Welcome to The Core

Welcome to The Core, our blog where we’ll share videos, photos, and updates on what’s happening at Texas Appleseed. For our inaugural post, we’re catching you up on a few of our Core videos we released earlier this year:

We couldn’t let the Summer Olympics pass without a fun video of us giving gold to some of the best in Texas. With an Olympic torch in hand, watch to see why we award gold to Houston ISD, 35 Texas cities, Scott Douglass & McConnico LLP, the Community Loan Center of Texas and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

We also introduced our new project, Helping Texas Homeless Youth, in this next video. Between the 2007-08 and 2012-13 school years, the number of homeless students enrolled in Texas’ public schools increased by nearly 90 percent. We talk about how we're working to tackle the problem of youth homelessness in Texas and the upcoming resources we'll be sharing to help this population.

Our next Core blog featured surprise experts (hint: cute kids ahead) andfocuses on our work to help end discretionary suspensions for Texas elementary school students. Districts across Texas suspend, make alternative school referrals, and expel students at alarming rates. Watch to learn some eye-opening statistics.

For national Foster Care Month, we interviewed a former Texas foster youth who talked about her successes despite the obstacles children face while in foster care.

For national Fair Housing Month, our Director of Fair Housing & Disaster Recovery talked about the Fair Housing Act — what it means and what it does.