Jan 4, 2017
An urban pioneer, responding to the unmet and emerging needs of the homeless and at-risk of Dallas for more than 40 years. THE STEWPOT Donate Today
RAYMOND
Raymond* has been a client of The Stewpot’s Representative Payee (Rep Payee) Program for a little over a year. The Stewpot Rep Payee Program provides free caseworker assistance to persons suffering from mental illness, chemical dependency, or physical disabilities, and who are unable to manage their federal benefits independently, including Supplemental Security Income and Social Security Disability.
For the past six years, Raymond has lived at a local shelter and his struggles with mental illness have led to him being hospitalized on a number of occasions. Recently, however, he was able to secure an apartment through another local nonprofit and has been there for about a month. He continues to come in to The Stewpot weekly to meet with the caseworker who is his designated Rep Payee.
Since she has been working with him, his Stewpot caseworker has noticed a profound change in him. He has gone from being unkempt in appearance to being more polished and confident. The man who used to avoid eye contact now smiles when he sees her.
Even though he is now housed, Raymond will continue to participate in the Rep Payee program as it is key to his ongoing stability. A relationship of trust has been established and, together with the support he receives from the staff at the nonprofit who helped him secure housing, The Stewpot Rep Payee Program will help him move forward and maintain housing stability.
JAMES
James* came to the Stewpot as a homeless client in need of a Texas ID. Our on-site caseworkers helped him acquire it, and during the course of their meetings told him about the STREETZine program which offers temporary employment selling a homeless newspaper produced by the Stewpot.
He started selling the paper and, because he was such a loyal vendor, was asked if he would like to become a Vendor Sales Representative (VSR). James came in faithfully every week to fulfill his VSR responsibilities, and when there was an opening for a new instructor to teach orientation for new vendors, was asked if he would like to take the position.
The caseworker in charge of the STREETZine vendor program reports that he is the best instructor we have ever had. Since first coming to the Stewpot three years ago, he has secured an apartment through a supportive housing program and continues to lead the orientation class and introduce other Stewpot clients to the STREETZine program.
*Names have been changed to protect the clients’ privacy
Dec 26, 2016
It’s an emotional time for new parents Rachel and Karl. Their sweet baby girl, Kamryn, was born just this past May. With such a big change in their lives, having your support through your generosity to the Arlington Life Shelter has meant so much to this small family.
Rachel says her family’s problems began when Karl, a pipeline worker, lost his job of 12 years. To make ends meet, he found work as a commercial truck driver. But his time with the company ended suddenly when he was the victim of a hit-and-run accident that totaled his only work vehicle. At the same time, he and Rachel – almost at her due date – were staying with a relative and needed to find a new place to live.
Thanks to your gifts, Karl and Rachel were able to come to the Arlington Life Shelter just in time for Kamryn’s arrival. They were given a safe place to live while caring for their newborn and preparing to get back on solid footing. Karl and Rachel know it won’t be long before they’re in a place where they can provide for Kamryn on their own. The couple has been overwhelmed with gratitude for how the community has responded to Kamryn’s debut into the world. Your support — fills Rachel and Karl with hope.
Rachel can’t say enough what your generosity has meant to her family. “God bless you,” Rachel says. “We would not have had a place to live without your donations.”
Families Are Safe, Thanks to You
You wouldn’t know by looking at her that Stacey is homeless. She’s so full of hope and cheer despite all she’s been through that she is often mistaken for an Arlington Life Shelter volunteer rather than a Shelter resident.
But the truth is, Stacey and her three children — KayLeigh, J.J. and Devin — have been here since the end of 2015. Left homeless after Stacey suffered a series of major health setbacks, the family stayed in motels, then with family. When Stacey’s last option was for her family to sleep in their van, she knew she needed to find help — fast. After a quick search, she found the Arlington Life Shelter, which, she hoped, would be a safe place to start over.
Stacey wasn’t misguided. Upon arriving, each family member was given their own bed and sense of safety and belonging they hadn’t felt in a long time. And Stacey’s teenage daughter, KayLeigh, has even been able to keep her violin skills sharp by practicing in the quiet of the Shelter’s library. Every family deserves a safe place to live, and your gifts make this possible for countless children, women and men in our community. Stacey is one of the many you’ve already helped, and she’s beyond grateful for all you’ve done. “Thank you,” Stacey says, sincerely. “I can’t say thank you enough.”
Dec 21, 2016
“Sparkle”
Sparkle is a 37 year old mother of two children, Jeremy is a 15 year-old that attends Grand Prairie High School and 10 year-old Michael attends Lee Elementary. Sparkle and her husband had been married for 16 years when he left her and the kids. Her husband was the only source of income for the family. When he left, Sparkle had no job, no money, and no means of paying the bills. She became delinquent with her apartment rent and was served an eviction notice. Her youngest child went to school and told his teacher he was concerned about losing their apartment. The teacher contacted the school counselor, who then referred Sparkle to LifeLine Shelter for Families. Sparkle came to our program in late August of this year. LifeLine was able to intervene with the eviction and provided Sparkle and her children with rental assistance, life skills training, and much needed referrals to other agencies that would be able to help her in other areas such as food and clothing. LifeLine’s Case Manager referred Sparkle to Health and Human Services to obtain food stamps and Medicaid for the children. She was also referred to counseling services for depression, where a counselor prescribed medication to help Sparkle. LifeLine put Sparkle on a job search to obtain employment. As of mid September, Sparkle had secured employment with Texas Health Arlington as a certified nurse’s assistant. LifeLine has referred Sparkle to a pro bono attorney to get child support set up for Jeremy and Michael. LifeLine will continue to help Sparkle with rental assistance until we know she’s capable of paying her rent independently. Sparkle says she will be ready to stand on her own two feet by November.
“Mallory”
Mallory is a single mother of three girls; Dianna is 16, Michele is 15, and Miracle is 5. Earlier this year Mallory learned that she had a mass in one of her breasts. After extensive testing and a biopsy, she learned that she was in stage three breast cancer. Fortunately, she had medical insurance to pay the bulk of medical services and most of the treatment. The oncologist set up Mallory for a chemotherapy regimen as an out-patient for six weeks, then she would have surgery to remove the breast and lymph nodes, and finally she would be scheduled for two months of radiation. This was an emotional, as well as educational process for Mallory and her children. She decided not to tell her youngest child about the cancer because she felt like she would not understand and was concerned about how she would react to the treatments and after effects. So she decided to send Miracle to stay with a friend from church during most of the process. She would visit Miracle on good days or have her friend bring her over to their apartment for a couple of nights here and there. The older girls remained at home to help with recovery. Mallory began her chemo treatments and soon realized that she would not be able to work for a couple of days after each treatment due to the immense sickness from the medicine. She used all of her sick and vacation time during the first four weeks of chemo. From that point, Mallory was not earning while out of the office. She was down to working two paid days a week. For the surgery, Mallory’s employer let her take off work using Family Medical Leave Act, however, she was not paid during this time. She quickly began to realize she could not pay her bills and apartment rent. Although the apartments worked with Mallory on extending the time she would have to pay rent, the late fees kept adding up. The apartment manager suggested talking with the GPISD counselor to see if she could get a referral to LifeLine Shelter for Families. She explained that there was another tenant in the apartment complex that was also helped by LifeLine very recently. Mallory received the referral and LifeLine was able to assist. The LifeLine Case Manager went to Mallory’s apartment for the first two meetings because Mallory was in so much pain and unable to drive. She’s doing much better now and able to come to the LifeLine office for visits by the grace of a friend driving her. Mallory has done well since her surgery and all three girls are back together with their mother. The girls continue to struggle with the changes in appearance of their mother, but realize how lucky they are to still have her. LifeLine continued to help Mallory and her girls for a total of four months and she is now financially stable once again.
“Josh and Dana”
Josh and Dana were the typical middle income family with three children living in Grand Prairie. Josh worked for a manufacturing company for 18 years and served as a Deacon at their church and Dana was a receptionist for a doctor’s office. In 2004, they purchased their own home and was living the American dream. In February of 2015, Dana left her job of 12 years to become more active in their kids school lives. Joey was in 4th grade, Leah was in 7th grade, and Marcy had just started high school. Life was going well for this family until Josh was laid off in the early summer due to a company downsize. They were not too concerned about money because they had built up a nest egg over the years and Josh thought he would have no trouble finding a job. They continued to pay their bills and mortgage through 2015 but things started to get tight, as Josh had still not found work. The family began selling their furniture, toys, old clothes, dishes, and anything else they felt like they could live without, just to pay the bills. In the meantime, Dana was also looking for work, but could not find anything with her limited skills. She began babysitting for friends, which was paying part of the bills. Unfortunately, they were not able to pay their mortgage and lost their home to foreclosure in March of 2016. They bounced around from family to friends, living on couches and floors for months. Dana was no longer able to babysit due to their living arrangements. The kids school grades began to suffer and their attendance was on the decline as well. Stress and questionable living conditions began to take its toll on the family. In July, Dana began working for a temp agency as an administrative assistant, with the hope of being hired full-time within a couple of months. Three weeks later, Dana was hired on full-time. For the first time in over a year, things were looking up. They now had to find a more permanent solution to living, but they did not have enough money to secure an apartment on their own. A counselor at Grand Prairie Independent School District noticed the low attendance for Joey and checked on the other two children’s attendance records as well. It was not normal for students to have low attendance near the beginning of the school year, so the counselor contacted the parents for a conference. That was when the counselor learned of their homeless situation. They were referred to LifeLine Shelter for Families for assistance. Josh came in to visit with LifeLine for help. Within a week, LifeLine was able to help Josh find an apartment and make arrangements for their move in. We worked with other organizations to acquire a few essentials such as beds, linens, dishes, etc. LifeLine helped Josh and his family for a second month to assist with a portion of their rent. Josh tells us that he is on the short list for a job as a chaplain at a hospital in Dallas. He also said that by having a place for him and his family to live the past month has given him the uninterrupted time to get his chaplain’s certificate and badge so that he can work to help others.
For more information about Lifeline Shelter, visit: http://www.lifelineshelter.org/
Dec 19, 2016
“Selina”
Selina moved to Plano in 2012 and was a student at Plano West High School, where she met a young man who became her boyfriend. They dated for a few months and Selena ended up getting pregnant. She was a senior in high school, had just turned 18 and wanted to have the baby.
Selina’s mother did not take the news of the pregnancy well, deeming her daughter a legal adult and kicked her out of the house as a result.
“My boyfriend took me in, living with his mother and brother in an apartment before moving to Mesquite as a group when his mother got a house,” Selina said.
Unfortunately that situation was not very smooth, didn’t last long and Selina and her boyfriend found themselves without a roof over their heads.
“We did the best we could, living out of his car for a couple of months. It certainly wasn’t fun. I was pregnant and still trying to get through my senior year in high school. There was a lot going on. We were living in the car for about a week or two when a friend told us about City House and that it was a possible option for some help.”
So Selina and her boyfriend came over to City House’s Youth Resource Center and were able to talk with a case manager. Selina was able to move into the TLP girls house in Plano, while her boyfriend moved into the boys house.
“I was really nervous and didn’t know what to expect when I first got in the house,” she said. “There was still a lot going on, but now we had a roof over our head and it was a good situation. He had a car and we took that to high school each day and I also had a job at Garden Ridge. I was pregnant and got tired very easily. I ended up doing home schooling as a result.”
Baby Nadia was born a few months later. After leaving City House, Selina ended up splitting up from the baby’s dad and they went separate ways. Selina is doing fine now and has plans to attend Richland College next semester.
“I’ve since met a fantastic guy named Chase and we’ve been together for about eight months,” Selina said. “I have my daughter and we live together in an apartment. I’m also attending nursing school. My goal is to become a doctor and possibly a pediatric surgeon. Helping babies, I would be very excited about that.”
Selina says she is very thankful and appreciative of what City House did for her, with one of her cherished memories being a baby shower that the staff and fellow residents threw for her.
“My experience with City House made me more mature in my ways of thinking and made me realize not to take things for granted. I should strive hard to do whatever I want to do in life. Being able to have a home and people around me that supported me – that was the best thing. They helped me get to where I needed to get to.”
“Elisa”
Elise describes herself as “your average kid growing up.” Her parents were divorced; Mom was an art teacher and Dad had a normal 9-to-5 job, and she lived in a typical neighborhood. Elise had a dog, friends, Girl Scouts, was involved in youth group. But things started to change for her in middle school and definitely high school.
“I was a chess piece in parents’ relationship, a lot of it over child support,” Elise said. “Mom became less supportive and less responsible. I went to live with Dad but felt like a guest in my own home. He was controlling and verbally abusive; I finally was scared to live there. So I left at 20, filled with depression and anxiety. Nowhere to turn, I lived in my car for a few months, couch-surfed some, but I couldn’t go back to Mom or Dad’s.”
Resilient as they come, Elise leaned on her network of friends, both old and new. She always looked for ways to help them too, even when she needed some herself.
“I actually found City House while researching to help a friend who needed a place to stay,” she said. “I never thought I would be a candidate for it since I had parents’ homes I should have been able to go to. But I couldn’t go back there. So I called City House and they accepted me into the program.”
The program that Elise was part of is City House’s Transitional Living Program (TLP), designed for young adults ages 17-21, who are homeless or in a negative situation at home. Elise was a resident back in 2013.
“City House gave me a ‘home’ for the first time in my life,” Elise said. “They surrounded me with people who supported me and helped me learn to achieve what I wanted to achieve. They’ve helped with resources – financial aid, helped me get into school, taught me some great money management principles. City House has given me a foundation to build on. While I was there, I could concentrate on working and going to school and not where I was going to sleep that night. I saw so much purpose and opportunities that I never would have seen before.”
Now 22, Elise often drops in to visit and see how things are going. Her connection with the organization hasn’t stopped since she left the TLP program and continues to work toward her career goals.
I did a lot during my time with City House. I was able to get my Esthetician’s license and take classes at Collin County Community College. My goal is to eventually earn a degree in theater and pursue a career in the performing arts, and I continue to work towards that.
“I’m so thankful for the people I’ve met through City House, and I enjoy touching base with my friends on the staff. My life has been impacted and changed for the better. I learned how to stand on my own two feet. I always look back at that time of my life and know it is where things turned the corner for me.”
City House is dedicated to providing homeless children and teens in North Texas with emergency shelter and transitional residential services.
Dec 16, 2016
Sharing Life – Client Testimonials
“Mr. D”
We welcomed Mr. D to Sharing Life late on a Friday afternoon this summer. He is an imposing man, at least 6’7”, quite jovial and was accompanied by six children. The children were starving. They rushed the candy jar on my desk like they hadn’t eaten in days. The truth was, they hadn’t eaten much in the past few days. Mr. D, a truck driver, used all of his money to travel to California to pick up his children after CPS removed the children from the care of their mother. Prior to his surprise trip to California, Mr. D was living in a small apartment with his girlfriend. When he arrived home from his trip with the six children, the apartment manager was quick to let him know they couldn’t stay there any longer. Fire safety laws and apartment policies wouldn’t allow so many people to dwell in one apartment. Homeless, hungry and broke, Mr. D came to Sharing Life looking for help. Sharing Life staff worked with Mr. D and his children over the summer providing food, clothing, school supplies and emergency motel rent until the family could find housing assistance to meet their long term needs. Once they finally found their permanent home, Sharing Life filled their house with furniture and sorely needed household items, including a pantry filled with groceries. This story warms our hearts when we think about how far this family has come since July. Because of the funding we receive from the Dallas Morning News Charities, we are able to make a difference in the lives of people in crisis. People like Mr. D and his six children.
“Sarah”
Sarah was a high school student in Mesquite ISD. Sarah was also experiencing homelessness. When we met Sarah she was two months from graduation. A stellar student and athlete, Sarah did not know where to turn when her mother left her to fend for herself after her mom moved in with her boyfriend. Sarah had no job, no money and no place to stay. Sharing Life came to the rescue after a McKinney Vento social worker with Mesquite ISD alerted us to Sarah’s plight. Sharing Life provided food, financial assistance for shelter and other services to create a safety net for Sarah to get to graduation. In early June, Sarah graduated with honors and left soon after to join the US Army. Because of the funding we receive from the Dallas Morning News Charities, we were able to help Sarah overcome a real crisis that could have led to lifetime of poverty. Instead, we have new recruit serving our country after receiving her high school diploma with honors
Sep 16, 2016
A team from The Dallas Morning News Marketing Department recently volunteered at the North Texas Food Bank. Wearing freshly designed Dallas Morning News Charities T-shirts and smiling faces, their efforts produced 13,575 meals for those in need. Great job!
