Nonprofit Awards $100K Grant To South Austin School Park

SOUTH AUSTIN, TX — Austin Parks Foundation officials said Thursday they would award their second ACL Music Festival Impact Grant totaling $100,000 to Houston School Park in Southeast Austin.

The funds are earmarked for development of a pavilion at the park to create a space for outdoor education opportunities and community activities, officials said.

“We had an extremely competitive grants pool this year, filled with amazing community-initiated projects submitted by passionate park adopters from all across the city,” said Ladye Anne Wofford, APF’s chief mission officer. “The Houston School Park team has been working tirelessly for years to improve their park. Austin Parks Foundation is thrilled to provide the funding to help bring this wonderful community asset to such a deserving park.”

The grant money will be combined with funding from the City of Austin Parks and Recreation Department and Austin Independent School District in support of the project. Additionally, the school’s PTA plans to raise funds from the community to act as matching funds for a portion of the grant, officials said. The new pavilion will enable students and members of the surrounding community to gather under a shaded structure for outdoor educational opportunities, youth sports events, family picnics, cultural or civic activities, and other events.

“This pavilion will not only support family events after school but also work as an outside learning area for our teachers and students,” said Elia Diaz-Eskew, principal at Houston Elementary School. “Our park is the heart of the community where everyone gathers for soccer tournaments, track and field, and after-school programs. It is well supported by the Houston community and will be well taken care of by AISD and our partnership with the City of Austin.”

Austin Parks Foundation added the Impact Grant last year to allow for a variety of large-scale park improvements throughout communities in Austin. The $100,000 grant is awarded once a year to one Adopt-a-Park group looking to make large-scale physical park improvements or implementation of a master plan for their designated park, officials explained.

The goal of the Impact Grant and the ACL Music Festival Park Grants Program is to expand the reach of Austin City Limits Music Festival’s generosity and offer more opportunities for local park adopters to take ownership of the care and maintenance of their neighborhood parks. Additional grants in the program include Community Grants, which vary from $5,000 to $50,000 and are intended for large-scale projects, and Neighborhood Grants that range from $500 to $5,000 for smaller-scale projects.

Austin Parks Foundation (APF) is a non-profit organization devoted to building public-private partnerships that develop and maintain parks, trails and open space in Austin and Travis County, according to information found on its website. Founded 25 years ago, APF hosts volunteer workdays and park activation events, provides resources for Adopt-A-Park leaders throughout the city, and offers training and education programs.

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