Cultivating culture in communities worldwide — in schools, on the street, in the courtroom, inside the jail, and in homes across the city. Nine programs, one team, building the restorative ecosystem Austin needs to heal.
Since 2023, Life Anew has grown into nine programs that work together — each one a different door into the same commitment: nobody heals alone.
Numbers are added up from program records, 2023 to now. Hours and goals are counted only where programs formally track them, so real totals run higher. Event figures count attendances, not unique people.
Mostly Black and Hispanic Austinites in East and Southeast Austin — twelve-year-olds to elders in their nineties, each met by the program built for where they are.
ATX Peace is the only program that tracks participants by zip code, so this map shows that data. Click a dot. The rest of the team's work — schools, the jail, Community First! Village — happens in these same East and Southeast Austin neighborhoods.
Schematic, not to scale — dots are positioned by approximate relative location, sized by number of participants. Data: ATX Peace participant records, 2023–present.
The programs aren't separate boxes — they hand people off to each other, so someone is caught wherever they come in.
We bring restorative practices into five AISD campuses. The students we serve become the next set of leaders — the Student Ambassadors.
Support builds in three tiers: whole classrooms get circles, students who need more get one-on-one follow-up, and students in real crisis go through a full restorative process.
By campus: Barbara Jordan 903 · Travis 375 · Perez 344 · Lively 149 · ALC 98. Goals completed: 74% (108 of 146). One-on-one follow-up hours: 1,007.
Built from the students Life Anew already serves. Once trained through a nine-chapter curriculum, ambassadors run their own circles — adults don't run the room.
75 students remain on the waiting list. Stipends totaled $3,425, about $250 each. Circle quality score: 8.1 out of 10.
Stopping gun violence and healing what it leaves behind — street outreach, crisis response, victim aid, youth diversion, re-entry, and support for grieving mothers.
Trusted messengers work the neighborhoods most affected by gun violence. As a lead partner in the city's CVI effort, Life Anew helped the program report 52 shootings prevented, 15 retaliations stopped, and a 42% drop in gun activity.
79% men · 70% people of color · 69% high-poverty — exactly who CVI is built to reach. Direct aid approved: $30,493, 86% for rent and utilities. Goals set: 470.
When someone survives domestic violence, an assault, or the murder of a loved one, the bills don't stop. Fast cash help keeps survivors from losing their home on top of everything else.
84% women, median age 37. Aid goes straight to landlords and vendors — 50 of 54 payments — not cash in hand. About 40% of check-ins catch someone struggling or in crisis.
Restorative circles using the ALIVE curriculum, in place of prosecution. Every young person tested showed improvement — readiness scores roughly doubled, from 6.8 to 14.7.
83% boys · 92% youth of color · median age 20. Of cases that closed: 30 completed diversion, only 2 did not. 25 finished the full ALIVE training.
Life skills, decision-making, and gun safety taught inside Travis County facilities — with the Sheriff's Office — before release, so people have tools ready when they come home.
Founded by a mother who lost her own son to gun violence, so other mothers don't grieve alone. Coordinators show up on the hardest days — Mother's Day, vigils.
103 of 172 check-ins landed in "growing / reconnecting." What grief takes most is sleep — mothers rated hope and support at 5.0 out of 5, but sleep and energy at just 2.8.
As Austin gets more expensive, longtime homeowners are being pushed out. This program helps them stay.
New rail development is driving up taxes and home values, and longtime owners — mostly older Black women in East Austin — are at risk of losing homes they built their lives in. Wills, powers of attorney, and deeds through Austin Legal Access; money classes through UFCU. 90% of applicants were not enrolled in any other city program.
Circles, mediation, and case management for formerly unhoused neighbors building a stable life.
An older community, median age 62, rebuilding stability and belonging. The work is close and personal — 91% of follow-ups happen in person. Circles carry themes like "What Strength Looks Like" and "Moving Forward Together."
75% of goals started were completed. Tangible help: 113 clothing items, 73 food items, plus bus passes.