In July 2012, we facilitated a Handy.Women program at Saint Louise House where WDB instructor and handywoman, Samantha Hurst, taught SLH single mothers how to use tools and tackle basic maintenance projects. Saint Louise House is a nonprofit organization that provides affordable housing and essential services to mothers and children experiencing homelessness in Central Texas.

We’re excited to announce that we have received a grant through Open Meadows Foundation to conduct a second workshop series this summer 2013! 

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Read last year’s staff and participant feedback here:

Saint Louise House staff response:

The Handy.Women program “was an incredible opportunity for women to gain self confidence, hands on experience, and a sense of community while participating in a skill building workshop. The evaluations and feedback were overwhelmingly positive, and it was one of our most successful on-site activities…The Women.Design.Build leadership team was attentive to the unique needs of Saint Louise House and the population we serve, and went out of their way to provide a program that was tailored to our program participants and incorporated agency concerns. Their openness and flexibility allowed us to successfully collaborate and create an opportunity for women to gain valuable skills they can take with them even after they leave Saint Louise House”.

Participant testimonials: 

Beginning at 7 p.m. on March 4, more than 300 nonprofits in Austin will collectively raise $1 million in 24 hours. Sounds like a big goal, but we’re sure our community can meet and even exceed that number. We hope you will consider donating to Women.Design.Build during this time!

A monetary donation will help to offset the material and operating costs it takes to run these three programs:

Handy.Women
Last summer 2012, we conducted a three week handy women program at Saint Louise House. SLH provides affordable housing to formerly homeless single moms and their children. This summer, we will be holding a four week program where we will teach the moms how to safely and confidently use basic tools, tackle basic maintenance and home renovation projects.

Military Widow
Once a month, we facilitate hands-on workshops for the military widow community of American Widow Project as part of their widowU program.

Girls.Design.Build
We are currently working to develop and strengthen our partnerships with 3 renowned youth organizations: Girl Scouts, Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders, and Girlstart. Through hands-on workshops, lectures, and mentorships, we’ll have the opportunity to introduce these young women to the wonderful world of design, architecture, building, engineering, and technology.

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The minimum donation is $25, which will go a long way! 25 dollars will:

• Purchase a tool kit for our Handy.Women program

• Cover the costs of one widow to attend our Military Widow program

• Cover the costs of one girl to attend our Girls.Design.Build workshop

We recently held a Glass Etching workshop with our good friends at MAKEatx: a member-based fabrication shop located in East Austin. This marked the second collaborative workshop we’ve held with them (in the first one, we used a laser cutter to create custom-made wooden earrings and pendants.

Here’s what we made in the Jewelry Making workshop:

And here’s what we made in the Glass Etching workshop. It reads “I’d Love To:  _________”:

One of the greatest compliments we receive is when participants share their WDB experiences through personal blog posts. Laura Feeney, a physics major and maker of all things, attended our Glass Etching workshop where she crafted a sweet Father’s Day glass. Throughout the class, she walked around camera in-hand documenting the machinery, participants, and final works of art. When I asked if she was a professional photographer, she explained, “nah, I’m just an amateur” and that she’s always been interested in the process of making and learning new artistic techniques.

Here’s what Laura had to say about her WDB experience:

Recently I learned of  Women.Design.Build, a local organization that encourages women to get involved in their community through design and construction activities. One way that they do this is through workshops where you can try out a new skill. Last week I attended a glass etching workshop at the MAKEatx studio. You know how we etched our pint glasses? With a giant LASER! Right up my alley, reminding me of days spent in the basement of the UT physics building working with lasers. The MAKEatx laser is much more awesome than any laser I used in the past.

To read the full blog post, vist Laura’s blog here.

There are many types of leaders. Some are unapologetic and caustic. Others are more compassionate and soft. Whether their heart is “two sizes too small” or larger than life, a great leader will never be forgotten.

One of the greatest female leaders in Texas history was Ann Richards. Even though Ms. Richards is no longer with us, her dynamic character will stand the test of time. So what about this fervent woman makes her so memorable? In Tuesday night’s lecture at the Moody Theatre entitled Can Women Change Politics? The Life and Politics of Ann Richards, the 3 guest speakers suggested it was Ann’s vibrant personality and acerbic wit that make her so unforgettable.

One of the speakers, actress Holland Taylor, who portrays Ann in a play of the same name, joyfully spoke of how the script was written for all of America, not just Ann’s friends and family. Taylor’s honest portrayal of the late Texas Governor provides a glimpse into the woman who, with humor and strength, fought to bring more women and minorities into power.

In addition to having a play written about her, Ms. Richards also has an all-girls school that bears her name. The Ann Richards School for Young Women Leaders prepares young women to attend and graduate from college, commit to a healthy and well-balanced lifestyle, lead with courage and compassion, and solve problems creatively and ethically in support of our global community. In less than a week, Women.Design.Build will facilitate an after-school program that introduces the Ann Richards students to five Female Leaders in Construction, Design, Business, and Technology. This is such a unique opportunity for everyone involved; we can only hope that Ann is somewhere beaming with delight. To read more about this program, visit our What We Do page.

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Just days following Ann’s death, her dear friend and columnist, Molly Ivins, humorously recalls an Ann Richards moment that we just had to share:

At a long-ago political do at Scholz Garten in Austin, everybody who was anybody was there meetin’ and greetin’ at a furious pace. A group of us got the tired feet and went to lean our butts against a table at the back wall of the bar. Perched like birds in a row were Bob Bullock, then state comptroller; moi; Charles Miles, the head of Bullock’s personnel department; and Ms. Ann Richards. Bullock, 20 years in Texas politics, knew every sorry, no good sumbitch in the entire state. Some old racist judge from East Texas came up to him:

“Bob, my boy, how are you?”

Bullock said, “Judge, I’d like you to meet my friends: This is Molly Ivins with the Texas Observer.”

The judge peered up at me and said, “How yew, little lady?”

Bullock, “And this is Charles Miles, the head of my personnel department.” Miles, who is black, stuck out his hand, and the judge got an expression on his face as though he had just stepped into a fresh cowpie. He reached out and touched Charlie’s palm with one finger, while turning eagerly to the pretty, blond, blue-eyed Ann Richards. “And who is this lovely lady?”

Ann beamed and replied, “I am Mrs.Miles.”