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About Southwest Key Programs
Southwest Key Programs is a national nonprofit organization providing transformative education, innovative safe shelters and alternatives to in-carceration for over 6,000 youth each day, while creating opportunities for their families to become self-sufficient. The inspiring youth and parents we work with are seeking the American dream: equality, education, and a higher quality of life. At Southwest Key, we simply open the doors to opportunity so they can achieve these dreams.
Southwest Key Programs is one of the largest Hispanic-led nonprofits in the country, employing a creative and diverse staff of over 1,000 employees. Because of Southwest Key’s work, thousands of youth have been diverted from prisons, jails, and institutions, enabling them to stay at home with their families and out of trouble. Southwest Key has reunified thousands of immigrant children with their families and provided these unaccompanied minors with 24-hour care and education. Southwest Key is one of only three nonprofits in Austin to be accredited by the Council on Accreditation, the nation’s leading human service accrediting body. |
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Southwest Key founder and CEO, Dr. Juan Sánchez, is proud to have built one of the most diverse nonprofits in the country, where over 90 percent of Southwest Key’s employees, including most top managers and board members, represent the youth we serve.
East Austin Community Development Center
Southwest Key’s national headquarters is located at the East Austin Community Development Center at 6002 Jain Lane, Austin, Texas. Southwest Key completed construction on the $8 million facility in the economically disadvantaged Govalle/Johnston Terrace neighborhood in 2007 to be a launching pad for increasing the educational attainment and employability of residents, leading to higher paid employees, increased tax revenues and civic and economic engagement of residents. The Center is home to a Boys & Girls Club, GED and ESL classes, the AMD Community Technology Center, an outdoor amphitheater and Latino arts program, and a variety of educational programs and recreational facilities.
East Austin Childrens Promise
Austin enjoys a reputation as one of the country’s most livable cities and
frequently occupies numerous top 10 lists of places to live and work.
Although that is true for many, the realities for the children of East Austin
paint a different picture. East Austin has suffered from systematic economic
under-investment for many years. The result is that children in these
communities fall behind their peers early on and struggle to keep up to
reach their potential.
Southwest Key Programs launched its East Austin Children’s Promise to ensure that for all East Austin children, that the best that Austin has to offer will also be available to them. To achieve this goal, Southwest Key Programs (SWK) is identifying partners who are interested in working together to provide a support
network that transforms neighborhoods and provides opportunities for all children to succeed.
The Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) is an internationally renowned
program in New York City that operates an integrated system of education,
social services and community-building programs within Harlem, (a pipeline if you will) to help
all children achieve their potential.
Here at Southwest Key’s, we have already begun to replicate this model starting in the Govalle/Johnston neighborhood where we are located, have a strong foothold and enjoy considerable community support and trust. Then, along with our partners, we envision building capacity to expand into other East Austin neighborhoods that need help. Through this model, wrap-around programs create a comprehensive support network that has the potential to transform a neighborhood.
We invite you to become one of our partners, and help make the East
Austin Children’s Promise a reality. Please contact Joella Brooks at
512.583.2518 or jbrooks@swkey.org or Esther Reyes at 512.583.2563or reyese@swkey.org for more information.
East Austin College Prep Academy
From the start, a cornerstone of all of our programs has been culturally-relevant education. For 12 years we have refined our model by operating leading alternative schools throughout Texas, preventing hundreds of youth from dropping out of school by providing them with individualized education in a therapeutic setting. Our innovative educational model was fully realized with the opening our charter middle school, the East Austin College Prep Academy, in 2009.
Southwest Key Social Enterprises
Just as we help our families to become self-sufficient, Southwest Key is taking innovative steps toward greater self-sufficiency itself. We operate two small businesses at the Center: Southwest Key Maintenance & Janitorial and Café del Sol (menu PDF). These social enterprises serve a double bottom line creating jobs for low income residents while bringing in funds to support the nonprofit mis-sion. Our Social Enterprise Complex, creating over 100 jobs and housing these and other workforce development initiatives, will be first of its kind in the country when construction is com-pleted at our East Austin Headquarters in 2011.
Document Downloads
Southwest Key Fast Facts
- Founded: 1987
- Legal Status: Nonprofit, charitable 501(c)(3) Social Service & Community Development Organization
- Staff: Over 1, 000 nationwide, ~960 in the field
- Programs: Southwest Key operates 55 juvenile justice and family programs, safe shelters for immigrant children, schools, and community building initiatives
- Number Served: Approximately 6000 youth and families impacted daily
- Headquarters: Austin, Texas
- Locations: 6 states, including Texas, California, New York, Georgia, Arizona, Wisconsin
- FY 2009: $58 million
- Funding: Grants and contracts by U.S. federal, state, and local government, foundations, and corporations; special events; private contributions
- Social Enterprises: Southwest Key Enterprises, Southwest Key Café del Sol, Southwest Key Maintenance, Southwest Key Properties, Southwest Key Workforce Development
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