Dallas, TX
By Allison BakerToday was our third day of service and our first day serving with Vogel Alcove. Going into this service opportunity I did not know exactly what to expect from this community partner. I understood that they were servicing families who are homeless but I could not have imagined the extent of their services.
Finding out that Dallas is 3rd in the nation for rates of children who are homeless, was a jaw dropping statistic. This was a statistic that I couldn’t believe. Typically when thinking of homelessness I had thought of adults, or veterans, but I really had not thought about the number of children that go homeless every night. This amazing organization is trying to help alleviate this problem to some level. Vogel Alcove is able to provide free childcare, infant-preschool, to approximately 200
children daily. Additionally, they provide services to the parents including help finding jobs, saving money, and parenting advice. This organization is also able to provide mental health counseling, speech, OT, and PT services.
For our service today we were able to work behind the scenes and assist with their resource center. We worked to organize large amounts of clothing donations from generous community members. This resource center is made available to the parents and children. Additionally, we worked to make “buddy bags”. These bags go home with children each night to ensure that the students have food for dinner each night. Although we were only able to make a small impact today, this experience has opened our eyes to a bigger societal challenge. The question now is how can we continue to make a difference for children and families experiencing homelessness, when we return back to Springfield?