Level Up Foundation. Supporting Today. Preparing Tomorrow. Give

Initiatives

What community investment makes possible.

Three areas of work are operating now. One is where we intend to grow. We keep those two things clearly apart on every page of this website.

Educational Access Youth Development Community Partnerships Future Opportunities

Active now

Work that is happening.

Open to schools, churches, and community organizations across Travis and Williamson Counties.

Active now

Educational Access

We pay the cost that would have kept a young person out.

Covering the specific, often small expense that stands between a young person and an opportunity that already exists.

The need

The reason a young person misses out is usually ordinary and specific. A participation fee. A set of materials. A ride across town. The opportunity is already running, the young person wants to be there, and one practical thing is in the way.

Schools and community organizations see this constantly. What they rarely have is a small, flexible pot of money that can move at the speed the problem appears.

How it works

  1. A partner organization tells us what the barrier is and what it costs.
  2. We pay it directly, to the organization or the supplier, not in cash.
  3. The young person takes part. Nobody is asked to explain their finances.

What it is meant to achieve

  • Young people join opportunities they would otherwise have declined
  • Partner organizations can say yes before finding the money
  • Cost stops deciding who participates

Who takes part

Requests come through a school, church or community organization that works directly with the young person. We do not ask families or young people to apply to us.

Ways to support this

  • Fund participation costs and materials for a group of young people
  • Underwrite one school or organization for a school year
  • Give to the Opportunity Fund, which covers this when nothing else does
Support this initiative

Active now

Youth Development

We pay for the programming itself, where none exists.

Funding structured programming — sessions, workshops and group experiences — for young people whose setting has no budget for any.

The need

Some groups of young people are not short of one participation fee. They have nothing at all, because the setting they are in was never funded for development work.

The adults there usually know exactly what their young people need and could run it tomorrow. They are stopped by the cost of the programming itself: a facilitator's time, the materials, the room.

How it works

  1. A partner tells us what they want to run and what it would take.
  2. We fund the programming, whether they deliver it or bring in a provider they choose.
  3. Participants are asked afterwards what they thought, and the partner sees the answers.

What it is meant to achieve

  • Groups with no programming budget get structured development work
  • The adults who already know these young people stay in the room
  • Taking part never depends on a family being able to pay

Who takes part

Open to schools, churches and community organizations serving young people approximately ages 11 to 19 in Travis and Williamson Counties.

Ways to support this

  • Sponsor programming for one campus or organization
  • Underwrite materials and supplies for a group
  • Fund recognition for young people who show up and follow through
Support this initiative

Active now

Community Partnerships

No money moves here. This is how we find the young people.

The working relationships with schools, churches and community organizations that make everything else possible.

The need

A foundation that does not know anyone cannot help anyone. The people who know which young person needs what are already in place: a counselor, a youth pastor, a community center that has been there thirty years.

They are not looking for another organization competing for the same calendar. They are looking for someone who will answer the phone and has resources when they call.

How it works

  1. We meet, and mostly we listen. The first conversation has no ask in it.
  2. We agree how a request reaches us and how fast we can answer.
  3. The relationship stays theirs. We do not take credit for their work.

What it is meant to achieve

  • Partners extend what they already do instead of starting over
  • Young people reach opportunities through adults they already trust
  • Requests come from people who know the young person, not from a form

Who takes part

We welcome a conversation with any school, church, nonprofit or community organization working with young people in our service area.

Ways to support this

  • Introduce us to an organization doing good work with young people
  • Offer in-kind support such as space, printing or professional services
  • Tell us what your own community actually needs
Support this initiative

The Opportunity Fund

For the barrier nobody budgeted for.

Most of the time, what stands between a young person and an opportunity is not dramatic. It is a participation fee, a set of materials, a ride across town, or a deadline that arrives before a family's next paycheck.

The Opportunity Fund exists so a partner organization can call us about something ordinary and get an answer quickly, instead of watching a young person quietly drop out of something they were ready for.

Gifts to the Opportunity Fund are not tied to one program. They go where a barrier actually appears.

Give to the Opportunity Fund

What it covers

  • Participation costs and fees that would otherwise exclude a young person
  • Educational materials and supplies
  • Transportation to an opportunity
  • Recognition for young people who show up and follow through
  • Short-notice needs a partner organization cannot cover alone

Requests come through a partner organization that works directly with the young person. We do not ask families to apply to us.

Where we are heading

Planned, and labelled as planned.

Work marked as planned is not open and is not accepting applications. It is published so supporters and partners can see where this organization intends to grow.

Planned — not yet open

Future Opportunities

Where we intend to grow. Not open, not accepting requests.

Directions this organization is actively exploring, published as intention rather than as something anyone can apply for today.

The need

We would rather tell you where we are heading than let you assume we are already there.

None of the work below is open, funded, or accepting applications, and nothing on this website should be read as a promise of assistance. When one of these becomes real, it moves onto this page as an active initiative with eligibility, dates and a way to apply.

How it works

  1. Each is being scoped with the partners who would actually use it.
  2. None will open until it is funded and properly governed.
  3. When one opens, it will be announced here and labelled as active.

What we are exploring

  • A structured mentorship initiative connecting young people with adults in their own community
  • A scholarship or educational assistance fund, once it is funded and governed properly
  • A resource library for young people, families and partner organizations
  • Expanded support services identified with our partners rather than assumed

Status

Not open. These are exploratory and are not accepting applications or inquiries for assistance.

Ways to support this

  • Fund the groundwork for a specific future initiative
  • Advise us — board, legal, financial and program expertise all welcome
  • Tell us what your community needs before we build it
Talk to us about building it

Resource library

Materials for young people, families, and partners.

Being built with our partners.

We are putting this together alongside the schools, churches and community organizations we work with, and will publish materials as they are ready. If there is something your young people or families would find useful, tell us.

Suggest a resource

Pick the one that matters to you.

Every initiative on this page has a specific thing it needs. Tell us which community you care about and we will tell you exactly what it would take.

Give today Partner with us

Ways people take part

  • Give once, or monthly
  • Sponsor an initiative in your own community
  • Partner with us as a school, church, or organization
  • Offer in-kind or professional support
  • Introduce us to people doing good work with young people