REGULAR MEETING OF THE AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 4TH, 2026, AT 2:30 P.M. CITY HALL, BOARD & COMMISSION ROOM, ROOM 1101 301 W. 2nd STREET AUSTIN, TEXAS Some members of the Austin Travis County Public Health Commission may be participating by videoconference. The meeting may be viewed online at: http://www.austintexas.gov/page/watch- atxn-live Public comment will be allowed in-person or remotely via telephone. Speakers may only register to speak on an item once either in-person or remotely and will be allowed up to three minutes to provide their comments. Registration no later than noon the day before the meeting is required for remote participation by remotely, contact Daniela Romero, daniela.romero@austintexas.gov or Juanita Jackson at Juanita.jackson@austintexas.gov. telephone. To to speak register CURRENT BOARD MEMBERS OR COMMISSIONERS: Natalie Poindexter, Chair Enrique Lin Shiao, Vice Chair Jawad Ali Chris Crookham Cara Dahlhausen Jacob Whitty Martha Lujan William Rice EX-OFFICIO BOARD MEMBERS/COMMISSIONERS: Adrienne Sturrup, Director, Austin Public Health Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin/Travis County Public Health Authority Ana Almaguel, Division Director, Travis County Health & Human Services Perla Cavazos, Deputy Administrator, Central Health AGENDA CALL TO ORDER PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL The first 5 speakers signed up prior to the meeting being called to order will each be allowed a three- minute allotment to address their concerns regarding items not posted on the agenda. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Public Health Commission Regular Meeting on February 4th, 2026. DISCUSSION ITEMS 2. 3. 4. 5. Presentation by the Refugee Collective. Presentation by Meg Erskine, Co-Founder and CEO. Review and discuss goals set for FY 2026. Receive updates from commissioners on assigned action items. Discussion of draft recommendation “Bridging Public Health Funding” created by Commissioner Chris Crookham. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS ADJOURNMENT The City of Austin is committed to compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Reasonable modifications and equal access to communications will be provided upon request. For assistance, please contact the Liaison or TTY users’ route through 711. A person may request language access accommodations no later than 48 hours before the scheduled meeting. Please contact Daniela Romero at Austin Public Health, at daniela.romero@austintexas.gov, or Juanita Jackson at Juanita.jackson@austintexas.gov to request service or for additional information. For more information on the Public Health Commission, please contact Daniela Romero at daniela.romero@austintexas.gov or Juanita Jackson at Juanita.jackson@austintexas.gov.
T H E R E F U G E E C O L L E C T I V E 2024 Impact Report Producing Possibilities for Refugees Through Food & Fiber C E O R E F L E C T I O N S To Our Beloved Community: In 2024 we celebrated 15 years of creatively responding to the needs of Austin's refugee community. Our story has deep roots. It begins with four unlikely friends who met serendipitously and shared their unique perspectives and experiences to form the Multicultural Refugee Coalition in 2009. From 1946-1966, Central Presbyterian Church sponsored a family to support community development efforts in rural DR Congo, one of which was to teach sewing to local women. This was the family of our co-founder Sarah Stranahan, who many years later, taught sewing to refugee women here in Austin that began our work in the textile space. We cherish the beautiful light-filled space we get to work out of in the historic Central Presbyterian Church today for our office and textile studio, and love knowing that these roots run deep. During the Civil War in Liberia in 1989, Johnson Doe and Paul Tiah were from opposing counties. After many years in refugee camps in the Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone, both made their way to Austin, Texas through the federal refugee resettlement program. Paul arrived first in 2003 and invited Johnson over for dinner once he had arrived in 2004, since they were from the same country and spoke the same dialect. Even though they were supposed to be considered enemies, through love, acceptance, and reconciliation efforts they not only became the best of friends but consider themselves brothers. It is through their love and perseverance that they wanted to start an organization to support other refugees resettled to Austin and provide encouragement and resources to ease their journey. Finally, as a conservation biologist, I was yearning for a more international experience and the world came to me in my own community when I began teaching ESL to refugees in 2006 and met so many people sharing their desires and dreams in their new city of Austin that it changed my life forever. Some of these shared dreams included getting their hands in the dirt growing culturally desired food for their communities and being able to have the resources to sew things for their families. Through our …
-Providing Livelihood Opportunities for Refugees in Austin, Texas -Food Access for the Refugee Community -Implementing Texas’ First Resilient Farm Plan therefugeecollective.org Refugee Collective Farm Staff Matt Simon- Farm Director Matt Simon has been the Refugee Collective Farm Director since 2020. Prior to taking on this role, he managed another certified organic farm, Green Gate Farms, in nearby Bastrop, Texas. His knowledge of all aspects of vegetable production anchor the farm’s food access and regenerative agriculture efforts. Sarah Sims- Community Farmer Program Manager Sarah Sims brings over a decade of experience in refugee-serving organizations, with a focus on program design, data systems, and continuous improvement. Prior to joining The Refugee Collective, she led state- and federal-level mental and physical health promotion initiatives. Sarah is passionate about designing programs that are both data- informed and deeply responsive to the lived experiences of participants. The Refugee Collective Producing Possibilities through Food and Fiber -20 acre Certified Organic farm employs 8 year round refugee team members and 4 seasonal team members growing organic vegetables and eggs for our CSA and Wholesale Outlets -Textile Studio employs 4 year round team members in private label production and our own line of “Farm to Fiber” products which utilize natural dyes grown at the farm. Also piloting flax fiber production. -Wraparound Support for our refugee team members including rides to and from the farm for work and paid English instruction What is Regenerative Agriculture? -Includes common Organic practices such as crop rotation, cover cropping, compost application, and refraining from using chemical inputs that destroy life in the soil -In addition Regenerative Agriculture employs No-till planting methods, the establishment of Trees and other Perennials, and the integration of Animals into the Cropping System. -These are all codified in our Resilient Farm Plan, the First of its kind in Texas -Focus is on increasing biodiversity both above and below ground to build a more resilient, carbon rich system that produces more nutrient dense vegetables and animal products, leading to improved health outcomes Farm Livelihoods and Food Access for the Refugee Community -Through ARPA funding and other sources, we’ve built the capacity to send 50-80 Weekly CSA Shares to Refugee Households through partners including Global Impact Initiative, World Relief, IACT, and Literacy Coalition -Community Farmer Program provides education and resources to empower refugees to feed their own communities -78,000 lbs. of Organic Produce To Refugee Households since Fall of ‘22 through …
NEW LEAF AGRICULTURE EVALUATION REPORT 2024 TABLE OF CONTENTS 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 Introduction Methods, Quantitative Data Results, Quantitative Data Methods, Qualitative Data Results, Qualitative Data Conclusion Acknowledgements UTHealth | New Leaf Agriculture Report 2024 INTRODUCTION The Multicultural Refugee Coalition (MRC) is a non-profit organization in Austin, Texas, which creates refugee livelihoods through employment, training, and education. Since its inception in 2009, MRC has supported nearly 1,000 refugees from 20 countries by employing and training refugee farmers ensuring their long-term success as engaged community members. One of MRC’s programs, New Leaf Agriculture, is based on a 20- acre USDA-certified organic farm where refugee farmers learn about Central Texas agriculture methods and practice organic and regenerative farming techniques. The program is also designed to provide supplemental income to farmers and increase farmers’ families’ and their communities’ healthy food access. One component of the New Leaf Agriculture program focuses on primary farmers. Primary farmers are refugee farmers who work on the 20-acre farm and are full-time employees of MRC. They have a scheduled work time, are paid a wage, and receive additional benefits such as free transportation and English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. A second component of the New Leaf Agriculture program focuses on community farmers. Community farmers are refugee farmers who each manage a 750 sq. ft. production-size plot on the New Leaf Agriculture farm and earn supplemental income through produce sales. Before receiving a plot, farmers participate in a six-week training course on regenerative farming practices in Central Texas. New Leaf Agriculture provides supplies, land, education, and culturally specific seeds to the community farmers. Farmers choose which crops to grow, focusing on what they and their community desire, and farm according to their schedule. Produce grown by farmers is bought by MRC and then distributed either by the farmers to their communities or through partnerships with local organizations. UTHealth | New Leaf Agriculture Report 2024 As recipients of the Refugee Agricultural Partnership Program (RAPP) grant, MRC is expanding its New Leaf Agriculture program by providing agricultural land and training for at least 80 refugees. Evaluation of the program will be conducted yearly by The University of Texas Health Science Center School of Public Health (UTHealth) research team over three years. The evaluation is formative in design and fulfills the purpose of tracking the program’s progress toward anticipated short- and long-term outcomes while contributing to continuous …
AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION Wednesday, February 4th, 2025 AUSTIN TRAVIS COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, February 4th, 2026 The Austin Travis County Public Health Commission convened in a regular meeting on Wednesday, February 4th, 2026, at 301 West 2nd Street in Austin, Texas. Chair Natalie Poindexter called the Austin Travis County Public Health Commission Meeting to order at 2:47 pm. Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance: Natalie Poindexter, Chair Jawad Ali Chris Crookham Jacob Whitty Board Members/Commissioners in Attendance Remotely: Enrique Lin Shiao, Vice Chair Cara Dahlhausen William Rice Board Members/Commissioners Absent: Martha Lujan Ex-Officio and Staff in Attendance: Dr. Desmar Walkes, Austin/Travis County Public Health Authority Perla Cavazos, Deputy Administrator, Central Health Ana Almaguel, Division Director, Travis County Health & Human Services Daniela Romero, Staff, Austin Public Health Ex-Officio and Staff in Attendance Remotely: Megan Cermak Juanita Jackson Ex-Officio and Staff Absent: Adrienne Sturrup PUBLIC COMMUNICATION: GENERAL Sharon Behill, CEO of Communities In Schools of Central Texas, advocated for the protection of prevention-focused social services amidst ongoing city budget cuts. She emphasized that school-based "upstream" interventions for student mental health and trauma are vital, cost- effective investments that prevent more expensive long-term crises in public safety and emergency systems. APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1. Approve the minutes of the Austin Travis County Public Health Commission regular meeting on February 4th, 2026. The minutes for the regular meeting of January 7th, 2026, were approved on Commissioner Jacob Whitty’s motion, Commissioner William Rice second on a 7-0 vote. (Absent: Commissioner Martha Lujan) DISCUSSION ITEMS 2. 3. Presentation by One Voice on impacts of federal funding cuts. Presentation by Sam Woollard, Peter Arellano and Lynne Skinner. Received updates from commissioners on assigned action items. External Coordination: Although absent, Commissioner Luhan is reportedly coordinating future discussions with the Public Safety Commission and Capital Metro. Sexual Health Funding: Efforts to secure data from Austin Public Health (APH) are ongoing. The Commission discussed postponing this item temporarily due to budget uncertainties or shifting the focus to qualitative outcomes rather than just funding. Member Updates: Brief updates were noted regarding recommendations from Commissioners Dahlhausen and Commissioner Crookham, which were slated for the subsequent agenda items. Refugee Clinic: Commissioner Ali introduced Refugee collective CEO to staff. Staff is coordinating presentations for next meeting. 4. Discussed draft recommendation “Bridging Public Health Funding” created by Commissioner Chris Crookham. Commissioner Chris Crookham presented a draft recommendation addressing the …
