Looking Back at 2022: A Letter From Our Executive Director
One of the best parts of my job is hearing community members say “Oh, wow!” or “Look at this place!” or simply gasp when they come into the center for the first time. Some say they feel like they’ve found their people. Some even say it feels like coming home. We know the world can be tough out there, but you can count on ACR to do all we can to provide a joyful respite and a brighter, more resilient future for our community.
As the last few days of yet another hectic year fall away, we wanted to take a few moments to slow down, look back and share our thanks for every person, every partnership and every new idea that came together to help ACR thrive this past year. Join us to look back at five of our favorite highlights from 2022:
Diverting our 1.5 millionth pound of creative materials from the landfill
We’re starting off with a doozy! This summer we hit 1.5 MILLION pounds of usable creative materials diverted from the landfill since our founding in 2009. That’s the equivalent of 3.5 blue whales, the largest animal on Earth! These incredible contributions from our community have made ACR the largest creative reuse center in Texas and one of the largest in the country!Celebrating with our community at the Austin PRIDE Parade in August
For years, we’ve considered our center to be a safe and inclusive space for folks to come and be their true selves. Participating in the Austin PRIDE Parade - our first time! - was the perfect way to support our LGBTQIA2S+ staff, volunteers and community while sharing the joy of reuse with all of Austin. The next time you’re in the center, be sure to check out the mosaic panels, rainbows and dragon head from our “Beyond the Rainbow” float.Hiring ACR’s very first full-time dedicated Volunteer Coordinator
Did you know that ACR was originally 100% volunteer run and that volunteers still make up approximately 40% of ACR’s total labor hours? We literally could not do what we do without the time and talents of our dedicated team of volunteers. And now we’re excited to have a full time staff person dedicated to making sure all our volunteers feel welcomed, impactful and appreciated. We’d love for you, too, to join Madison and the best volunteer team in town!Expanding our educator support programs
Being an educator is hard work, y’all, and we want to help make it just a little bit easier. In 2022, we hired our first full-time dedicated Education Coordinator through support from the AmeriCorps VISTA program. Harley is hard at work giving educators of all kinds access to the supplies, resources and community they need to support every student with vibrant, well-stocked classrooms and high-impact STEAM education opportunities.Growing our reuse market to two weekends
We started our outdoor reuse markets in December 2020 to support local makers when most other holiday markets - the major source of income for many - had been shut down due to Covid. Starting with just a couple dozen makers in our new outdoor space, our Holiday Reuse Market has now grown to two weekends showcasing more than 90 local reuse creators. Our goal is to make our markets as accessible as possible by removing as many barriers as possible. What can we say? We believe that creativity is for everyone.
With all this and more, the future is looking bright for our reuse community. And you can help us continue this work by shopping online or in our center, buying a gift card for yourself or a friend, donating gently used creative materials, making a financial contribution or simply sharing your love for ACR with your friends and family.
So let’s raise a knitting needle, reuse canvas or $5 ACR bucket to health, happiness and creativity in 2023!
Happy New Year from all of us at ACR!
~ Jennifer Evans
Executive Director
December 31, 2022