From Manos de Cristo, this month's Get Involved Spotlight nonprofit:
Manos de Cristo’s Mission: Manos de Cristo empowers low-income individuals with a loving hand of assistance and welcomes all regardless of age, gender, race, or religious preference. Inspired by the Christian ideals of service and compassion, Manos promotes dignity and self-reliance by providing essential oral care, furthering educational development, and meeting basic needs with food and clothing.
Who we are: Manos de Cristo serves tens of thousands of people annually in the Greater Austin community and beyond who are underprivileged. We provide critically important services to our clients in order to enable them to walk on a road toward self-sufficiency. Our focus is on the critical components that build a healthy way of life for children, families, and individuals living in poverty. By providing dental care, adult educational tools, food and clothing and back to school basics for young students, we offer our clients a path to a better life.
Volunteers: Manos provides a gateway for volunteers within the Austin community to reach out with helping hands and dignity to people who are struggling for survival. At Manos we believe in our three prong approach to serve the working poor in Austin through our Basic Needs, Education Programs and a low cost Dental Center. Manos de Cristo sustains these programs through many fundraising, donation, and volunteer efforts.
Education Programs: Information and communication are vehicles to power and independence and providing opportunities for advancement and academic success. Language and cultural barriers, as well as limited access to computers and the internet, create a deep divide in the community. Manos de Cristo offers classes English as a Second Language, citizenship, adult basic education in Spanish, and computer literacy at low cost.
Dental Center: Our 11-chair bilingual Dental Center provides a full range of dental treatments to the Austin community to relieve pain and prevent financially crippling medical bills that could result from poor dental health. We are the only full-service, low-cost dental center in Central Texas that offers affordable high-quality dental care to the working poor. Our professional staff provides emergency, preventative, and restorative care, including x-rays, sealants, and regular cleanings.
Back-To-School: Every summer local churches, corporations, foundations and individual volunteers work with Manos de Cristo to provide clothing and school supplies to more than 2,000 disadvantaged children in the Greater Austin area. The program is open to Pre-K through 5th grade students. Each student receives a backpack, two sets of clothing, and grade-appropriate school supplies.
Basic Needs: Manos de Cristo’s Food Pantry is open five days a week to clients who need emergency food for their families. The Clothes Closet offers gently used clothing to infants, children, and adults. Clients are eligible to receive assistance once every three months.
Volunteer Needs:
· Back to School volunteer
· Be a volunteer teacher
· Helper in our Clothes Closet or Food Pantry
· Organize a Food Drive
· Be an “Manos Ambassador”
· Dental professional volunteer
To volunteer, visit www.manosdecristo.org/volunteers to fill out a volunteer application.
To contact Manos de Cristo, call: 512-477-7454
Location: 4911 Harmon Avenue, Austin, TX 78751
Website: www.manosdecristo.org
Twitter: @ManosATX
Facebook: www.facebook.com/ManosATX
