The call for Network’s services skyrocketed beginning with the October 2019 tornado. Then, over the course of the pandemic, the average number of families seeking help increased from 170 per week to 170 per day. And while the nonprofit’s need for more space predates the coronavirus, the crisis hastened the search for a more adequate facility, Network President and CEO Cindy Shafer said.
“The new building will provide room for us to really provide services with dignity to our clients,” she said. “I want to create a space for [clients] that’s bright, that’s open and that makes them feel welcome walking in the door.”
The $5.5 million facility at 1500 International Parkway is four times the size of Network’s current building. Interior renovations began March 30, and the organization is expected to move in over Labor Day weekend.
A wave of challenges
The coronavirus pandemic came on the heels of the October 2019 tornadoes, which left in their path millions of dollars in damage and thousands of people without power. The natural disaster sent shock waves through the organization, Shafer said.
“We had these 341 families who had been devastated and lost everything,” she said. “It was very hard for all of us to serve [them] because we could see ourselves in them.”
Just four months later, when the COVID-19 pandemic set in, the nonprofit saw not only a surge of new clients but also a sudden drop-off in volunteers, many of whom were seniors at high risk for contracting the virus, Shafer said.
As a result, Shafer hired three additional employees and brought on unemployed service industry workers paid through Get Shift Done, an organization that connects affected hospitality employees with local nonprofits to provide hunger relief.
Donations from the North Texas Food Bank and retail grocery partners, paired with food drives organized by local homeowners associations, churches and businesses, enabled Network to meet the soaring need for food in the community, Shafer said.
Warren Caldwell, who is the president of Canyon Creek HOA and the secretary of Network’s executive board, said his neighbors donated about 30,000 pounds of food over the course of three food drives, as well as to nearly $8,000 in cash.
“Any one of us is one illness, one job loss or one accident away from being in the ‘receive’ line instead of the ‘give’ line,” Caldwell said. “In a way, [these drives are] an internal celebration of good fortune and make us more responsible to give back.”
Since March 2020, Network has increased food distribution by 600% and rental and housing utility assistance by 400%, according to the organization. The pandemic was the “great equalizer,” Shafer said, with clients coming from every walk of life.
Then, in mid-February, just as case numbers were declining and more people were getting vaccinated, severe winter weather swept through the state. The aftermath left thousands of people without power and with damage caused by burst pipes.
Dallas resident Danika Sterling said he was at a loss when his first electric bill after the storm came in at about $260, more than six times higher than usual. His cousin referred him to Network, which was able not only to pay the bill but also to help set Sterling up with interviews for a new job.
“They helped me with multiple things—not just my light bill—which brought overall joy to me,” he said. “It was a blessing, for sure, because I didn’t have another option.”
In total, Network assisted 303 individuals with rent, utilities and other expenses related to the winter storms, according to the organization.
The need for a new facility
Network serves the 14 ZIP codes encompassed by Richardson ISD, which includes most of Richardson, parts of Dallas and a small sliver of Garland. Economically disadvantaged students make up more than half of the district’s total enrollment, according to Superintendent Jeannie Stone.
One of the advantages of Network owning its own space is that it can use the building as a revenue generator, Shafer said. Network will occupy 40,000 square feet of the new facility, and the remaining 10,000 square feet will be leased by community partners, including RISD, which plans to relocate its student services department.
Sharing space with Network will allow the district to connect families to services more easily, Stone said.
“I can’t think of a time when they’ve told us, ‘No,’” Stone said. “That’s such a powerful thing because there are so many things we can’t do—we can’t help someone who needs to pay their bills, even though that is something that is directly tied to student performance and the safety and security of our students.”
The extra space will enable the organization to expand upon services it already provides, including food and clothing distribution, job search assistance, senior services and more.
The facility will also include community gathering space as well as a sizable food distribution warehouse and a clothing closet that will allow clients to shop for their groceries and clothes using prepaid gift cards loaded with “Network Dollars.” In the future, Network will explore having the clothing closet double as a retail store that is open to the public.
Shafer said she expects pandemic-era levels of service to continue for up to two more years. Mobile service delivery is the future of the organization, Shafer said. A second mobile food pantry will launch later this year, she said.
“I’m not interested in seeing the number of [people] served go up each year,” she said. “What I want to see is the number of services provided to those people growing so that we can have a broader array of stabilization programs to really help people to be successful.”
