Teresa Keenan, first executive director of Incarnation House.
Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) July 07, 2015
The Church of the Incarnation is expanding their Friday drop-in ministry to build a center in the heart of Uptown that will offer a safe and consistent after-school destination for homeless youth. Incarnation House will serve as a hub of collective community organizations and partners to provide emotional support and physical resources and foster a sense of hope for a better future.
“We want to create a place of hope that feels like home,” said Bill Lively, Chairman of the Board. “And we want to mobilize a movement in Dallas by raising awareness about the homelessness issue and giving people an opportunity to see the difference that changing these students lives can have for them and our community.”
Its first executive director, Teresa Keenan, has an award-winning corporate background, which she left in 2010 to lead City House, another nonprofit organization that helps homeless teens. Keenan is thrilled for the opportunity to make a difference in her own community.
“These teens have had people in their lives who have let them down. They are looking for caring adults,” Keenan said. “We have the ability to pull an entire community together to be a part of the solution.”
Keenan took the helm in mid-June and will be leading efforts to establish the new center alongside the founding Board of Trustees: Chairman Bill Lively, Deacon Dorothy Budd, Bishop Anthony Burton, Marilyn Corrigan, Dow Crocker, Stephen Goldmann, Margot Keyes, Dianne LaRoe, Lisa Longino, Janet Mockovciak, Jan Pickens, Mary Suhm, and Tommy Valenta.
Currently, 3,000 students in Dallas schools are considered homeless. This would include children who may live in a car or in transitional housing, stay with extended family or friends, or have run away from home due to abuse or other traumatic circumstances. For these students, meeting basic needs can be an insurmountable task. Many of these children do not have a consistent adult presence in their lives to navigate these critical years of high school. Often, they have only the clothes on their backs and do not know where their next meal will come from.
For several years, the Church of the Incarnation has hosted a drop-in Friday program for North Dallas High School students that provides a safe, encouraging space where they can receive homework help, basic needs, and mentoring from trusted adults.
Incarnation House will be managed by dedicated staff and consistent volunteers and initially will be open Monday through Thursday from 4 to 8 p.m. during the regular school year. Services provided will include meals, health care, academic support, career counseling, tutoring, life skills development, transportation and more.
Incarnation House, located in the heart of Uptown Dallas, is a center dedicated to serving the needs of transitional high school students with after-school programming that helps to develop essential life skills, provide emotional support and physical resources, and foster a sense of hope for a future free from the bondage of poverty. A 501(c)(3) nonprofit, Incarnation House is a hub and functions as a collaborator among its volunteers and partners in order to provide support and resources for the youth it serves. For more information, visit http://www.incarnationhouse.org or contact us at (214) 681-2373 or info@incarnationhouse.org. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.