Latest news with #statesman.com
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
After finally finding a home, Season for Caring recipient Olga Aranda Guzmán dies
For more than a dozen years, Olga Aranda Guzmán slowly declined from kidney and heart failure. On Monday, Aranda passed away. She was 63. Two years ago, Aranda and her daughter Ana Laura Martínez Aranda left Nuevo Laredo and sought asylum in Texas, making their way to Austin. By then Aranda was confined to a hospital bed and moved between family members' and friends' apartments. At one point, she and Martínez slept in their car. Then, in September, Aranda and Martínez were chosen for the American-Statesman's Season for Caring program after being nominated by Hospice Austin. Since 1999, Season for Caring has raised more than $21.7 million for local nonprofits. "I really think it was God's gift," Martínez said of Season for Caring and Hospice Austin For the next seven months, Season for Caring grants and donations helped the family move into a home, repair their car and furnish their new place. For the first time, Aranda was able to leave the hospital bed and sit in a recliner in the living room. Martínez could focus on carrying for her mother and not worry about rent or paying for groceries. "I thank God," she said. On Monday, Aranda passed away and was celebrated by her daughter, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. "She was not perfect," Martínez said. "Nobody is perfect, but she was a good mother. She was lovely." Martínez remembers her mother would teach her a lot of things, including how to cook. "Maybe I am like her," Martínez said. Her mother's passing, she said, means Aranda is no longer in terrible pain. "She was suffering," Martínez said. "I miss her a lot, but I know she's in a better place. ... She's getting rest. She's getting happy." To find out more about Season for Caring, including how to apply as a local nonprofit, email nvillalpando@ This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Olga Aranda Guzmán from Statesman's Season for Caring program dies
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Nominations open for 2025 Top Workplace in Greater Austin
Not everyone has the opportunity to work at an exceptional workplace. If you do, it deserves recognition. Now is the time to showcase what makes your organization extraordinary and earn a chance to be honored as a Top Workplace in Greater Austin. For the 16th year, the American-Statesman will recognize organizations with outstanding workplace cultures in the region. Any company with 50 or more employees in the area is eligible to compete for a Top Workplaces award. Exceptional organizations will be celebrated later this year. It all starts with a nomination. The deadline for nominations is May 30. Anyone can nominate any organization — public, private, nonprofit, a school or even a government agency. To nominate an employer or to learn more about the awards, visit or call 512-551-0614. There is no cost to participate. To qualify as an Austin Top Workplace, employees complete a brief, 25-question survey that takes only a few minutes. Companies will be surveyed through July. Energage, the Pennsylvania-based research partner for the project, conducts Top Workplaces surveys for media in 65 markets nationwide and surveyed more than 2 million employees at more than 8,000 organizations in the past year. 'Earning a Top Workplaces award is a distinctive mark of excellence, setting companies apart in a recognizable way,' Energage CEO Eric Rubino said. 'Top Workplaces embody the highest standards, and this award, rooted in authentic employee feedback, should be a point of immense pride.' For the 2024 awards, nearly 3,000 employers in Greater Austin were invited to participate by surveying their employees. Based on employee feedback, 101 organizations were recognized as Top Workplaces. This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: Nominations open for 2025 Austin Top Workplaces
