Our mission is to provide stability and life-changing supportive services to children and families affected by homelessness. We act as the service access point in Dallas County for families with children experiencing or near homelessness. In 2018, we fielded more than 4,800 phone calls, helping 1,400 callers quickly and pre-screening 3,400 callers for eligibility and urgency of service need. 700 families were triaged into our own or partner shelters, or into an overflow status when all shelter rooms were full.

Through our Assessment & Diversion (A&D) program, 900 families were diverted from emergency shelter in 2018 by supporting them with a less expensive intervention or by capitalizing on their own resources – learn more here. A&D, a national best practice, allows us to quantify the need and assess for severity/vulnerability. We also have a leadership role to make changes in our overall system – the Continuum of Care – by actively participating in work with other shelter leaders and agencies, in collaboration with the Metro Dallas Homeless Alliance.

We know the negative effects of homelessness on children and their development. These children are woefully behind their peers in terms of development from an educational and social-emotional perspective. For this reason, our emergency shelter is focused on housing and income for adults and education stabilization for children.