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PeopleFund East Night Gala at East Austin Center for Economic Opportunity
The PeopleFund’s annual gala, known at East Night, commemorated three miracles on Friday.
The most obvious marvel to anyone turning south off Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, past the MetroRail station, was its new East Austin Center for Economic Opportunity. Green in at least two senses — ecologically and chromatically — this handsome, unstuffy building will help PeopleFund provide loans and other support for small businesses and housing, focusing on fresh chances for women, Latinos and African Americans.
The second miracle: The center’s physical launch. How’s this for cutting it close? The building did not receive a certificate of occupancy until mere hours before East Night. Still, most of the action took place outside — another Austin party planner wins the weather lottery! — as eateries offered delicacies, the Austin Bike Zoo and musical bands provided entertainment, and guests gravitated to a tent where speeches and commendations were made over birthday cake.
Former Austin City Council Members Raul Alvarez and Brigid Shea
A good deal of that ceremony was devoted to the miraculous Margo Weisz, who, after leading PeopleFund for many years, had just retired. Speakers acted out a mock board meeting, recalled her idiosyncratic leadership style, and detailed her relentless pursuit of economic justice through entrepreneurship.
The group’s new president and CEO, Gary Lindner, imported from San Antonio, joined the mighty chorus of praise for Weisz, as did incoming board president Jack McDonald.
Alison Lyons and Jaime Noyola
Some metrics: Value of total PeopleFund loans to date: $22,965,264. Total number of jobs created to date: 2,023. Total number of businesses served to date: 369 loans to 210 businesses.
Sarah Cole, Margo Weisz and Ayleen Perez
Key to the new center, by the way, was a gift worth $1 million from the Meredith family, which includes the land, part of the slowly-fledged Featherlite Tract.
This sliver of East Austin redevelopment looks tremendous, by the way, and slips easily into the surrounding neighborhood. Guests obliged by allowing valets to park their cars, rather than blocking any of the residents.
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By Sharon Furstenwerth
October 5, 2010 11:52 AM | Link to this
An impressive showcase of an impressive organization! Hopefully, PeopleFund is a blueprint for folks in other states to follow.