Southwest Key’s national headquarters is located at El Centro de Familia at 6002 Jain Lane, Austin, Texas. Southwest Key completed construction on the $8 million community center in the economically disadvantaged Govalle/Johnston Terrace neighborhood of East Austin in 2007.
Afterschool program for youth ages 6-17, including leadership development, tech, sports and recreation, arts, academic support and more! Open 3:00 pm – 8:00 pm, Mon.-Fri. and certain school holidays
ACC GED & ESL Courses at Southwest Key are held Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 6pm-9pm. To register or for additional information, please contact Daniel Hinojosa at 512-583-2583 or dhinojosa@swkey.org.
Open-enrollment, tuition-free college prep charter school serving 6th and 7th graders in East Austin
Open Monday-Friday, 8am - 2pm at 6002 Jain Lane, Austin
The 14,000-square-foot facility will house Southwest Key’s small businesses, a technology lab, job coach and training classrooms when construction concludes in 2011.
This youth spoken word program convenes at Southwest Key's facilities rent-free weekly to build a community of young leaders and engaged hip hop artists and to strengthen the East Austin community
A resident-driven initiative empowering a new wave of neighborhood leaders through education and advocacy around critical issues facing East Austin.
East Austin public performance venue
Community mariachi, bilingual teatro and ballet folklorico program funded by Impact Austin
Southwest Key's El Centro de Familia is now the official Polling Site for Precinct #123
History of El Centro
Since 1987, Southwest Key Programs has provided school, shelter, and services to youth in the juvenile justice system. We work with clients where they are--in the home, at school, and on the block--to help them stay out of trouble and achieve their dreams. On our 20th anniversary, Southwest Key tested a new approach to the prevention of juvenile delinquency with the grand opening of El Centro de Familia--the East Austin Family Center--in the heart of an Austin barrio. We canvassed the neighborhood and asked what people would like to see. The answers all followed a theme: "We want a school, a safe public place to take our families, a job center. We want something for the community." We listened, and this center has become a launching point for job creation, community empowerment, and quality education, where visitors engage in leadership training, computer literacy classes, GED and ESL classes, dance, music, theater, spoken word, employment and after-school programs.
Community Support
Community support is essential in the development of a successful community center. Southwest Key has a strong history of working in partnership with a wide range of individuals and organizations from throughout the area to ensure that our programs and services continuously meet the community needs. With the initiation of the East Austin Community Development Project, Southwest Key established a community advisory council composed of neighborhood leaders and residents. Through this advisory council, Southwest Key made every effort possible to solicit the support of community members as well as to incorporate their expressed needs, desires, and recommendations into the project development phase. The advisory council urged Southwest Key to make the construction of a new middle school in this area a top priority. They recognized the necessity of preparing their community’s young people for educational success as paramount to preventing the unemployment and poverty that plagues the East Austin community. The advisory council was instrumental in the initial planning of El Centro de Familia and the East Austin College Prep Academy, and helped mobilized support from throughout the East Austin community for this school through block walks, community house meetings, and public hearings.
