May 2019
Opening Drop-In Support at
Fannie C. Harris Youth Center
and Operating Summer Meal Site
The Drop-In Center at the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center will open and operate this summer Monday through Friday from 9am-6pm beginning June 3. The Drop-In Center will serve homeless youth ages 14-21 with immediate support services. These services include access to showers, laundry facilities, meals, clothing, and other supports. The opening of these crisis-intervention support services comes at an auspicious time as homeless students face even more limited resources during the summer break. The Drop-In Center, operated and managed by CitySquare , will also offer social services reconnecting youth to education and providing housing stabilization support, employment resources and access to healthcare. This drop-in support will operate 24/7 once the residential services wing opens later this Fall. If you would like to volunteer at the Drop-In Center, please click here to fill out a volunteer application.
Starting June 10, the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center will operate as a  summer meal site  for those ages 14-18! Youth can receive breakfast and lunch every Monday-Friday as a part of Dallas ISD's summer meal program . This is a great addition to services already offered at the Drop-In Center this summer.
Illumin8 Pitch High School Student Contestants
Inform Design and Mobilize Funds
for the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center
Illumin8 Pitch, a “Shark Tank” style event supporting unsheltered Dallas youth, took place on May 17 at AT&T's Corporate Headquarters. This live pitch event was the culmination of Illumin8 , a student-centered design thinking challenge to develop interior design concepts for the residential services wing of the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center.

The event began with a warm welcome by Bruce Byrd, Chief Legal Officer for AT&T Communications . Other remarks were made by Hillary Evans, After8toEducate Executive Director; Jaime Sandoval, Executive Director of Student Advocacy and Youth Outreach at Dallas Independent School District ; Laura Day, Executive Director of the Institute for Social Impact at The Hockaday School ; and Billy Lane, After8toEducate Site Manager.

Hillar y Evans described the creation of Illumin8, which began with conversations about ways to involve students in a meaningful way from The Hockaday School and Thomas Jefferson High School . This project provided the After8toEducate Collaborative with input from the teens' perspective, offering youth-centered interior design ideas that may appeal to unsheltered, DISD high school youth who will soon reside at the Center.

Laura Day explained the design thinking process utilized throughout the Illumin8 project. She shared how students learned the process of developing empathy for unsheltered youth and designed spaces to support their high school peers as they transition out of homelessness. Laura also announced additional funds raised by The Hockaday School students to support the Center.
The Illumin8 Pitch featured a dynamic panel of judges including: Jorge Baldor, After8toEducate Founder; Jordan Brainerd, UT-Southwestern ; former Dallas Police Chief David Brown; Nina Castro, Southwest Airlines ; Regen Fearon, Early Matters Dallas ; Maddy Kulkarni, PepsiCo ; and Charles Tsai, Fossil Group .
The first team pitched their ideas for a modern library/flex space. Design elements included mural art, comfortable seating and a "coffee shop" feel to foster creativity and relaxation. The design for this space provided areas for studying, test prep books, and computers. Other components included a gaming area, snack bar, and music to make the space teenage-friendly.
The library/flex space team included Anthony Zuniga, Katherine Hancock, Kylee Hong, Macey Neely, and Oscar Pene. Katherine was out of town for a school event, but was still able to participate, present, and answer questions via FaceTime. The pod/dorm space team included Amileon Spears, Carliyah Richardson, Karen Lin, Maddie Fisher, Paige Anderson, and Ruby Davis.
The second team pitched their id eas for the "pods", or dorm style rooms, at the Center. This group explained that during the empathy building phase of this design thinking project, they learned that youth experiencing homelessness can gain a sense of stability by personalizing their living space and securing their belongings. To make the rooms more youth-centered, this team suggested providing personal touches to the rooms including interchangeable wall posters, decorative wall decals, and a bulletin board for artwork. This group also offered storage solutions such as re-purposing lockers, using under bed storage and fold-away desks. 
When asked how they developed empathy for youth experiencing homelessness, two students explained that they had previously been homeless, which enabled them to approach their Illumin8 project in a more personal way.
After much deliberation, judges announced the team that designed for the pod/dorm room as the winning pit ch! The pitch resulted in $2,000 towards the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center. Jones Day and Comerica Bank generously sponsored the pitch. Additional event sponsors included PepsiCo , Mercado369 , Southwest Airlines , and Bird Bakery . Thank you to everyone who participated in and attended After8's inaugural Illumin8 Pitch!
Funding News
After8toEducate Capital Campaign
Sustains Momentum with Support from Simmons Sisters Fund  
After8 gratefully announces a $200,000 gift from the Simmons Sisters Fund. This grant supports After8toEducate’s capital and operating costs at the Fannie C. Harris Youth Center.

With the momentum of this grant, After8toEducate is even closer to completing its capital campaign for the renovation of the residential services wing at the Center. After8toEducate is thrilled and grateful for this incredible contribution from the Simmons Sisters Fund and encourages other donations that can be made directly online at: http://www.after8toeducate.com .
Community Happenings
Metro Dallas Youth Count Team
Solicits Volunteers for Summer Survey
The Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance Youth Committee is organizing its first-ever summer Metro Dallas Youth Count for June 17 and June 21. The data collected during this count provides invaluable information to gain a better understanding of the conditions of young people living without a home or in unstable housing in Dallas and provides insight on how to better serve these youth. Anyone over the age of 18 is invited to register at this link for any of the six volunteer shifts. For more information, please click here .
After8toEducate ("After8") is a first-of-its-kind, collaborative effort to support unsheltered youth enrolled in Dallas Independent School District high schools and provide immediate support services for homeless young adults ages 14-21. Powered through Social Venture Partners Dallas, After8 harnesses the strengths of Dallas ISD and nonprofit agencies Promise House and CitySquare.