Our Programs
Roots and Future
At Children’s Haven Association, we believe a thriving community grows by honoring both its roots and its future. Our work is organized around two interconnected program areas that together strengthen East Austin across generations.
East Austin Living History & Heritage Gallery
We preserve, interpret, and celebrate the stories that have shaped East Austin. Through exhibitions, oral histories, archival preservation, educational programming, public art, and community partnerships, we ensure that neighborhood history remains a living resource—accessible to residents, students, and future generations.
Heritage Garden & Community Wellness Center
Our garden transforms history into daily practice. Through gardening, nutrition, food-as-medicine education, environmental stewardship, life skills development, sustainability initiatives, youth engagement, and volunteer opportunities, we cultivate healthier individuals and stronger communities while reconnecting people with the land and with one another.
How They Work Together
These two programs are not separate—they grow from the same vision.
The Heritage Gallery tells the stories of East Austin’s past, while the Heritage Garden helps write its future. History provides identity; the garden turns that identity into action. Together, they create a place where culture, health, education, sustainability, and community come together, ensuring that East Austin’s heritage is not only preserved, but lived, shared, and passed on to future generations.
Preserving the past. Cultivating the future. Growing community together.
The gallery, we are, according to now, the first galleries in Austin dedicated to the history of children, youth, and community care, which will be open December 2026.
Here’s a refined version that incorporates the gallery’s unique identity and the opening timeline:
Our Programs
At Children’s Haven Association, we believe a thriving community is built by honoring both its history and its future. Our work is organized around two interconnected initiatives that strengthen East Austin through culture, education, wellness, and community engagement.
East Austin Living History Heritage Gallery
Opening December 2026, the East Austin Living History Heritage Gallery will be the first gallery in Austin dedicated to the history of children, youth, and community care. Through exhibitions, oral histories, archival preservation, public history projects, educational programs, and community partnerships, the gallery preserves the stories of the people and organizations that have nurtured generations of East Austin families. More than a museum, it is a living space where community memory continues to grow.
Heritage Garden & Community Wellness Center
Our Heritage Garden brings history into everyday life. Through community gardening, food-as-medicine education, nutrition, environmental stewardship, sustainability, life skills development, youth programming, and volunteer engagement, we create opportunities for people of all ages to learn, grow, and build healthier futures together.
One Mission, Two Living Spaces
The Gallery and the Garden are two expressions of the same vision.
The Gallery preserves the stories of those who built and cared for East Austin. The Garden carries those values forward by cultivating health, learning, and community through hands-on experiences.
One protects our collective memory. The other grows our collective future.
Together, they create a place where heritage inspires wellness, history informs action, and community continues to flourish across generations.
Preserving the past. Cultivating the future. Growing community together.