Recipient Partner Spotlight - Saffron Trust Women’s Foundation

8/8/25 - Phyllis Everette, founder and CEO of Saffron Trust Women’s Foundation, stands outside of the organization’s hub in east Austin.

7/31/25- Sharon Works holds open a refrigerator full of donated food at Saffron Trust’s hub in east Austin.

8/6/25- Sharon Works (left) and Ruth Williams (right) stand in front of a sign advertising free meals at Saffron Trust on Harvey Street.

For Austinites experiencing generational poverty, long-term stability can feel out of reach. Facing a lack of sustained support, many families and individuals never transition from just meeting their daily needs to achieving their long-term goals.

For Phyllis Everette, founder and CEO of Saffron Trust Women’s Foundation (STWF), disrupting the cycle of poverty is personal. “I always use myself and my children as an example, growing up fourth generation poverty in New York, being a single parent at 30,” said Everette. “If it wasn’t for the community and the support that I received in the battered women’s shelters, what typically should be a life of children incarcerated… it’s not. So I say that when you impact the mom, you impact generations.”

In October 2018, Everette founded STWF to combat Austin’s systemic inequalities and provide women with a path to financial independence. “I moved to Austin to be with my family… and was told that Austin was the best place to live,” said Everette. “But I shortly found out that Austin is a tale of two cities. It’s the most economically segregated city in the country. And food insecurity is the link to every social determinant of health.”

Saffron Trust began its work by partnering with local restaurants to provide free meals for community members. Over time, the tradition evolved into Breaking Bread, a movement that promotes health and dignity through nutritious food.

Today, Saffron Trust’s main program, representing the heart of the organization’s mission, is Solid Ground. Solid Ground finds and coordinates resources to provide women with a path to long-term stability. STWF works with its clients for three years, providing assistance with housing, education, and healthcare as well as hosting cooking classes and courses on financial literacy.

Keep Austin Fed began its regular partnership with Saffron Trust in 2024, delivering produce and pantry staples to Saffron Trust’s hub in east Austin. Ruth Williams and Sharon Works, servers at Saffron Trust, distribute the donated food to anyone who knocks on their door. “We provide a neighborhood space. We try to feed everybody we can,” said Williams. “It’s good for [the community] because they can learn the right way to eat for their body and for their mind,” added Works.

Everette sees food access as particularly important due to recent cuts in SNAP benefits. She hopes to expand STWF’s work to include strategic partnerships that bring more food assistance into Austin. “Food isn’t political,” said Everette. “It’s about getting the resources in place to gain access to the food.”

While there are many organizations in Austin dedicated to addressing the needs of families and individuals, Everette sees her personal experience with poverty and her long-term commitment to her clients as setting Saffron Trust apart. “All this exorbitant money is being spent, and not one woman has been cycled out of poverty. She may not have been evicted, but she has not been cycled out of poverty,” said Everette. “With me, lives change. I don’t just tell women how to do something. I walk them through it, give them the money to do it alongside me. That’s the difference.”