Hello Friends,
What a month it's been so far! We thought we'd lead our update with our impact data above, from our Social Services department.
Yesterday, I signed more checks to landlords and utility companies - increasing our overall support for emergency intervention to provide basic needs, and negate homelessness. Our above total is now $42K in the past 88 days. We're intervening with families; single moms or dad's, caregivers and those in transition, in their residences as they shelter-in-place with their children who are medically fragile.
Our Children's Program teams have been hard at work. In the same 88 days in our "Bryan's House from Home" initiative, 300 activities have been conducted by teachers, parent's and children in class groups and via individual lessons. Over 100 hours of Zoom interactions and activities ensured the children's skill levels and developmental progress is maintained as they grow. They have a lot of fun!
The focus this month is Mental Health, and our teachers have completed 200 hours of training and free online courses, to further enhance their professional skills in all areas.
Through North Texas Giving Day NOW, and our own COVID-19 Fund drive - this enabled us to keep teachers in place and emergency and basic needs, in those early days of onsite campus closure. As we reported last month - local corporations and Foundations began to create new funding collaborations like North Texas Cares. Theses funders are
providing critical services that will mitigate the short-term and long-term impact of the pandemic on our community.
From that fund, the Rees Jones Foundation was able to grant $20,000, as was the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas with a $5,000 grant - theirs was the first COVID-19 related grant awarded when this all began.
Independent gifts from Alison & Ed Doherty, Donna & William Baker and friends were also vital. We've also seen individual monthly donors increase, using our reoccurring gift feature on the donor page of our website. With $10 a month a donor can fund expensive formula for our newborns and infants or sponsor a child for year. Cool!
We are about out of funds to intervene for rental and utilities as of today, and we fear that their is another eight weeks ahead, to continue to support those families. We hope our remaining COVID-19 specific grant applications we submitted will be forthcoming to be utilized immediately.
Our teams are working around the clock to care for our clients and their kids, and we've seen such collaboration in May. Our new partnerships with Mot Hai Ba Restaurant and the Power of Ten Initiative, powered by Capital One, to provide one thousand healthy nutritious meals for a month, each week, has been stunning. We also welcomed FACE Foundation of Texas to our family. Their volunteers provided hygiene kits this week at our emergency supply drive-thru.
Onward and upwards as we pivot, plan and procure more local and national partnerships to keep changing children's trajectories for life. More good news soon to report.
Cheers,
Abigail Erickson-Torres
