Project Hope 2023: The Gift of Hope

Christmas 2023

, Dear JBI Partners & Affiliates,

On behalf of The Storehouse team and the neighbors we serve, thank you for your generous support that meets our neighbors at their starting lines and walks with them toward transformation.

Candace Winslow CEO

With integrated programs that feed, clothe, and care, we strive to work relationally with our neighbors to intentionally partner with them on their pathways out of poverty. While each of our neighbors’ journeys with The Storehouse will look different, ultimately, these are stories of hope, redemption, and opportunity.

In this newsletter, you will meet Mileidis as a demonstration of the holistic care that we provide for our neighbors.

Our vision is to transform the lives of at least 20 percent of the neighbors we serve as we walk with them out of the food line and into living-wage employment. And, we have thousands of neighbors like Mileidis still waiting in line for their transformation story.

Your generous and faithful support empowers our neighbors as they journey toward this vision.

With my immense gratitude,

CARE. The mission of The Storehouse of Collin County is to feed, clothe, and care as neighbors in one community.

While our food pantry and clothing closet provide neighbors with basic needs of food and clothing, our neighbor care and education programs focus on providing life-changing resources and opportunities to develop life, language, and job skills. Together, these programs work hand-in-hand to bring about long-term transformation for the families we serve.

Our food pantry serves over 5,000 families each month by providing a variety of food items.

Our clothing closet provides free clothing items for an average of 400 families a month.

Our neighbor care team helps connect neighbors with much-needed resources in the community.

Our education program provides job, life, and language skills training as well as connects neighobrs with job partners.

HELPING NEIGHBORS WORK WELL Our vision is to transform the life trajectories of our neighbors so that they will no longer need to access our services. This year, we launched a job partnership connecting neighbors with living-wage employment.

The neighbors are identified through our Project Hope and The Academy programs. Once matched with an employer, we continue supporting the neighbor with professional mentorship through our Work Well Methodology.

MILEIDIS’ Mileidis Mendoza, a business owner with a master’s in accounting, moved to the United States with her husband and their two sons in September 2019 because of the political and economic instability in their home country of Venezuela.

Upon arrival in the U.S., Mileidis found employment at a furniture warehouse where she worked 12-hour days, six days a week. During this time, her family of four lived in a two-bedroom apartment with eight other people.

Mileidis first visited The Storehouse in June 2021, and as is the case with most neighbors, her first interaction was with the Seven Loaves food pantry. During her visits to Seven Loaves, Mileidis learned about the other programs at The Storehouse, including Joseph’s Coat, Project Hope, and The Academy.

In the fall of 2022, Mileidis visited Joseph’s Coat where she received clothing for her family, including two coats for her sons.

During this time, she also enrolled in the English as a Second Language program in The Academy.

This year, The Storehouse more closely integrated Project Hope and The Academy to ensure that neighbors have the care they need at all stages of their journeys. The Project Hope team is positioned to support neighbors with resource connections, direct financial assistance, and mental health support. Through this integration, when Mileidis and her family moved to a space of their own, she connected with the Project Hope team who was able to provide furnishings through a partner nonprofit.

The holistic care of The Storehouse culminated for Mileidis when she learned about the new job partnership program, and in May 2023, Mileidis was hired at The Storehouse’s first job partner, Lux Ice. In July, she was promoted to accounts payable specialist, which is a very similar role to the work that she did in Venezuela.

Today, Mileidis is thriving at Lux Ice and no longer has to visit our food pantry. She is on track to graduate from The Storehouse’s ESL program in May 2024. As she shared recently in response to a gold star that she has on her desk at Lux Ice, “that’s what I’m going to be.”

A PATHWAY TO TRANSFORMATION 1.

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1. June 2021: Mendoza and her family of four began visiting our food pantry in where she learned about our programs.

2. November 2022: Mendoza shopped at our clothing closet and recevied needed clothing items and coats for her family at no cost.

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3. September 2022 - Present: Mendoza enrolled in our ESL class and she is on track to complete the program by May 2024.

4. May 2023: Mendoza furnished her family’s new apartment with a referral from Project Hope to a partner agency.

5. May 2023: Mendoza began working at Lux Ice and was quickly promoted to accounts payable specialist where she is able to utilize the skills she has honed as an accountant back home in Venezuela. Photo courtesy of Shafkat Anowar from The Dallas Morning News front page article published Oct. 12.

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“We must try, try, try because there is no bigger obstacle than the one we refuse to climb... I have experienced many good things from last fall until today, and I give thanks to God, my family and friends, The Academy and Lux Ice.” - Mileidis Mendoza

Your gifts open doors to transformation for our neighbors. This year (January - October 2023), we have walked alongside our neighbors in the following ways:

978 118 We connected 118 families with our partner Dallas Furniture Bank, which provides furniture for families at a reduced cost.

66 We helped provide routine screenings for 66 women through Methodist Health’s mobile mammography unit.

We have spent 978 hours in one-on-one conversations with our neighbors so far this year.

1,560 We received 1,560 total requests from our neighbors for resources beyond food and clothing.

113 We referred 113 neighbors to Golden Cross Academic Clinic in Dallas for free medical care.

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The Project Hope team staffs the hospitality tent alongside volunteers at every food distribution and is always to answer neighbor questions about additional needs.

2. The Project Hope team also provides new neighbors with a Community Resource Guide (CRG) that provides basic information on how to access all of The Storehouse programs and services.

3. Golden Cross Academic Clinic, a program of Methodist Health, sent its mammography unit to our campus three times this year to provide free screenings for women in need of services.

4. Alexys Hatfield LPC, taught a class about managing stress and anxiety. The life skills class was offered in collaboration between our Project Hope and The Academy programs.

THE PROJECT HOPE team Nancy Mendez

Vanessa Tovar

Director of Project Hope

Neighbor Care Coordinator

Nancy serves as the liaison between neighbors and external community partners, supporting neighbors who need referrals for resources outside The Storehouse.

Vanessa serves as the first point of contact by communicating with our neighbors who reach out in need of additional support beyond food and clothing.

The Storehouse of Collin County 1401 Mira Vista Blvd., Plano, Texas 75093 www.thestorehousecc.org | swhitling@thestorehousecc.org | 469.304.8772 @thestorehousecc