Common Ground ATX

With a name like Mickie Powers, you’d think she’s a superhero. You’re right — but she’s not the kind of superhero who lives in the imagination, movies or books. She’s the kind of superhero who lives in Austin with a very real power of changing lives. “I enjoy the shine in someone’s eyes when they say  “I got a job,'” she said. “It’s just real important for me to see that and help people out.”

Powers is a retired middle school science teacher, cancer survivor and now the volunteer director at Common Ground ATX, a 170-bed facility in south Austin that houses people off the streets, out of jail or out of luck. “Some of them are job hunting. I might help them with a resume, bus passes, getting them food that they need and that sort of thing,” Powers said.

Powers said many of their residents are one step above homeless and not accepted in traditional rentals because of a criminal background. Where she works, they’re given a chance. “When someone has been incarcerated or on the streets for 5-10 years what’s successful — some might consider awfully small, but for them it can be life changing,” she said. 

copied from Austin American Statesman article