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LifeWorks Breaks Ground On East Austin Location

LifeWorks East Austin Youth and Family Resource Center
Image courtesy LifeWorks
Artist's rendering of LifeWorks East Austin Youth and Family Resource Center.

The Austin non-profit LifeWorksbroke ground today on a new East Austin family resource center. The social services organization says it will increase its ability to serve young people and families in crisis by 25 percent.

LifeWorks already helps about 10,000 families a year through housing programs, counseling and education. They have surpassed their capacity to serve more people, so this will allow them to expand in a community with increasing need.

"Poverty tends to be a very vicious generational cycle," LifeWorks executive director Susan McDowell told KUT News. "We're instead offering a lot of support and opportunity to help young people decide to get a GED, or I'm going to graduate from school, enter a workforce program a college. We are at that critical junction in the road for a lot of youth."

You can see a site plan for the project here. This map shows where it will be built.

View Larger Map

Nathan Bernier is the transportation reporter at KUT. He covers the big projects that are reshaping how we get around Austin, like the I-35 overhaul, the airport's rapid growth and the multibillion dollar transit expansion Project Connect. He also focuses on the daily changes that affect how we walk, bike and drive around the city. Got a tip? Email him at nbernier@kut.org. Follow him on Twitter @KUTnathan.