Like the little ones we assist, Partnerships for Children has grown a great deal. In 1989, a group of concerned citizens created Community Partners of Dallas to assist CPS caseworkers in meeting the needs of abused and neglected children. Then in 1993, these efforts evolved into our first program, the Rainbow Rooms, which are 24/7 resource rooms. In 1998, with the help of First Lady of Texas, Laura Bush, the program was replicated throughout Texas.

In February of 2003, this initiative was brought to Austin as Partnerships for Children and was incorporated and gained 501c3 status. We opened the doors to the first Travis County Rainbow Room in September of that year.

In 2004, we began our second program, Holiday Wishes. We hosted its first toy drive, brightening the lives of 250 children who couldn’t be home for the holidays.

After seeing what a difference our two programs were making in the lives of the children in CPS, we decided to work on making an even bigger impact through annual fundraising. In 2006, we hosted our 1st Annual Gala. In 2010, Cover 3 hosted its 1st Annual Golf Classic for us. In 2011, we hosted our 1st Annual Girls & Giving Event and the 1st Annual Byrd & Street Mistletoe Jam.

In 2012, we were awarded the Impact Austin grant. This enabled us to launch our third program, YES Mentoring, to support youth aging out of foster care.

In 2014, we announced our fourth program, the Heart Gallery of Central Texas, at our 10th Anniversary Celebration. This program helps children who’ve been waiting to be adopted find their forever home.

At the end of our 2014 fiscal year, our annual operating budget broke the $1 million mark. What an amazing accomplishment! We’d gone from a group of concerned citizens to a major force for good in Central Texas. And we haven’t stopped growing…we kicked off our current fiscal year with a $2.2 million operating budget.

Our volunteer initiative, Teens4Teens, began in the summer of 2016. We knew this was a wonderful opportunity for young people to get involved in their communities and be encouraged to maintain that spirit of generosity as adults.

In 2017, Forever Families found a new home on CBS Austin and has featured over 125 children available for adoption on their weekly segments.  The following year, we expanded Forever Families to Waco and now host weekly segments on KXXV Central Texas. 

In 2018, we were approached by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation to take over the backbone support for Foster Community; a network of nonprofits, government agencies and community leaders dedicated to increasing the number and diversity of healing foster and adoptive families in Central Texas.

In 2019, we expanded our resource services coverage and took over management of the Rainbow Room in Waco.  We closed our 2018-2019 fiscal year with an operating budget of $2.2 million with 88% being utilized for programming. 

We’re excited to see what the next chapter holds for Partnerships for Children and you!