Impact Austin Women Making a Difference: Serving Trinity Center Austin
Impact Austin welcomed Trinity Center Austin as a Community Partner on June, 8, 2026. Less than four months later, Impact Austin was welcomed to an afternoon at Trinity Center! Eight members arrived on September 24 to provide dinner and learn more about Trinity's services to benefit their neighbors.
Trinity Center works alongside people experiencing homelessness in Austin, offering Mon-Fri drop-in services to address their basic needs. This can include meals, showers, clothing, ID assistance, bus passes, hygiene items, mail collection, vital document storage, and more. Trinity Center grew from the concern of parishioners of St. David's Episcopal Church for people experiencing homelessness, their downtown "neighbors" living in shelters or on the street near the church. That language from Trinity Center's website includes intentional use of the term "neighbors." Those of us serving at Trinity Center on Sep 24 heard that warm language used repeatedly and sincerely.
Volunteers like Impact Austin who facilitate dinners as part of the July-September Cooling Center have options for the meal service. They may cook a homemade meal and help serve it. They might cook a meal and drop it off while the staff distributes it. They may assemble the meal on-site. They may even buy a prepared meal or sponsor it by donating the funds. Impact Austin worked with everyone's favorite H-E-B to purchase sandwiches, chips, and cookies. Trinity Center added potato salad to the meal, and St. David's chef contributed even more cookies to the array so that we could distribute extra desserts among the neighbors dining in. Trinity Center serves 60 meals at each dinner, and breakfasts are served Mon-Fri between 8:00-10:00 AM.
Orientation for our volunteers included a brief tour and discussion of all services offered.
Impact Austin members awarded Trinity Center our primary Health & Well-Being Grant of $80,000. Our grant was unrestricted, and Trinity Center used some of that amount to expand this Summer Cooling Center Initiative. This program offers neighbors a chance to be indoors during hot afternoons to shower, obtain fresh clothing, nap, and have dinner in air conditioning. The Cooling Center runs Mon-Thu during July, August, and September. As of our visit, the Cooling Center had hosted 5,362 visits, serving 4,166 meals, and offering 849 showers, 862 fresh clothing outfits, 968 summer hygiene packs, 923 uses of the day sleep area, 3,364 bottles of water, 41 one-year bus passes, and 74 ID assistance transactions.
How else can Impact Austin women - and others - make a difference for Trinity Center as the Cooling Center Initiative concludes? How can we support the work they do for neighbors?
Volunteer with other Trinity Center efforts - Individual opportunities include bus passes distribution; shower facilitator; men's clothing closet; women's closet personal shopper; ID assistance. Days vary and shifts are 2-4 hours. Group efforts are coordinated in advance to serve breakfast, facilitate clothing closet distributions, man the front desk, or perform general cleaning. If you have a special skill that's not named, there is even opportunity to indicate that!
Amazon Wish List - Keep an eye on the list as items may change or availability may be impacted, but needs remain.
Donate financial support. Would you, your business, or your civic group be able to sponsor a 2027 Cooling Initiative or otherwise help expand service hours at Trinity Center?
Follow Trinity Center Austin on Social Media and share their work - Find them on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
Know that whatever you offer can make a difference for Trinity Center neighbors downtown.
Testimonials from Trinity Center neighbors as shared on their Facebook page.
