Clients are provided with one-on-one case navigation by trained social workers.
The Care Team model provides several advantages to a “team” approach when it comes to caring for an individual or family with long-term health care needs.

Care Team members volunteer a minimum of 5 hours per month and are part of a Care Team of three to eight individuals assigned to one client. Over 450 daily Care Team volunteers (750 total volunteers per year) have provided 27,658 days of service in 2011. Volunteers are as diverse as our clients and are comprised of individuals, congregations, community and corporate groups. Volunteers are always needed.

Learn More About Our Care Teams

The Care Communities began its mission in 1990 as the Central Texas Regional AIDS Interfaith Network (RAIN) under the umbrella of the Associate Catholic Charities (ACC). The office was located within St. George’s Episcopal Church and was coordinated by Sue Bock. This was also the year that the term Care Team was introduced. In 1991 RAIN left the umbrella of ACC and under that of Austin Metropolitan Ministries.

In 1992 Rev. John Camobell took over as the coordinator of RAIN and in 1994 the name InterAct replaced RAIN.

1995 was a water shed year that saw the arrival of the first paid employee and Executive Director, David Smith, as well as the first intern from the UT School of Social Work. The offices were also moved to Hyde Park Methodist Church. During this time period, a Care Team was likely only to be with a Care Receiver for 6 months, before the Care Receiver passed away.

Yet another name change came in 1997, when InterAct became an independent 501(c)3 in September of that year, taking Interfaith Care Alliance (ICA) as its new name. This year also saw the addition of a new employee, Jan Rueb, who was hired as the first Client Care Coordinator.

In 1998 the ICA Board of Directors officially voted to expand the Care Team program for those with a serious illness other than HIV/AIDS.

1999 saw the arrival of two historic events: the planning for the first Hill Country Ride for AIDS under the 501(c)3 umbrella of ICA, and the hiring of Roger Temme as ICA’s Outreach Coordinator.

In May of 2000, the first Hill Country Ride for AIDS took place with 79 riders participating, with the number increasing to 164 riders in 2001. It was also in 2001 that David Smith transitioned to the role of Ride Director for the Hill Country Ride for AIDS (where he would stay for the next 13 years!) and the arrival of his replacement, Teresa Recar as Executive Director for ICA.

In 2003 Teresa resigned as Executive Director and was replaced by John Pitzer who would stay in that position until 2005. The first annual Byron E. Cox iCare Gala was held in 2003 as well.

2005 saw the arrival of a new, and current, Executive Director, Carol Johnson.

The fourth, and last, change of the organization’s name occured in 2006. ICA was replaced with The Care Communities (TCC), to more accurately reflect the diverse backgrounds of the many volunteers who at this point did not all originate from faith community (though many still did and do).

The late 2000′s and start of the next decade in 2010 saw a time of growth and change for the organization. In 2009, a new fundraiser, the Texas Mamma Jamma Ride To Leave Breast Cancer Behind was started in concert with 9 other cancer organizations. A new office in Round Rock was established in 2010 inside of the Round Rock Community Foundation. In 2011 the Board of Directors for TCC officially voted to spin off the Hill Country Ride for AIDS as well as the Texas Mamma Jamma Ride as their own 501(c)3 non-profits. Several staff positioned were also added over this time frame, bringing the total number of paid staff to 8.