GRACE sees increase in applicants for emergency aid, clothing
GRACE, the largest nonprofit agency for low-income residents of area cities, is noticing an increase in families seeking help.
Overall, the number of families that received emergency assistance from GRACE (Grapevine Relief and Community Exchange) has grown by about 100 a year for the past three years, said spokeswoman Jennifer Morisato— despite overall improvement in the economy.
To receive help from GRACE, clients generally must be at about 150 to 200 percent of the poverty level. A family of 4 could make $35,325 annually, according to federal guidelines for 150 percent of poverty level.
"When people think of Grapevine, Southlake and Colleyville, they don't think of the working class poor," said Shonda Schaefer, executive director of GRACE.
But many of the jobs created by the flourishing hotel and restaurant sector are minimum-wage positions that leave families on the edge financially, she said.
"It's created a new generation of employees that are service industry employees living in a fairly wealthy community. They're struggling to live in our community and adapt to this lifestyle," Schaefer said.
Data compiled by the Texas Education Association bears out the increase. It shows that the percentage of economically disadvantaged students attending Grapevine-Colleyville ISD increased from 11 percent in 2005 to 22.1 percent, or 2,957, in 2012-13.
GRACE saw more families this year who qualified for back-to-school clothing—about 1,100 families compared to 600 in 2011.
The summer feeding program served a record 35,439 lunches over its 12 weeks this year, Morisato said.
About GRACE
The faith-based organization, now in its 26th year, partners with 30 area churches of various denominations to provide emergency assistance, a community health clinic, transitional housing, seasonal programs and resale stores.
According to its annual report, GRACE helped about 4,557 people last year. Schaefer estimated that amounts to about 1,400 families, although the numbers likely represent some repeat clients.
GRACE had an overall 2012 budget of about $1.6 million, according to its annual report. It employs 47 people.
About 40 percent of the revenues and support came from donated services. Another 13 percent came from grants, and 28 percent from financial contributions, the report says. GRACE's special events brought in 11 percent of its budget, resale 5 percent and donated facilities 3 percent.
Schaefer estimates that the dollar amount of all the help GRACE provides each year would be around $7 million.
"The service sector and the employees who work in it are an important part of the Grapevine economy," said City Manager Bruno Rumbelow. "The mission of GRACE to assist those in need from all economic sectors of the community when they have fallen on hard times is central to its success over the past 25 years."
One of GRACE's biggest drives is to provide turkeys and all the trimmings for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners to more than 500 families each year.
Besides providing food, the dinners help children struggling to fit in, Schaefer said.
"Even children in elementary school talking about Thanksgiving—in a lot of these cases, that family can't even afford to put a Thanksgiving dinner together," she said.
Schaefer said GRACE tries to make sure kids have some of the same life experiences as their classmates.
"We're certainly not going to promote them to a level of wealth they're going to experience every day, but they're going to have a Christmas," she said.
The organization tries to maintain families' self-respect over the holidays through its Christmas Cottage, where parents shop in a store-like setting for gifts.
"We want to preserve the dignity—have parents select toys and wrap them, so children don't actually come to the Christmas Cottage," Schaefer said. "It's completely self-selected."
Each family receives a budget (but no money) for gifts according to family size. The gifts are assigned prices according to what they would cost at Walmart, so that parents learn to budget as they get age-appropriate presents for their children at no cost.
From set-up to the finish, the Christmas Cottage uses as many as 450 volunteers to help about 1,500 people.
Changing needs
Like other services, the care GRACE provides at its 10-year-old clinic has changed over time, Schaefer said.
It was first planned as an emergent-care clinic, but she said the need now is more for management of long-term illnesses such as diabetes or cardiac problems.
Many of the clients are undocumented, she said, and cannot get medical help through the publicly funded John Peter Smith Health Network .
She said about half are diabetic or pre-diabetic. GRACE helps by conducting special clinics for diabetics.
The clinic, which sees eligible clients several days a week by appointment and also accepts walk-ins who still must qualify, is staffed by volunteer physicians, translators and other workers. A paid nurse-manager operates the clinic.
