As North Texas grows, some nonprofits that serve rural areas are seeing more families in need of food, transitional housing and other critical needs.
As North Texas grows, some nonprofits that serve rural areas are seeing more families in need of food, transitional housing and other critical needs. Leaders from Grace Bridge Food Bank and The Servolution Network talked about the trends they're seeing, how they're working to fill in the gaps and how the organizations are planning for the future.
"Year one, we were really focused on just those basic necessities. So, food that can be taken home by a family and prepared meals, said Carter Morris, President of Grace Bridge Food Bank.
In the 11 years since Carter Morris and his team launched Grace Bridge, they've continued growing, just like the population of the city of Celina. Celina's population nearly doubled in the past three years.
"It grew into a community garden, we started an eye care clinic that's right here behind me," Morris said.
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The nonprofit also coordinates disaster relief, provides holiday gifts for kids and uses profits from their resale stores to meet the growing need in the community
"In 2020, we saw a 20% increase almost immediately during the pandemic. And then we saw an additional 25% over that. And now we're running at about 11% over that this year," Morris said.
Like other nonprofits in rural areas, Morris says they are hearing from more families that could use a helping hand, thanks to a combination of factors including inflation, lasting effects from the pandemic and more people moving to the area.
"For our entire organization, we've seen 133% overall growth. Probably the most need I would say is food.
said Cassie Long, Executive Assistant for Servolution Network.
The team at Servolution Network which serves Tarrant, Parker and Wise counties says they're also seeing a surge in applications for their Good Neighbor program, which provides critical home repairs.
"Pre-covid, we would have about 10 people on that waiting list at any given time. And now we are staying at a steady 40-plus people on our waiting list.
Both groups say, they can't meet every need but do their best to refer families to others who can.
"In really a miraculous way is that with every need, God has continued to supply that need for us," said Morris.
Grace Bridge is in talks with the city of Celina about plans for a new building. Long says that Servolution Network is planning to start case management services to help provide long-term support and solutions for the families they serve. As the populations grow, both organizations are also seeing the need for other services in their communities, including substance abuse treatment, services for domestic violence survivors, transitional housing and RV repair.
