Dear friends,
This year I celebrated fifteen years at Center for Transforming Lives. Here, at the end of 2024, when we are marking the end of our time in this historic building, it seems an appropriate time for reflection.
First, I am filled with gratitude and awe to be at this inflection point – poised for even greater impact with mothers and their children. When I started on this journey, I knew I joined an organization with a track record of innovation and community commitment. I knew that the work we engaged in had always been deep and substantial. With this solid foundation, I was excited about the possibilities, but knew I had big shoes to fill.
We experienced our challenges for sure. First, there were several big changes in the funding environment – especially the funding we’d long relied upon for our care for children experiencing homelessness. But more concerning, poverty and homelessness for single mother led families increased. Then we realized we had to grow, but our name of YWCA confused the public because they thought we were part of the YMCA. To grow, we had to change. So we did.
We grew in effectiveness by developing a trauma-informed two generation array of sustainable transformative services that effectively address the root causes of poverty for women and children.
We grew in the type and amount of service by establishing and expanding housing for families, expanding early childhood education, and also creating economic mobility and clinical counseling services to more effectively meet the needs of mothers and children escaping poverty.
We grew our footprint by adding our new 14-acre Riverside campus – and are now operating from ten locations throughout the county!
We grew our influence by educating our community about women and children living in poverty through public speaking, reports, journal publications, policy briefs, news articles – so much so that we completely changed the narrative about family homelessness in Tarrant County!
We grew our impact – transforming lives of more than 6,000 families since 2018!
Thank you for being part of the journey with me, with us. We could not have achieved these remarkable milestones without your kind, generous support. Together, we are building better futures in which all families, even those led by single moms, thrive.
Happy Holidays!
Carol
Categories: Words on the Wing
