Community Austin, Spiritual Austin And Government Assistance Austin

• Community Resources
• Spirituality
• Government Services

The Austin area is a caring community. As the summer wildfires in Bastrop and around Central Texas dramatically demonstrated, emergencies can strike anyone. The American Red Cross of Central Texas responds with shelter, food, counseling and other assistance  to a house fire in Central Texas approximately every 48 hours. 

Not only fire but situations such as injury, illness, unemployment or the loss of a loved can arrive on anyone's doorstep at any time. There are many Austin resources for not only material assistance, but emotional support and counseling as well.

One of the best first steps in finding community help in Austin is the United Way Capital Area. Anyone can call 2-1-1 for free information and referrals to health and human service agencies, nonprofit and faith-based organizations, disaster relief resources, and volunteer opportunities for help regarding health care, employment, educational, legal, housing, counseling, transportation needs and other Austin support groups 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

There are numerous Austin mediation groups and churches in Austin bringing Austinites together in fellowship that also reach out to the Austin community in ways such as food pantries and other community assistance. Austin faith based organizations and Austin ministries include not only Austin churches, but emergency resources like the Austin Salvation Army and the Austin Disaster Relief Network providing shelter and other assistance.

There are also services in Austin offered by the city of Austin, state of Texas agencies and the Travis County government. The telephone number to contact the city of Austin for non-emergency city issues and questions is 3-1-1.

Another way to find information about federal, state, county, city, neighborhood, and charity program information on help in Austin is the Aunt Bertha website. A non-profit based in Austin, the Aunt Bertha online database helps determine what programs someone is eligible for and how to apply for over 200 human service organizations in the Austin area.