Our History

CapCityKidsCap City Kids traces its origins to the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The storm swept through New Orleans on August 29, 2005, causing unprecedented devastation. With eighty percent of the city flooded, Katrina’s impact lasted long after the waters subsided. As federal, state and local authorities helped people displaced by the Hurricane, the state of Texas sent buses to bring thousands of refugees, many of whom had taken shelter in the New Orleans Superdome, to Austin, Houston, and other cities.

From this group, approximately 2,000 students were sent to Austin, where they were housed in the city’s shelter system. Local residents jumped into action, providing the refugees with food, clothing, shelter and other essentials. It was at this time that Joslyn and Sean Dobson first connected with Cathy Requejo, who was then the homeless school liaison for the Austin Independent School District (AISD).

The Dobsons pledged their support to help Requejo meet the needs of these displaced children. Additional Katrina refugees arrived daily. They learned from Requejo that all of the homeless youth needed backpacks and supplies for the new school year, which had already begun. The Dobsons immediately turned the conference room at Amherst Holdings into “backpack central” to accommodate this request. Within a week, the Dobsons and their team had packed 1,000-plus backpacks for homeless students from Pre-K to 12th grade. The backpacks – which were filled with a variety of essential, quality school supplies – gave the displaced children a small sense of normalcy in a moment of great turmoil.

The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina served to awaken our team to the needs of homeless students. Our response has been to create an organization dedicated to assisting displaced students overcome the myriad of obstacles faced while pursuing an education.