifestyles within their neighborhoods…
Carmen Llanes Pulido, Executive Director of GAVA, spoke with Austin Monitor in early 2020.
LDC, Community health and Built environment
Carmen Llanes Pulido, who is the executive director of Go Austin/Vamos Austin, sits down with Austin Monitor reporter Jessi Devenyns and editor Elizabeth Pagano to talk about GAVA’s work battling displacement and addressing all facets of public health in Austin. In this show we get into the impact of all manner of city policy on community health, so to hear how things like the Land Development Code and resource allocation intersect with GAVA’s mission….