“It’s a bright beautiful summer day. You see kids playing with their parents in the park. You want to do the same and play in the sun with your child, but neither of you has had a decent meal in a few days, or a warm shower. Instead, you both continue to watch the families play through the car window, as you reminisce about the days before times got hard, before you were laid off from your job, before you lost the house, and before everything fell apart.
“Unfortunately, moments like these are real for many homeless families in Dallas – over half of which are headed by single mothers. It is close to impossible for these women to be able to provide the quality of life their children deserve when they are struggling to find the confidence and internal strength to pick themselves back up again. Financial hardships affect children emotionally – many times they feel out of place, rejected by their school peers, and abandoned by their friends. This, in turn, can make them feel depressed, act out, or even fall behind in their studies. In fact, the average homeless child is four grade levels behind their peers in reading.
“At Interfaith Family Services, our mission is to empower families in crisis to break the cycle of poverty. We provide stable housing, counseling services for both parents and children, career coaching and job training. Additionally, children receive the tutoring and daily homework support that they need to fill the academic gap resulting from their families’ instability. We genuinely strive to not only get working poor families off the street, but to also improve their overall quality of life. If we can help people mentally and financially prepare for hardships, then they can avoid these situations in the future. Last fiscal year, 90% of our families obtained employment and transitioned to permanent housing and 95% of our graduates maintained employment two years after leaving our program. We are passionate about the success of our residents and we are extremely blessed and grateful to have an amazing group of donors, volunteers, and supporters to help us achieve our goals.
“That is why North Texas Giving Day is so important! Last year, with the money raised on that momentous day, we were able to provide life-changing opportunities to equip homeless parents to fight poverty while empowering children, like Michael, to avoid falling prey to it as an adult. Michael was a shy and reserved 5th grader who entered Interfaith four grade levels behind in reading. Without any intervention, summer learning loss may have caused Michael to begin the school year even more behind. However, thanks to Interfaith’s innovative Hope and Horizons Children’s Program, Michael blossomed into a more confident young man who became eager to learn. Now, he is reading at the 11th grade level! Then, there was Ricky. A 14-year-old, Ricky arrived at Interfaith reluctant to identify a career goal because being homeless made it difficult for him to dream. However, through our donors’ generosity, Ricky attended an amazing college tour of universities located on the East coast. After returning from the tour and learning about financial aid, Ricky enthusiastically stated that he plans to go to college and eventually become a neurologist. Ricky and Michael are not alone. Last year, nearly 74% of all Interfaith children advanced one or more grade levels in reading, and 70% advanced one or more grade levels in math! Most importantly, over 90% now have aspirations of going on to college.
“When you support Interfaith on North Texas Giving Day, you are not just helping homeless parents to overcome poverty, but you are helping children to break its cycle. That is why we are encouraging you to Get Up and Give. The future of our community depends on it!
“May God bless you!”
-By Kimberly Williams, Interfaith Family Services Chief Executive Officer
* Photo provided by Interfaith Family Services ______
In seven years, North Texas Giving Day has pumped more than $119 million into the North Texas community. In 2015, $33 million was raised through more than 118,000 gifts benefiting over 2,000 nonprofits.
On Thursday, September 22, support Interfaith Family Services by linking here and spreading the word. #NTxGivingDay