Statesman Season for Caring begins 25th year with $500,000 match from Sheth family

Casey and Cody Campos hold each other's hands as they go for a walk in their neighborhood. Like all twins, there are differences — one wants to be a rock star and one can't communicate many of his needs; one works at H-E-B and the other's world must come to him; one is ambling down the street and the other is being pushed in a wheelchair. There are also similarities. The 28-year-olds love their mother, and they both have cerebral palsy.

The Campos brothers are part of the Statesman's 25th Season for Caring. Since 1999, we have shared the stories of about a dozen families each year. The families are first chosen by local nonprofit organizations, and then selected by a team of American-Statesman reporters and visual journalists.

The families all have different stories.

Kristin Ramirez is a single mom with six kids who is in treatment for breast cancer. Olivia R. Hernandez has lived in the same East Austin home for 52 years, but it's a home that is falling apart around her. The Mukire family escaped a war and then lived in refugee camps for 15 years in Burundi before coming to Austin. The Jerome family is trying to make it in Austin while grieving the loss of a 3-year-old daughter, who died from pneumonia. Their stories are both heartbreaking and inspiring.

We ask the community to give, not just to the families you will read about today and in the coming weeks, but to the nonprofit organizations that will help these families first as well as hundreds of other families they serve.

Since 1999, you have given more than $18.4 million in monetary donations and in-kind goods and services.

We're asking you to do it again. You will have some big help. Every dollar you donate through Christmas will be matched up to $500,000 by Brian and Adria Sheth. Brian Sheth is the founder and chief executive officer of Haveli, a private equity firm based in Austin.

The Sheths have generously set up this match and have been giving to Season for Caring since 2015. They've personally given more than $1.7 million to help local families through Season for Caring.

“We try to seize every opportunity to give back to Austin because of all Austin has done for us, and there is no better time than the holiday season for all of us to give whatever we can to support this amazing community," the Sheths said in an email.

How we help:Season for Caring raised $1.4 million in 2022. Here's how it changed the lives of families

Lasting effects of inflation, pandemic

In Austin and surrounding communities, as we emerge from three years of a pandemic, the costs of housing, food, gas, health care and utilities have all risen. Often, wages haven't kept up, and more families are struggling for basic needs and are being served by the Season for Caring partner nonprofits.

"Making ends meet is so difficult," said Simone Talma Flowers, executive director of Interfaith Action of Central Texas, which helps refugees and people who need housing repairs. "We've paid so much rent for people."

"Season for Caring allows us to give people the support when they need it without any barriers to get it," Talma Flowers said. "That has been so critical to building relationships and building trust."

If Interfaith Action of Central Texas didn't have Season for Caring donations, "we wouldn't be able to do any of this," she said. It would affect both the people who need the help and the staff. "Can you imagine not being able to say, 'I can give you the rent?' They have mustered all of the courage and asked you for something, and you have to turn them away."

Many of the refugees have post-traumatic stress disorder from fleeing their homes or wars. "We just want to be able to alleviate some of the pain so the transition can be as smooth as possible and they know that people care about them," Talma Flowers said.

The charitable dollars and federal dollars that came during the pandemic have started to slow down, said Veronda Durden, president and CEO of Any Baby Can, which assists families whose children need early intervention services.

Increasingly, many of the families Any Baby Can serves are living in poverty, and more are unhoused. The donations Season for Caring provides help Any Baby Can families with rent, diapers, formula, child care, transportation and food. "The needs are real," Durden said.

Season for Caring dollars "can be the difference between failing and surviving, to helping people to thrive," Durden said. "It's transformation for their lives; this is generational change."

Foundation Communities, which provides low-income housing, even with recent Season for Caring support, can't meet all of the requests made of its emergency assistance fund.

"We generally have 20 to 30 requests per month, but only enough funds to meet half of those requests," said Walter Moreau, executive director of Foundation Communities. He is working on the 2024 budget. Without Season for Caring, there would be very little money in that fund, he said.

"When families are having a hard time, especially because of things beyond their control, like a health emergency that results in the loss of work, then we need to do what we can to help," he said.

Backed by fiscal stewards

Season for Caring is thankful to be able to partner with the nonprofit organizations, plus the Austin Community Foundation, which provides the process to donate to Season for Caring. Credit card fees and a 1% processing fee come from donations. The nominating agencies receive the rest as grants for the chosen families' wish lists and to help other families.

Each year, the foundation processes about 1,500 donations that range from a few dollars to thousands of dollars. "Each mailed check or online contribution represents a gift from one person helping another," said Mike Nellis, CEO of Austin Community Foundation. "Austin Community Foundation is proud of our long-standing partnership with Season for Caring, a program that has the remarkable ability to mobilize the community and inspire giving."

Now is the time to mobilize again. Read the stories of this year's Season for Caring families, and please make a donation or check an item off a family's wish list.

Know that what you give will make a direct difference to a local family.

Donate to Season for Caring

• Read the stories of the featured families and find their wish lists, 1D
• Find a donation coupon on Page 5E or go to statesman.com/seasonforcaring to give online. This year, donations are being matched by the Sheth family through Christmas.
• Go to statesman.com/seasonforcaring to read more stories throughout the holiday season.