November 12, 2020 – The Dallas Morning News – Vandana Ravikumar
The Dallas Morning News Charities launched its 35th fall campaign Thursday with the goal of raising $1.5 million to help 23 area nonprofits that have seen an increased need during the coronavirus pandemic.
The DMN Charities supports groups focused on helping the homeless and hungry.
Grant Moise, publisher and president of The Dallas Morning News, said that donors have continued to support the community despite the difficulties the year has presented.
“We know there are members of our community who are suffering as a result of all of the challenges that have been faced in 2020,” Moise said. “This year’s fundraising success is a true sign of citizens helping citizens throughout North Texas.”
The campaign began with $463,753.96 in previous donations from nonprofit partners, employees of The News and Belo + Company and individual supporters of DMN Charities.
DMN Charities has already distributed $505,142 to nonprofits in 2020 through its COVID Relief campaign.
“This year has challenged all of us in ways none of us could have imagined,” said Leona Allen, deputy publisher of The News and board chair of DMN Charities. “Still, we live in a resilient community of caring people who pitch in to help those who are less fortunate than they are. The clients our charities support needed more help this year than they ever have. And, of course, North Texans came through for them. They make me grateful to live among them.”
Each charity will receive several contributions from the campaign, which will continue until Jan. 31. The News pays all administrative costs of the campaign so that 100% of donations received go directly to nonprofits. Last year’s fall campaign raised $1.3 million from 1,219 donors.
After a stringent vetting process, agencies are chosen because of their dedication to the provisions of shelter, emergency assistance, food, clothing, job skills training and counseling for those in greatest need, as well as for their organizational integrity and solid financial reports.
Camille Grimes, executive director of DMN Charities, said the nonprofits receiving help have served upward of 50% to 60% more people than last year.
“Every day in 2020, our charities have encountered people who are homeless and hungry for the first time in their lives,” Grimes said. “COVID instantly created new procedures that charities implemented in order to safely serve our neighbors in need.”
The pandemic placed additional stress on those charities, which had to adapt to meet their communities’ new and continued needs.
One of those charities is The Stewpot, a ministry of the First Presbyterian Church of Dallas that serves people who are experiencing homelessness or who are at risk of homelessness.
Soon after the pandemic hit, the nonprofit stopped having volunteers show up to follow social distancing recommendations, said Brenda Snitzer, executive director of The Stewpot.
“That’s been really hard for us … but we’ve adapted, and people are really resilient,” she said. Meanwhile, the nonprofit has seen a huge increase in demand as the pandemic has negatively impacted the economy, she added.
The nonprofit has shifted more resources to help prevent people from becoming homeless. That support includes delivering food to households and providing financial assistance for rent and utilities, Snitzer said.
The Stewpot was able to meet the increased need for its services by offering many of them virtually, including educational programs and online counseling, Snitzer added. The DMN Charities also helped the nonprofit receive aid through a federal pandemic stimulus program.
“We are enormously grateful to all the efforts they’ve made on our behalf and on the behalf of so many other agencies in our town that have been doing this work,” said Rebecca Eldredge, the director of development and communications for The Stewpot. “They’ve really come through for us in such a beautiful way.”
Charles Wolford, CEO of the nonprofit Promise House, said that DMN Charities helped his organization provide food and housing to young people experiencing homelessness. That nonprofit provides emergency shelter and housing for young people, including survivors of sex trafficking, those who identify as LGBT and young parents or those who are pregnant.
“They were actually able to support us with mental health funding for both youth and staff. … We were just so elated, and it couldn’t have come at a better time for us,” Wolford said.
Youth homelessness is not as visible as adult homelessness because teens and young adults try to hide their situations, Wolford said. But Promise House has seen increased demand since the start of the school year, as teachers and school officials are often the ones who report cases of child abuse or neglect, he said.
DMN Charities helped Promise House fill the gaps to meet the unique demands of alleviating youth homelessness, especially during the pandemic, Wolford said.
As financial strains continue during the pandemic, more families are likely to need help keeping food on the table, said Erica Yaeger, chief external affairs officer of the North Texas Food Bank.
That makes the support of DMN Charities and its donors even more critical, she said.
“We know that it’s not going away,” Yaeger said of the coronavirus. “We know that even if there’s a vaccination, the impact of the pandemic will be longstanding. And we fully expect that we will be serving an elevated need in our region for at least two years.”
The 2020-2021 Dallas Morning News Charities are:
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Family Gateway
Shelter and supportive housing programs for children and families affected by homelessness with wraparound services, including case management, adult and children’s services, and an education program.
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