In this Issue
Join NICA as we celebrate our 50th Anniversary
Thanks for making NICA's Annual Taste of Fort Worth a huge success
NICA is thankful for your cash gifts, learn what your monetary gifts do for your community
NICA’s Executive Director reflects on its illustrious 50 year history
Find out how you can help the children of Northside prepare for the upcoming school year
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A long struggle with mental illness left Lionel in dire need.
Lionel was born and raised in Fort Worth. He was a normal son, and a good child. He got his first job working at a pharmacy at the age of 16. Lionel was a hard worker, a good problem solver, and by the age of 20 he was managing the pharmacy .
But there were complaints, Lionel was impulsive, Lionel got angry easily at customers and co-workers, Lionel was morose, and often suicidal, and his mood affected his work. At first it was a few complaints here and there, but they became more frequent until they were practically constant. Lionel’s behavior became so unpredictable that his family was concerned he may try to hurt himself, so they made the difficult decision to have him admitted to the state mental hospital.
Lionel was diagnosed with Schizoaffective Disorder, he was prescribed drugs to stabilize his body chemistry, and released. Lionel didn’t return to his job at the pharmacy. Instead, he worked a string of low –paying jobs, leaving each job after some type of incident with a supervisor, customer, or co-worker. Lionel found himself in despair over his inability to control his own volatility. Each time he left a position, he vowed that he would be different at his next job, but as the years progressed Lionel resigned himself to the notion that he might never find a long-term job. Over the years spent working at menial jobs, Lionel found himself less and less able to pay his bills. His income wasn’t stretching as far as it once had, and his physical health was in decline, meaning that Lionel could no longer perform the strenuous physical labor he had in the past.
In 1990, Lionel’s behavior again escalated so badly, that his family seriously considered having him hospitalized, but instead his father stepped in, and took him in. Things went well for awhile, but Lionel found himself in need after his father and step mother died.
Lionel is currently a senior, and living in the home he inherited from his father. Although inheriting his father’s home kept him from becoming homeless, Lionel struggles with affording food, and utilities on his meager Social Security check.
Like many other low-income seniors, Lionel counts on NICA to provide him with food, and he has turned to NICA on multiple occasions for assistance with utility bills, and home repairs. Through NICA’s Senior Good Works Program, when Lionel’s stove broke, NICA was able to find donors to provide him with a new range. When the water heater at his house went out, Lionel turned to NICA again, and NICA’s generous donors came through, providing him with a new water heater.
“When things break, and you can’t fix them, life gets really rough,” Lionel said, “I know that I can get the help I need at NICA.”
Lionel described a past grappling with an illness that no one understood, and how devastating it was for his career potential that he didn't understand it himself. He thinks his years spent in poverty might have been different if he had understood how to manage his mental health.
After many years of inner struggle, Lionel has finally come to peace with his illness, “I’m careful, I take my pills,’ Lionel said, “I know now that I need them, I don’t try to skip them.”
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Join us for NICA's 50th Anniversary Celebration
2019 Marks NICA’s 50th year of serving the Northside Community. To commemorate the occasion, NICA will be hosting a festival in Marine Park that is open to the public. We’re hoping you will join us for what promises to be a great day of fun to be enjoyed by local residents, and supporters of NICA alike.
Your support and attendance at the event is sure to make the day a special one, as NICA looks back on 50 years of providing help and hope to an underserved community. We are still seeking volunteers to help us plan our celebration, and sponsors to offset the cost, please feel free to contact us if you are interested in either opportunity.
Click below to learn more, or to sponsor;
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Thanks for making NICA's Taste of Fort Worth Event a huge success.
NICA’s Annual Taste of Fort Worth Event was a wonderful night of delectable food, splendid live entertainment, and dancing under the stars. In addition to having a great time, attendees were offered the chance to have their photo taken, and to participate in both a live and a silent auction.
In 2018, the Taste of Fort Worth event generated more than 20% of NICA’s annual revenue. In 2019, the Taste of Fort Worth event raised over $60,000 for NICA!
On behalf of all those who will be helped by NICA this year, we wish to thank all who volunteered, planned, donated and attended the event for doing your part to bring NICA’s mission to fruition for the people of Northside and surrounding communities.
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Thanks for your cash gifts
Each summer, NICA sees a decline in the volume of food donations it receives, and each summer children are home from school, and hungry-making the summer a time of greater need. The confluence of these factors makes summer a hungry time for the families of the working poor, and for seniors dwelling in persistent poverty, that’s why we’re asking for your help to ease hunger with your cash donation this summer. The benefits of donating cash to NICA are many & varied, and include the following;
- Through relationships with local businesses and community organizations, NICA is able to purchase food at a substantial discount, in many instances below retail price, and often at or below cost. This translates into just a little cash feeding many hungry families, individuals, and seniors this summer.
- By donating cash you are helping NICA to offset the cost of storing, sorting, and properly distributing food and all other donations all year long.
- Cash donations enable NICA to better meet the evolving needs of the community. For instance, homeless food recipients require food that is easy to carry with them, and does not need to be cooked. If the food pantry runs low on food that can be utilized by the homeless population, your cash donation allows NICA to purchase such food.
NICA thanks you for caring for your community this summer with your cash donation!
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Help NICA Provide clothes for the children of Northside as they go back to school
The National Retail Federation surveyed
7,320 consumers and found
parents with kids in elementary through high school expect to spend an average of about $685 on back-to-school shopping this year.
New school clothes will take up the biggest chunk of spending — about $237 per child.
Each year NICA’s Back to School Program seeks to help families of children living at or below poverty level to afford school clothing. We are hoping that you can help.
This year, we would like to raise $10,000 to serve 240 children with new clothes for the new school year.
If you would like to help, please place your donation in the return envelope provided with this newsletter, or donate to NICA online by clicking below;
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A Letter From Our Director...
Dear Friend of NICA,
Poverty can cycle through generations in a family. For many years, NICA has concerned itself not just with providing for the basic needs of those who seek our help, (things like food, clothing, sanitary living conditions, and shelter), but we also attempt to break the cycle of poverty. In her book, A Framework for Understanding Poverty, Dr. Ruby K Payne asserts that individuals leave poverty for one of three reasons; 1) They have a goal or a vision, 2) A mentor shows them a different path, or 3) A specific talent or ability provides opportunity for them.
NICA’s Circle of Winners Program has been highly successful because it seeks to provide the youth of Northside with all three motives to leave a life of poverty behind them. The program seeks to provide high school age students with a mentor to help them develop goals and vision, and encourages them in turn to mentor younger children. The program takes at-risk youth and shows them that their situation does not have to be painful, a better life does exist for them, and finally the program teaches the youth of Northside to recognize the power of their innate talents and abilities, and harness them to create better outcomes for themselves.
On the occasion of NICA’s 50th Anniversary, I wanted to share with you some of NICA’s history, so we featured Lionel’s story on our front cover, but I also wanted to share with you how NICA is helping the youth of Northside to realize a future free of the poverty into which they were born, and to enjoy a life that their parents, and generations before them never imagined possible.
Thanks for helping NICA break the cycle of poverty.
With Warm Regards,
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Connie Nahoolewa
Executive Director
Northside Inter-Community Agency
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Each year The Communities Foundation of Texas hosts North Texas Giving Day. This initiative harnesses the power of corporate and private sponsors to match your donations, which means a donation made on 9-19-19 will be matched with funds generated by sponsors and private donors to make your dollar go even farther!
To learn more about North Texas Giving Day, and to give to find NICA's North Texas Giving Day page, please click the link below;
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