Help a Dedicated Austin ISD Teaching Assistant Rebuild After a Disability-Related Crisis

After more than a decade serving Austin ISD students, a dedicated teaching assistant is working to rebuild his life after a disability-related crisis left him without income, housing, and the stability he depended on.

No one who has spent more than a decade serving students should end up homeless in an Austin shelter.

For years, he dedicated his career to supporting students, especially those who needed additional care, encouragement, and advocacy. During a period when the impacts of his disability became overwhelming, he sought help and was connected with resources that were supposed to provide support, counseling, and workplace accommodations so he could continue moving forward.

Instead, after intervention, he was placed on medical leave, lost his income, and ultimately lost his housing. His support animal was also separated from him during that process. Rather than receiving the ongoing support needed to regain stability, he found himself without the foundation necessary to rebuild his life.

This is not what support for people with disabilities should look like.

Teaching assistants show up every day for our students. They work alongside children with the greatest needs, often while facing financial challenges themselves. When a dedicated employee experiences a disability-related crisis, they should not be left without a path back to stability.

This fundraiser is about helping him rebuild.

Funds raised will help him:

* Secure stable housing

* Recover financially after losing his income

* Reunite with and care for his support dog

* Relocate closer to a stronger support system

* Regain stability so he can return to the work he loves: teaching and serving students

Stable housing and a strong support system will give him the opportunity to focus on his health, rebuild his independence, and work toward returning to the classroom community he cares about.

He has spent years supporting others. Now it is our turn to support him.

Every contribution, every share, and every word of encouragement brings him one step closer to rebuilding his life with dignity and returning to the work he has devoted so many years to doing.

Thank you for helping provide the stability, dignity, and support that every person deserves.