Lifeworks

About Us

LifeWorks is a fearless advocate for youth and families seeking their path to self-sufficiency. We are committed to innovative problem solving, shared accountability and a relentless focus on achieving real, sustainable and measurable results for the clients we serve.

Our Purpose
Every year, LifeWorks provides a pathway to self-sufficiency for more than 4,000 youth and families, many of whom are facing life’s most difficult challenges, including homelessness, trauma, and abuse.

We have three core goals for our community’s youth:

Everyone deserves a home. On any given night, we shelter or house more than 140 youth, but we know the need is much greater. There are more than 1,600 homeless youth in Austin every year. One of our primary goals is to End Youth Homelessness by 2020.

Everyone deserves to work. Our youth often struggle to find their place in the workforce, so our commitment is to lower the barriers experienced by youth who have grown up in foster care or spent time on the streets through evidence-based, rapid employment.

Everyone deserves a chance to heal. Youth in foster care are twice as likely as U.S. Iraq War veterans to experience PTSD. LifeWorks counseling and psychiatric services offer a caring place for youth and families to address conflict and trauma so that they can move forward.

Each of LifeWorks 19 programs, as well as our collaborative, research and advocacy efforts are designed to promote these three pillars of self-sufficiency.