Get to Know Austin Street Center

Jan 22, 2016

Austin Street Center

Website: austinstreet.org

Twitter: @AustinStreetCtr

1.      What do you see as one or two of the greatest challenges to helping the homeless and the hungry in North Texas?

• Women make up 42 percent of homeless population but only 30 percent of shelter capacity is reserved for them.  We need to expand women’s shelter resources in Dallas.
• More people are staying homeless longer, and they are getting older.  Largest demographic of homeless adults are quickly approaching their 60s and often have medical conditions of someone approaching their 70s.  This means that we need housing and funding models that address the medical and mental health needs of chronically homeless individuals of this age.  These individuals are less likely to transition to typical employment opportunities and need expensive programing to support their daily living.

2.      How would you describe your mission, and how are you specifically helping the homeless and the hungry?

• Austin Street Center is tasked with providing safe shelter and meeting the basic needs of the most vulnerable homeless in Dallas.  This means that our role in the homeless system is to provide accessible shelter and food for over 400 individuals which makes up over one-third of the emergency shelter capacity in Dallas, and over 12 percent of all homeless individuals in Dallas.
• Our services are more than just a meal and a bed.  It is after homeless individuals feel safe and secure that they can begin imagining something different for their lives.  Our services are providing hope and an environment of supported growth.

3. Can you give us an example of a person (named or unnamed) who has benefited from your services? How have they benefited? If it’s appropriate, tell us a short story.

When Susan first arrived at Austin Street Center she said, “I was destitute. I felt alone and helpless. There’s a death of a body coming from lack of food and I had that.” Her eyesight was deteriorating. “I couldn’t see to do anything. I couldn’t even see to go get my food” when it was served.

Others at Austin Street helped her, and the Case Managers “did everything, making sure I got food and got showers and whatever I needed.” A victim of identity theft, she was not able to recover her identity on her own. Susan praises the Case Managers at Austin Street Center who worked diligently to get her Social Security number again. “They had to work and work on it to get things straight. I wouldn’t have been able to do it.”

She adds that, “I think I would have died if it weren’t for Austin Street.” Not only did she have physical issues, but had lost hope. “It’s far worse to have a death of the spirit than a death of the body.”

Observing that Susan’s eyesight was deteriorating, her Case Managers arranged to have her vision tested and she was diagnosed with advanced cataracts. Surgery on her right eye “changed everything! I can see!”

She will soon be scheduled for surgery on her other eye and is feeling positive about it. In fact, she now feels hope about other aspects of her life as well and looks forward to the future. Now that she has recovered her identity, she will soon be able to apply for Social Security. She’s excited about the income and hopes to supplement it with part-time work as a cake decorator. After her surgery, her Case Managers will continue to work with her and will assist Susan in selecting the appropriate housing for her when she is ready to leave Austin Street Center.

4. Is there anything new that you are focused on for the coming year? Any new initiatives?

Austin Street Center is excited to announce the opening of increased services for our most vulnerable women.  Our women’s program will include increased shelter capacity for 15 women in a newly refurbished dorm room, and most importantly daytime programming which will include music and art classes, mental health support groups, and an array of services to address their unique needs.

5. What else should North Texas residents know about your work?

Austin Street Center serves individuals experiencing homelessness, but the causes of homelessness are as varied as the individuals who find shelter here. We assist our clients in overcoming issues related to substance abuse, mental health, sexual exploitation, developmental disabilities, medical challenges, and domestic violence, to name a few.

Thanks to the expertise of our case management staff and our amazing community partners, we are able to help our clients to overcome the challenges which brought them here. We would welcome anyone who has a passion for the work that we do to come down to Austin Street and get involved. It is only because of the support of our generous Dallas community that we are ready and able to serve anyone who comes to our door.

Get to Know City House

Jan 19, 2016

City House

Website: cityhouse.org

Twitter: @TexasCityHouse

1. What do you see as one or two of the greatest challenges to helping the homeless and the hungry in North Texas?

The greatest challenges of helping homeless youth is raising awareness of the reality of its existence in an affluent area like Collin County, and the much-needed donations it takes to operate our emergency shelter and Transitional Living Program (TLP).

Homelessness has risen 112 percent in Dallas suburbs over the last 10 years and with more and more people moving into the area, the problem unfortunately is not going away. People in North Texas do care and are very giving, and the more that get educated on the issue, the more resources can be secured in making a difference in these young peoples’ lives. The second part of the challenge is getting past the stereotypes; most are good kids who left an unstable home life and simply need some direction and help.

2. How would you describe your mission, and how are you specifically helping the homeless and the hungry?

City House’s mission is to Protect Youth, Empower Change, and Transform Lives, working with at-risk youth due to abuse, neglect or homelessness. Our emergency shelter works closely with Child Protective Services and kids who have been removed from their homes, as well as runaways, with the goal of getting them back home or in foster care as soon as possible. Our TLP program serves homeless young adults, ages 18-21. We own several homes in both Plano and Frisco, where we give them room and board, as well as help and counsel them toward their goals, teaching them how to stand on their own two feet.

3. Can you give us an example of a person (named or unnamed) who has benefited from your services? How have they benefited? If it’s appropriate, tell us a short story.

As Lexii was growing up in Murphy, her parents were in a custody battle and constantly going at it. So she decided to leave home at 17.

“When you’re a kid, you can’t leave,” she said, “but I felt I had to. I completely dropped out of school, I just stopped as I was entering my senior year.”

Lexii quickly realized she needed to finish high school, had heard about City House and figured it was worth a try. She joined the Transitional Living Program and started working toward her GED.

“I got a job and I was working with a City House tutor for math, which has always given me trouble,” she said. “I was in the program for about six or seven months, then decided to return to school and finish all my classes and get the real thing after I left.”

Now Lexii is married and her husband is going to school. She’s got a job and just bought a new car. Her husband is in the Navy and they will be moving to Florida in April, where he will be stationed. She’s doing well, and credits much of that to what she learned at City House.

“I learned to be responsible, for once,” she said. “City House helped me grow up a lot. I embraced the program — it taught me how to adapt to change and deal with situations. It was a good balance in the staff helping us while we had a lot of independence to learn to help ourselves, too. I think it’s a really good to have someone to fall back on, but it teaches us to help ourselves first.”

Lexii thinks City House is a good option for teens who need a place to turn.

“I would recommend City House to any teen that needed help,” she said. “I’d tell them to get in the right mindset and be prepared to help yourself. City House provides so much and the rules of the program are like any other home. It’s different when you get in it; you may have to adjust to following the rules, but you learn from them. I told one of my friends they should come here. It did a lot for me.”

4. Is there anything new that you are focused on for the coming year? Any new initiatives?

City House is very focused on increasing efforts with the outreach program, talking more and more with school administrators and counselors in an effort to reach more kids. The goal is to get to the family-conflict problems early before they turn into teen-homeless situations. We’re talking with both students and parents who are dealing with issues at home and working with them to find a solution. Stopping homelessness before it happens is a top priority as we continue to grow.

5. What else should North Texas residents know about your work?

North Texas residents need to understand that the reality of youth homelessness exists, even in affluent areas. So many are still surprised at the numbers reported by the school districts and never even had a thought that places like City House are needed to help. The unfortunate part is that it is not going away; as the population continues to rise, so will youth homelessness. Family conflict exists in every household in America, and too often that leads to a teen leaving or getting kicked out. It takes a community to make a difference and the more people know, the more avenues we have to help.

Get to Know OurCalling

Jan 13, 2016

OurCalling

Website: www.ourcalling.org

Twitter: @OurCalling

1.  What do you see alone or two of the greatest challenges to helping the homeless and the hungry in North Texas?

Understanding the problem(s) confronted by these beleaguered individuals is a significant part of how best to help them.  Most North Texas residents are simply unaware of what homelessness really is…and very often give “helps” that create a danger or risk for people in need.  OurCalling educates its volunteers on the realities of homelessness, introduces them to the systems in place (locally) which provide meaningful helps to people living in crisis, and equips North Texas residents to offer many appropriate helps smartly and personally.  

2.  How would you describe your mission, and how are you specifically helping the homeless and the hungry?  

OurCalling is a nonprofit organization that serves the poorest people in Dallas County — the unsheltered homeless.  It is our mission to build long-term relationships with the homeless and provide the guidance necessary to help them develop sustainable lifestyles with accountability and integrity.  

We operate a facility near Fair Park where homeless individuals come for food, mentoring, life skills development and personal products.  Staff and volunteers invite the development of personal relationships and encourage our homeless guests to take meaningful steps towards positive life changes.  

We provide:  a cafe serving breakfasts and lunches; showers and lockers; life skills classes; addiction recovery seminars; mentoring; bible classes; resourcing of personal products.  We also have “Search & Rescue” teams that track the unsheltered homeless under bridges, in woods, behind liquor stores, in drug houses, and within abandoned buildings.  

Our mobile database and iPhone app allow us to identify where homeless individuals are living, or where they were last seen.  We also collect information that allows our volunteers to further the personal relationships with individuals we serve.  

3.  Can you give us an example of a person (named or unnamed) who has benefited from your services? How have they benefited? If it’s appropriate, tell us a short story.

A great example of successfully building solid trust with a homeless friend is that of Chris Silva.  Chris was doing well at a long-term rehab program (elsewhere in Dallas) but recently relapsed and was temporarily suspended from it.  Homeless once again, he literally had nothing and no one.  He came directly to OurCalling.  

Although we may not agree that Chris is doing all the right things at this critical time in his life, we consider it a “win” to be the ones who have earned the right to speak truth and grace into his life.  In this way, we offer stability and emotional security that can only come through personal relationships.  

Chris came back to OurCalling in a time of need because he knew that he would be known and welcome — and recognized as a friend.  

4.  Is there anything new that you are focused on for the coming year? Any new initiatives?

YES.  TECHNOLOGY INNOVATIONS (new app for iPhone).  

We continue to enrich our relationships within the homeless community through the development of vital and impactful innovations.  Most currently, we have created a new app for iPhone (Android version is coming soon).

This is an extraordinary innovation.  The new app features a database of service providers in Dallas with over 250 resources available by location, category and qualifications.  Users can view listings on a map, or sort the list by distance from the user’s location.  

The app includes contact information and registration criteria for health care services, addiction and recovery services, Alcoholics Anonymous and various life skill training opportunities, along with many other local services and resources.  This is an invaluable resource for volunteers and homeless individuals all over Dallas County. More information at ourcalling.org/app.

5.  What else should North Texas residents know about your work?

OurCalling is the only discipleship ministry for the homeless in North Texas.

Help charities like OurCalling by donating to The Dallas Morning News Charities today: http://bit.ly/1QGHGrE

Get to Know Crossroads Community Services

Jan 11, 2016

Crossroads Community Services

Website: www.ccsdallas.org

Twitter: @CrossroadDallas

1. What do you see as one or two of the greatest challenges to helping the homeless and the hungry in North Texas?

One of our greatest challenges at Crossroads is knowing how much food assistance families need. Every family faces different challenges and is facing a different set of obstacles to getting the quantity of food they need.

Our primary goal is to provide families with large quantities of nutritious food, but it is often hard to tell if we’re providing everything they need. We do not want families to have to spend their time, gas, bus fare, etc. travelling to multiple food pantries when we have the ability to provide what they need.

Another challenge Crossroads faces is providing the variety of food our client families want and deserve. Because we specialize in only providing nutritious foods (lean proteins, fresh produce, etc.) that families can use to build balanced meals, variety is constantly a challenge.

2. How would you describe your mission, and how are you specifically helping the homeless and the hungry?

Crossroads’ mission to provide low-income families with large quantities of nutritious foods, and to provide nutrition education that can help reduce obesity in impoverished areas. We provide families with large quantities of healthy foods – a family of four will receive around 100 pounds of groceries each time they visit Crossroads!

We offer a variety of healthy options in each food group for families to choose from. We then offer families recipes for how to prepare healthy meals, and portion suggestions for each family member based on their age, gender, and activity level. When a family leaves with 100 pounds of proteins, grains, fresh fruits and vegetables they are saving around $200 that month, dollars that can be allocated toward housing, utility, medical or education related expenses.

3. Can you give us an example of a person (named or unnamed) who has benefited from your services? How have they benefited? If it’s appropriate, tell us a short story.

Fritzi has been coming to Crossroads for just over five years to help with groceries for her husband, Carlos, and their four children. When her husband was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes a few years ago, the way they ate had to change.

Thankfully, Crossroads is able to provide Fritzi with the healthy food options her family needs that often are not available in their neighborhood. Fritzi does not always need Crossroads’ assistance. Carlos has been working for the same cement company for 17 years and generally earns enough to support his family, but when the weather is bad or the ground is too muddy he does not work. Recently, with all of the rain and bad weather, Carlos has not been able to work as many days as he needs. But thankfully Crossroads is here to help the family with groceries so that the money he does earn can pay their rent, for his medications and anything else the family needs.

4. Is there anything new that you are focused on for the coming year? Any new initiatives?

In 2016, Crossroads is excited to take our work with our research partners to a new level. Crossroads partners with behavioral economists, medical researchers, the North Texas Food Bank Hunger Center, and others to both learn how we can better serve our clients and to give our clients a voice in matters which directly affect their lives.

For example, researchers at UT Southwestern are interested in learning more about the health challenges facing low-income populations, but accessing those individuals is difficult. By hosting focus groups and creating surveys of Crossroads’ clients the researchers can learn more about the health obstacles our client families face, where there are gaps in service, etc., and our clients have a platform to voice their needs and opinions to those who regularly report to policy makers and service providers.

5. What else should North Texas residents know about your work?

In 2006, Crossroads began development of an innovative and new approach to food distribution. We used a hub-and-spoke model to get nutritious foods to neighborhoods of Dallas County that need it the most. Crossroads leverages existing resources, the North Texas Food Bank’s ability to provide tons of fresh produce and healthy food, and the resources and passion of the Community Distribution Partners (“spokes”) to make the biggest impact in fighting hunger in our community.

We are very excited that the North Texas Food Bank has embraced this model and will be rolling it out throughout their 13 county service area in the coming years. Working together, food-insecure families across North Texas receive healthy food options in their neighborhoods.

Help charities like Crossroads Community Services by donating to The Dallas Morning News Charities today: http://bit.ly/1QGHGrE