Giving Grace: The Nonprofit Dedicated to Breaking the Cycle of Homelessness in Denton County
Three months ago, something amazing happened.
Two organizations became one under the banner of Giving Grace, expanding their reach into families facing homelessness in Denton County.
Even though Giving Hope, Inc. has been around for 35+ years, and Grace like Rain only 5, both organizations had very similar missions as far as serving people at risk of or experiencing homelessness and had actually been working collaboratively for the past few years. In 2019, Grace Like and Rain and Giving Hope formed a formal partnership, and the conversation around merging the organizations was initiated.
But rest assured: their new brand doesn’t mean a new mission.
With a lack of access to community and strong, supportive relationships for families and individuals in crisis in North Texas, Giving Grace is committed to providing relationships and resources to address the underlying causes of homelessness and housing instability.
Because investing in people is ultimately an investment in a stronger community.
So what were the driving factors behind the merge?
Glad you asked.
When it came to the merge between Grace Like Rain and Giving Hope, it was a no-brainer both programmatically and logistically–and one that is a huge benefit to Denton County.
Because with any nonprofit, 3 components are absolutely critical to its success: the mission, the programs that execute the mission, and the funding to support it.
Similar Missions
A big driving factor in regards to making the merge official was the similar missions that complemented each other extremely well. Grace Like Rain focused primarily on serving families while Giving Hope focused mainly on serving individuals.
When combined, the two organizations’ focus groups created an all-encompassing net to fully serve the Denton community.
CEO, Leighanne Christon said it best, “when it comes to a mission standpoint (as well as a merger standpoint) you can’t really ask for a more beautiful unison. With such similar missions, it didn't take a whole lot of effort on our part to figure out what our service model would be moving forward.”
Diverse Funding
You’ve probably heard the phrase, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket”...
And when it comes to financially supporting nonprofits, the saying couldn’t be any truer.
Having various revenue streams is critical to an agency’s success and growth, so again, the topic of funding was another green light to make the merger a success.
As if both organizations were destined to come together, Grace Like Rain was primarily community-based funded through individuals, churches, and a few private foundations. On the other hand, Giving Hope was heavily funded by government grants.
From a diversification of revenue standpoint, the two coming together as one, you couldn’t have dreamt up a more perfect fit.
This merger created a diverse revenue composition that filled the need for both parties to have a sustainable revenue structure for both organizations to succeed. With the two coming together, they were able to support a diverse revenue composition creating a sustainable revenue structure and allowing organizations to succeed.
Complementary Programs
When it comes to helping people break the cycle of poverty and homelessness, serving them holistically is absolutely critical. And when the organizations looked at the specific programs they offered to the community, the decision to bring them together made complete sense.
Grace Like Rain spearheaded the amazing case management program called Rise With Grace, giving them the superpower of connection, relationships, and community. Similarly, Giving Hope had its own signature programs: Street Outreach (making them the only street outreach group in Denton County) and Housing and Relief. These programs helped get folks straight off the streets, straight out of encampments, straight out of parking lots, and places not meant for habitation, and into housing and relief programs.
These 3 key programs are essential to helping those that are in the crisis of homelessness or at risk of being homeless…
And now, with these programs combined, true and long-lasting change can take place.
What sets Giving Grace’s program apart?
Giving Grace offers a continuum of care through programs that are the backbone of its mission.
The Rise With Grace program is a very intensive relational one-to-one case management approach to ensure that the families coming to Giving Grace for help are able to move forward without returning to the place of homelessness.
Traditionally, many case management programs stop working with clients once people are housed, but Giving Grace’s dedication to relationships is what sets them apart from other similar organizations. They continue to work with clients after they are housed to make sure they're hitting milestones so that they ultimately break that generational cycle for their families.
“We're breaking that cycle of poverty, breaking the cycle of being at risk of homelessness, and changing lives generationally. Homelessness doesn’t just impact the mother or the father, but also that child or those children. Rise With Grace has proven to be a very effective program for the organization,” Christon added.
Take Dan* for example.
When the staff at Giving Grace first met Dan, he had no desire for help. He was chronically homeless and heavily abusive of drugs.
But they kept showing up. They kept investing. They kept serving.
And ultimately, because of a specific relationship with one of their male staff, a breakthrough was had, and Dan was finally open to a change that could come from no one else but himself.
Just a few months ago, Dan made the brave decision to better himself–He left the encampment and successfully engaged in a rehab program.
When you see pictures of where he was before entering the program, and where he is now, it is night and day, a complete 180.
Because of the continued effort of Giving Grace to simply be a constant presence with an open hand, Dan is now on an incredible journey to ultimately change his life for good.
In any story, it starts with the individual, but because of the key aspects of what sets Giving Grace apart, not just those signature pieces, but the community and relationship building they offer, family’s lives are radically changing.
“We’re here to invest and keep showing up, and when folks are ready for a change, we're there for them.” –L. Christon
Living in homelessness is hard, and without support, it’s even harder.
This is why Giving Grace is 100% dedicated to its relationally driven case management program:
“Over time everything gets tougher: substance abuse gets tougher, mental health gets tougher, and that hill out of homelessness becomes steeper and steeper. So if we don't have somebody on the other side to help them re-learn how to live normally, they take their encampment experience and just put it in an apartment which can be very dangerous. There are all kinds of risks associated with that, so there has to be a cognizant and purposeful, intentional relationship there to help them relearn how to engage,” Christon stated.
Need help? Giving Grace can help.
If you know someone experiencing homelessness, or even see someone on the street who looks like they could use help, fill out Giving Grace’s Request to Locate Form and help start them on their journey to freedom. Once completed, an outreach team will go to that location, do an assessment, and determine the best next steps for that specific person or family.
In the meantime,
Shelters for Families include:
Denton County Friends of the Family – Denton (Domestic Violence only)
Abigail Arms – Gainesville
The Samaritan Inn – McKinney (Shelter for Families, Women, and Men)
In My Shoes – Dallas (Pregnant Moms only)
Family Gateway – Dallas (Provides Temporary Hotel Shelter; Family must be located in Dallas)
You can also access a list of shelters nationwide here.
You can also email Giving Grace for more information about utility or rent assistance, or any other questions you have regarding services to help people get back on their feet.