For the Parents’ Climate Community, December was a month of gifts.
Not only did we launch this beautiful new website, we were recognized as “Net-Zero Heroes” by the City of Austin’s Office of Sustainability. It was an energizing way to close out a busy year of climate education, service, and advocacy.
Looking back, I’m astounded by what our all-volunteer, grassroots group accomplished together. Some highlights:
- We launched a series of workshops on how to have climate conversations with kids.
- We advocated around the kids’ health and climate impacts of an I-35 expansion.
- We organized hands-on, kid-friendly service events with local non-profits like Ghisallo Cycling, Ecology Action, and Festival Beach Food Forest
- We spread awareness of parent-led climate action with a feature in Austin Family magazine, tabling at Waterloo Greenway, and a Facebook Live interview with The Austin Common.
- We connected like-minded caregivers and families at meetups throughout the year, like our holiday social at Cenote (pictured).
This year brought challenges, too. The pandemic continued to impact caregivers in ways big and small, and the overall stress, fatigue, and burnout that we all have been facing since 2020 have made it hard to actively engage our members. In September, our fiscal sponsorship application was denied, so our team is developing a new fundraising strategy to sustain our work and grow our impact.
What’s next? Stay tuned for a lineup of family-friendly meetups and easy but meaningful advocacy that you can plug into in the new year. A few sneak peeks:
- We will continue working with Rethink35 to put kids’ public health and kids’ rights to a livable climate at the center of the I-35 debate.
- We will launch monthly welcome calls to make it easier for members to connect with us.
- For the first time, we’ll also be rolling out a few ways that individuals can financially support our operations and help us develop a paid summer internship (hello, PCC merch!).
In the meantime, we’re taking a break to rest and be merry. Happy holidays, y’all, and we’ll see you in 2023!