Media Contact:
Jessica Rood
Director of Development, Interfaith Family Services
Phone: (469) 828-1833
Email: jrood@interfaithdallas.org
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INTERFAITH FAMILY SERVICES OPENED NEW FACILITY TO FIGHT POVERTY | DALLAS, TEXAS
Interfaith Family Services hosted its Grand Opening ceremony to unveil their new Family Empowerment Center on Thursday, September 12th, 2019 at their East Dallas campus near Lower Greenville. Speakers included Interfaith CEO Kimberly Williams, Capital Campaign Chair Brian Hegi, Board Chair Amber Welock, Past Chair Ashely Blanchette, and Vice President of Community Development with Chase Bank, James H. Simmons, Jr. Booker T. Washington’s Gospel Choir shared a song of praise before guests were invited to tour the Adult Education Facility and Moody Family Childcare and Youth Services Center.
The ceremony brought awareness to the various barriers that working poor families face. While Dallas boasts a less than 4% unemployment rate, our city ranks third in the nation for child poverty. There were over 3,000 homeless children in DISD in 2018. Amber Welock, Board Chair, further explained the nuance stating, “Families do not lack work ethic, but many lack an opportunity to advance. Many parents feel stuck in a cycle of poverty, and some children are losing hope. But providing hope is Interfaith’s legacy.”
Interfaith CEO Kimberly Williams gave both an energizing and a thought-provoking speech about the impact the new Center will have on not just homeless and at-risk families, but the greater Dallas community as a whole. This center – the result of a successful $11.4 million capital campaign – allows Interfaith to expand their proven model that combines vocational training, financial coaching, extended-hours childcare, afterschool tutoring, and new offerings related to self-care and family health at a single, DART-accessible location. Interfaith’s hope is not only will the lives of the families they serve be transformed, but that their methodology to addressing poverty cause private and public sector change so that all Dallas families are empowered to live self-sufficient lives.
ABOUT INTERFAITH FAMILY SERVICES
For 35 years, Interfaith Family Services (Interfaith) has been a leading resource for working poor families and a haven for homeless children who long for stability and hope. Today, we are even more committed to our mission to empower families in crisis and break the cycle of poverty. At the core of our work is a simple yet effective program formula: Eliminate Barriers + Equip Parents + Educate Children = Empower Working Families. Our first step is to eliminate the barriers that keep families in crisis from achieving stability. For families facing homelessness, we provide transitional housing in one of our 25 fully-furnished apartments that we own debt-free, in addition to providing free after-school and summer childcare. For families at-risk for homelessness, we equip parents through career coaching and vocational training that will help them to go from “working to live” to “loving their work.” We also provide financial coaching to help reduce debt, build a savings safety-net and make the most of their new income. Simultaneously, children are stabilized via our structured and nurturing Hope & Horizons Children & Teens Program through tutoring, play therapy and counseling. This holistic combination of services produces results that elevate entire families out of poverty. For more information on Interfaith, or to discover other ways you can support Interfaith’s work, please contact Jessica Rood, Director of Development, at jrood@interfaithdallas.org or visit www.interfaithdallas.org.
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