CCA President's Blog

Remembering a Special Angel Named Betty

2010-07-22T10:04:00.007-05:00

From Seth Harrison, CCA's Director of Housing and Facilities--

I met Betty a few months ago when she was referred to our Housing Restoration Program. Lazara, her caseworker, came and visited with me about her situation, and set up a time to meet with Betty and review her home so we could make a list of needed repairs. Betty was 77 years old and her hearing aides didn’t function properly, which made communication very difficult for her. Because of the hearing issue she didn’t have a telephone, she only communicated with written correspondence, yes, in the age of email, cell phones, and tweeting we were writing letters.

When Lazara and I met with Betty at her home it was in very bad shape. The majority of it was beyond repair. The home didn’t have functioning plumbing and the roof and walls were deteriorating away. The kitchen was in horrible condition with a rusted out sink, no oven or stovetop, the countertops were gone and now only pieces of old plywood sat on top of the cabinets which were also falling apart. Her hot water heater was gone--it had quit working and been removed years ago. Her refrigerator was broken, and she was using the small freezer space to keep a few items cool. She was also very angry about some issues she was dealing with. It was a heartbreaking picture of a person who had been alone for quite awhile.

It happened about the middle of the meeting, when Lazara asked her about some pictures on the wall and she began telling us about many of her family members and friends. She talked about New York, her brother who lived in Gainesville, and her other brother who was a “pretty good salesman” for Sears. Over the next few months we met and visited with Betty numerous times and repaired various items in her home. We were all very blessed to see her begin to smile more often and open up to us by sharing many stories of her life.

When we repaired her garage door opener she gave everyone high fives. When we replaced the old plywood on her cabinets with laminate tops and a new sink she smiled and went on about how beautiful they were. The attached picture shows her proudly standing in her new kitchen. We brought her two air conditioners and she would only accept one. She said, “nobody should have cold air blowing on them when they are sleeping cause it will make you sick.” When we repaired the drain lines to her bathroom and kitchen by connecting them to the sewer lines (the original cast iron pipes had rusted away to nothing) , she was so happy and thankful to have this new bathroom to use.

We were in the process of selecting the flooring for her bathroom when I received the sad news that Betty had passed away. I will miss her very much. I will miss her coming into my office, I will miss going to her home, and I will miss writing those letters. At first I was frustrated that we didn’t have the opportunity to complete her housing restoration project, but then I realized that it wasn’t the completion of the task at hand, such as the plumbing or the countertops that mattered. They were important and much needed items, but what mattered the most to Betty was the “being there.” The last several months of her life were spent enjoying the company of some folks from CCA whom she allowed to come into her life. Her family later told me that they hadn't seen her smile in years--only in the last few months of her life when she began to open up to us. Thank you so very much Ms. Betty for including us in your life and blessing ours in the process.

--Seth

New Hope for a New GED Graduate

2010-02-22T15:57:00.003-06:00

A message from Yvonne Booker, CCA Director of Vocational Programs

Fellow Believers:
We have a new GED graduate!

One of our clients recently visited me in my office. When we sat down to talk she immediately pulled from an envelope a copy of her “Certificate of High School Equivalency”--her GED issued by the State of Texas. We embraced and I asked her what’s next. Her reply: “I want to continue.”

Perhaps if this were all to her story we would say “oh how great” and move on. However, after eight years on staff here at CCA I know there is always more to an individual than what is portrayed when they enter our doors. So it is with her.

She enrolled in our GED program on July 18, 2007. She visited CCA after making the decision to leave an abusive marriage. Her attendance was excellent from that time through May 19, 2008. She completed the GED preparation but did not schedule her test. We tried everything to reach her, then one day she showed up to meet with our Chaplain. I saw her and encouraged her to schedule her test. She promised she would.

Our Chaplain later shared that she had lost her housing due to the loss of her job. She found another job and her new employer offered her a room rent-free in exchange for a reduction in pay. She took the job in good faith but the employer’s intentions were not good. She shared that although she was promised a normal work schedule (8 hours daily) her employer would often wake her at 1, 2 or 3 am to do work. Her promise of a decent living arrangement was no more than a room with a mattress. Despite all of this, she was committed to taking and passing her exam.

Today not only has she received her GED she has moved to a more suitable living environment, has a new job and is trying establish a relationship with her adult daughter.

As she exited my office today she looked at me and shared, “your program works!”
My response: “God’s programs work!”

May CCA continue to be the vessel God uses to heal the broken hearted and set the captives free.

God bless you all!

Giving the Gift of Dignity at Christmas

2009-12-23T09:30:00.005-06:00

Our annual Christmas Toy Store is winding down to a close here in the next couple of days. Once again, we have been blessed to be able to provide gifts for more than 3,000 children who otherwise would have had very little under the tree on Christmas morning. Our program focuses on encouraging and lifting up the families who participate. We have a huge hall filled with brand new toys--all the current "hot" toys and new bikes--truly a mini version of "Toys R Us." But the key is we don't allow the children to be in the store. The parents come to shop, receiving a voucher amount for each child so they can choose what to give--maybe two or three large gifts or many small ones. Then the parents get extra books and wrapping paper and everything goes into a large black plastic bag for them to take home, so that when Christmas comes, Mom and Dad are the heroes, not CCA.

We want to thank all of the hundreds of volunteers who have come together to make this store happen. We couldn't serve all of these families without you. I was especially touched by a woman named Theresa a few days ago who I met as she left the store. As recently as a year ago, she and her husband were doing fine, both of them with steady jobs and living in their modest home with their two children. But earlier this year her husband became ill with a blood disorder and was unable to keep working. She still has her job and insurance, but their portion of the medical bills continue to add up and their savings were gone by the summer. They would have lost their home a couple of months ago if CCA had not been there to help them get caught up. She is working two jobs now to keep their heads above water, but Christmas was looking bleak until she came to our store.

"I have tried so hard to keep our kids from bearing the brunt of our struggles," she said, " but it's so hard. My 14 year old daughter hasn't had a single new item of clothing in over a year." That's why Theresa had tears in her eyes when she showed me what she had clutched in her hand. She had chosen several gifts for her kids from the CCA toy store, but what she prized most was a $50 giftcard to American Eagle, where she knew that she would be able to go pick out a new outfit of clothes for her daughter. She hugged me and thanked me for allowing her to provide for her child what had been beyond her reach recently, and for giving her the dignity to be able to make her own choices in making this Christmas so special.

Hopefully as her husband's health improves and he returns to work, this family will be back on their feet and once again becoming contributors to CCA's efforts to help the community, as they were in years past. I'm just thankful CCA was there this year to get them through a rough patch and walk beside them on their path back to financial stability, providing some poignant memories along the way.

Season of Hope 2009 is a Wonderful Success!!

2009-10-21T15:49:00.012-05:00

Last night we were blessed to be part of a phenomenal Season of Hope fundraising event benefiting CCA. Due to many months of hard work and planning by Krystle, Kathie, Pamela, Lara (the entire marketing team) plus additional help from many other key members of the CCA team, the evening went extremely well. The check-in process was efficient, the pacing of the evening was concise and the transitions smooth. "Same Kind of Different as Me" author Ron Hall gave a mesmerizing speech and the testimony by former CCA client Carol Burt was touching and uplifting. Ron captured the essence of the evening by tying the work of CCA to the amazing story of his friendship with Denver Moore and the amazing inspiration provided by his wife, Deborah. Carol reinforced the focus of CCA's mission by recounting her story of rising from a financially-struggling single mother of eight children to eventually earning her degree and becoming a successful ICU nurse.

The event was held in the Tuscany Ballroom of the Hilton Garden Inn in Lewisville, and the hotel was tremendous, providing a delicious meal, excellent A/V staff and courteous and efficient service. On top of it all, the videos produced by John Dempsey of PCS Productions were fantastic and truly the glue that brought the event into one seamless and moving message. This was the epitome of team effort—the perfect representation that we are ALL CCA.

Of the almost 750 people in attendance, we believe that more than half were new to CCA, which is a blessing in itself. Being able to tell CCA’s story to so many in such a first class venue was a home run in my view. It was amazing to know that this was the largest event CCA has ever hosted and the largest ever held by the hotel.

And now the best news: We are extremely pleased to report that the combined amount of current and pledged donations for the evening well exceeded our goal for the evening. This is a tremendous boost to our efforts to change the lives of our angels, and will provide income for us into the future. What a wonderful testament to the power of God and the hard work of everyone involved in our ministry. I feel blessed and honored to lead this wonderful, hardworking team. I believe events like last night reinforce those blessings for all of us.

And because of overwhelming demand, “I AM CCA” t-shirts will be in production soon! I am so thankful that I am CCA—and that you are as well!!

--Scott

Blessings from CCA's Back to School Store

2009-08-20T17:07:00.005-05:00

From Cyndi Denham, my wonderful Executive Assistant:

What a great afternoon this was! CCA staff members were called upon to help out in the Back to School Store. I had worked in the Christmas Toy Store before so I was happy to volunteer.

Each family that I helped shop had different and unique situations. From a newly divorced mom who brought her 15 year old daughter in for help, to a single mom with a first grader and a new baby, to a grandmother who has custody of her two young granddaughters.

In all cases, these families were so grateful and so appreciative of what CCA is doing for them. The best reward for me was the smiles on the kids’ faces as they walked into the “store” to begin their shopping. The first thing on the list was picking out a backpack. You’d think they had been given a thousand dollars! They were so excited to be able to choose their own backpack from the many different styles available. One little boy kept looking, and looking through all the shelves. He was speaking Spanish and telling his mom something. I didn’t understand, so I called an employee over to help translate. He was looking for a backpack with a wrestler on it, or something with that theme. His mom kept telling him to just take the Spiderman one. We were all about to give up, when I looked at the very back of a stack and began taking one down to show him. He was jumping up and down and in Spanish was saying “that’s it, that’s it”! We found his “wrestler” backpack! Needless to say, it didn’t make it into the shopping cart…he wouldn’t put it down.

The newly-divorced mom and her 15 year old daughter started thanking me as soon as they walked in. This was the mom’s first time to be in a situation to have to ask for help. The young girl thanked me each time she picked out something. I told her mom she should be proud to have such a nice, polite daughter. She said, “Yes, I guess I did do something right.” As I helped them to their car, the mom said “Maybe you can help us shop at Christmas…we have been qualified for that already, and my first pantry appointment is tonight”. As they both hugged me goodbye, the mom said “When I get back on my feet I want to volunteer here at CCA. The daughter said “me, too”! I told them we’d look forward to that day.

People ask if I like working for CCA…no, I LOVE working for CCA, especially when I have a chance to interact directly with those we serve. I sure got a big paycheck today!

Andrea's Story

2009-05-18T16:45:00.003-05:00

These are excerpts from a letter we received from Andrea, one of our clients:

"Since CCA was introduced to my life, it has completely changed. I first came for help in one of the most traumatic times of my life. I was a 33 year old mom of three children and had just found out that my 33 year old husband had stage 4 cancer and was soon to die. I was used to my husband being the breadwinner; my job waiting tables was just for supplemental income. In addition to being a fulltime caregiver and mother, I now was the breadwinner. The CCA staff was so understanding and supportive in what we had to walk through. I began to first see the glimpse of the love of Christ in others. My child was enrolled in affordable daycare at CCA's New Hope Learning Center. When I had no idea of how we could buy the medications for my husband and still buy groceries, I was introduced to the food pantry. My philosophy was "only enough for my children," as I could eat at work and my husband was no longer able to tolerate food because of the pain. I was watching this man I so desperately loved wither into nothing in front of my eyes and felt lost and alone. Nobody knew the pain inside me, but God did.

When my husband was close to the end, Jolene, my CCA caseworker, told me that CCA could help. I was given a voucher for Flower Mound Funeral Home to bury my husband, and it covered a large portion of the cost. CCA also allowed me to move into one of their houses in Old Town Crossing, and the calm and peace of God began resting on our lives. Through grief counseling at CCA, we began to start the healing process, and our neighborhood was a healthy place to raise my children. My toddler began to "adopt" some of our elderly neighbors as people to love, and I began to let go of some of my pain. And for the first time in a long time, I was able to pay my own way. The place was affordable and I was able to move into a fulltime salaried position.

Through CCA's help and guidance, I now have a savings account so I can build a prudent reserve when I move out of CCA's housing. In one year it will be time for us to move and for the first time in a long time I have great hope and purpose for my life. With the savings we might actually be able to put a down payment on a home of our own! The wonderful love of God has been shown to me through CCA and i could only hope to someday volunteer and share what has been so freely given to me. I thank you for all you do and for all that I have still not yet experienced. Christ is alive and living through your work. Thank you for giving my life back to me and guiding us to a better way of living."

Praise God indeed!

Matching Gift Funds for the Pantry!

2009-03-13T15:43:00.006-05:00

Awesome news! CCA has been selected to join in the Feinstein Foundation Challenge to Help End Hunger in America. We are thrilled to take part in the challenge to match the dollars we raise from the community with funding from the generous Feinstein Foundation. More than $1 million will be shared between a number of agencies nationwide. And the more we raise for CCA, the bigger our share of the matching funds will be.

With the economy sliding over the past year, we have seen a significant increase in the demands on our food pantry. As the largest pantry in North Texas, we are providing the majority of the food needs for more than 800 families (or approximately 3,000 individuals) each week. Providing the food for these needy families is a huge financial undertaking, and the amazing generosity of the Feinstein Foundation is a wonderful boost to our efforts to help all who walk through our doors. Please join us by making a gift of money or canned food (both count toward the goal). The more we raise the higher our match will be.

I've heard several stories from CCA clients who tell us that they are saving hundreds of dollars each month by not having to shop at the grocery store, and those savings are the main thing allowing them to keep their heads above water. Please join us in giving deeply for those who have been hit hardest in these difficult times. We will all be blessed and God will be glorified in the process.

Caring for the Elderly

2009-02-16T15:23:00.003-06:00

A story from Alma, our Director of Family Services:

85 year-old Edna has been widowed since the mid-80s. She has one daughter, 68 year-old Brenda.

Early this year, Edna had a severe stroke that damaged her brain and paralyzed her left side. There was so much brain damage that Edna is like a child again. From the hospital, Edna was admitted to a rehabilitation center but released a few months later with no hope of improvement.

Brenda’s adult children talked her into admitting Edna to a nursing home when she was released from the rehab center. The nursing home only lasted a month. Brenda said she found her mother in dirty clothing and in a soiled bed too many times, so she took her home.

I went on a home visit recently to qualify Brenda for housing repair. Brenda has had to turn off her hot water due to leaky pipes. Both women are on a low-fixed income and they can’t afford a plumber. For two weeks now, Brenda has heated water on the stove to bathe her mother, wash dishes and bathe herself.

When I told Brenda that she looked as if she was about to drop, she burst into tears. Just like an infant, Edna wakes up every few hours and calls for Brenda. Edna calls her “Momma” now. I asked Brenda if her church could send volunteers to help sit with Edna so she could get some rest now and then. Between sobs, Brenda said she had been asking for relief, but was afraid the church would be unable to help.

I told Brenda to keep on praying for a solution and I would do the same. Today when I went back, Brenda told me her church had organized to send volunteers twice a week from now on to give Brenda some much needed relief. God listened to our prayers and took great pity on Brenda.

CCA's Housing Restoration program will be repairing the extensive plumbing problem at her house at no expense to Edna and Brenda, and she is now signed up with the food pantry which reduces her food bill by $160 and makes more room in her tight budget. Another CCA grant will be paying a round of utility bills to get these two ladies caught up and take the financial pressure off.

Praise be to God for answering our prayers and providing the resources to make difference--both financially and through the church. We are so thankful to be there to help those that most need us.

Farewell to a Wonderful Man

2009-01-13T10:55:00.008-06:00

CCA recently lost a good friend and supporter. J.L. Huffines, a charter member of our Advisory Board, went to be with the Lord last week after losing his battle with prostate cancer. In his 85 years, however, he won many victories--not only in business, but more importantly in living a life of service and amazing generosity to others. J.L. was always an encouragement to our work at CCA. More than once I was thrilled to sit in his office at his nearby dealership and hear stories from his past and fill him in on the good works we were trying to do in the community. I enjoyed hearing of his love for Texas A&M and admiring his amazing collection of Aggie memorabilia, but even more I was impressed by the depth of his love and pride in his family, especially his many grandchildren. Because of his strong response to a CCA Christmas card we sent out a couple of years ago that was illustrated by a young child, we have continued to make it an annual tradition to have children decorate our holiday correspondence. The card touched his heart because it reminded him of one of his dear granddaughters who at the time was struggling with an illness.

Last Friday as I stood with the thousands of well-wishers who attended his memorial service at Highland Park United Methodist Church, I was struck by the tremendous outpouring of love from so many influential people. It was so obvious that he lived his life in a way that inspired others and brought out the best in everyone around him. Because of the location of my seat in the sanctuary, I was able to see many of the faces in the crowd as the Singing Cadets of Texas A&M sang "The Spirit of Aggieland" over his casket. Tears were streaming down my face, as they were for virtually every person in that room, including Governor Rick Perry. I'm sure that they were feeling, as I was, the sheer emotional power in recognizing a life dedicated to God and others. The close harmonies of the cadets' a cappella voices beautifully expressed the enormous gratitude of the school he loved, and more broadly expressed the thankfulness of the extended community on which he left such an indelible impact. I left the church thankful to have known him in a small way and with a renewed resolve to live my life in the same exemplary fashion.

Real Life at Christmas

2009-01-05T14:18:00.007-06:00

As we start another new year, I can't help but look back at the many good works God led CCA and our supporters to accomplish this past year. While we help thousands of families throughout the year, it is often the special times at Christmas that are the most poignant for me.

Out of the many amazing partners we have in the community who contribute to the success of our programs, I was especially touched by the efforts of the chiropractic office of Drs. Clark and Brenda Byroad here in Lewisville. Brenda contacted me before Christmas to find out if we had any "special family situations" they could help with. We generally discourage people from "adopting" families at Christmas time, since we truly want all of our families to be able to shop for themselves in our Christmas toy store (see posts below). However, when I checked with Alma, CCA's Director of Family Services, she came up with a few needs of a couple of families that went beyond the typical things that could be picked out in our store.

The list she gave me reminded me that Christmas is not a time when we can escape real life. In addition to the "normal" requests for items like shoes, pants, coats and Spiderman toys or "pink girly things" for the young children, other needs stood out: "a little more help with utilites so I can get some breathing room" or "a gift certificate for an oil change and new tires." But the most heart-breaking request came from a now-single mom whose husband died earlier in the year: "Please help me buy a headstone for my husband's grave, because I have never been able to afford one."

Some people may have been put off by the raw nature of this type of request, but the wonderful staff and patients at the Byroads' office came through with phenomenal generosity. Not only were many gifts purchased and wrapped and moneys provided, but one patient stepped up to fund a beautiful marker for the grave of a beloved husband.

These are real life needs, and the inspirational actions by the gracious hearts of the Byroads and their staff and patients is the real life response that God prompts so many to faithfully offer.

The Heart of a Giver

2008-12-19T16:07:00.007-06:00

CCA could not survive a day without the wonderful hearts shown to us by those who truly want to give of themselves to help others. A perfect example of these servant hearts was shown last week at the Stonebriar Mall. The mall graciously allows us to set up an "Angel Tree" with tags attached to allow everyone to purchase gifts for our Christmas Toy Store. These trees are a valuable source of the new toys and gift cards which are made available to our families that "shop" for their children at our store each Christmas.

A young father approached our table near closing time with several gifts purchased by him and his daughter for our tree. He said that he was having a difficult Christmas himself, but knew that others were much worse off, so God had placed it on his heart to come buy toys for CCA's families. As he dropped his gifts off, his 12 year old daughter reached into her purse and pulled out $5, which she wanted to donate "in case the child didn't like their toy and wanted to get something else."

Like the biblical story of the widow with the two mites, this sacrificial act of giving by a young girl touches me to the core. She even went farther and pulled out a WalMart gift card that she had received for her birthday and offered up the unused balance. "It probably only has a few dollars left on it, but I want you to have it" was her generous explanation as she handed it to us.

With tears in his eyes, her father gave her a proud hug as they walked away from the mall and back toward their car--perhaps a few dollars poorer financially, but exponentially richer in spirit and fulfillment as they headed home. God blesses us all, and seeing His love portrayed so simply and purely through the actions of a father and young daughter is a blessing it its purest form.

Making a Difference at Christmas

2008-12-04T13:46:00.006-06:00

Our Christmas Toy Store program is going strong. Each year we turn our community room into a mini "Toys R Us" filled with brand new toys so that our clients can provide gifts for their children at Christmas. We don't allow the children into the store, because we want the parents to "shop" (by use of a voucher) for each child and pick out what they want. The parents are then able to take the presents and lots of wrapping paper and decorations home in a huge black bag so that they can put the gifts under the tree at Christmas time. In that way THEY are the heroes in the eyes of the children and the dignity of the family is lifted up.

This past Monday as I passed through the lobby I found a woman "Doris" waiting for her apppointment to shop in the toy store. I said hello and she said to me quietly, "Hello. This is my first time to do this." Something about her timid demeanor led me to sit down with her and try to give her a little encouragement. I asked about her family. "I have three boys and I lost my husband recently," she said. "Our Christmas last year wasn't very good and I've been afraid I wouldn't be able to do much again this year. My 9 year old has never had his own bike. He's been learning from a neighbor on their bike, but all he wants is to have his own blue bicycle. My older son just wants some cool jeans, and my younger guy wants a football." I assured her that she'd be able to find all of that and more once she got inside, and I on purpose made a point to head back through the store a little while later when I thought she might still be there.

Sure enough I was able to witness her come around the corner and see her face when she saw the array of brand new bikes we had available--many of them shiny blue. She immediately burst into tears. And of course I did too! Seeing the thankfulness on her face and the additional gifts she had in her cart touched me deeply. That's why we're here. Doing the small things to support her and her family.

I don't know what programs she is taking advantage of here at CCA, but I hope we're doing much more than just giving her gifts at Christmas--as important as that is to her. Hopefully she's enrolled in vocational classes and using our clinic and attending our job search training so that one day she'll be financially independant--and maybe she'll even come back to volunteer at a future Christmas and help another young single mom find that perfect bike for HER son.

It's a poignant and wonderful blessing to be involved in these matters of the heart.

Welcome to Our New and Improved Blog!

2008-11-23T23:42:00.006-06:00

I'm so glad that you have chosen to visit our blog and hear more about the special stories and events that make it such a blessing for all of us who work with this wonderful ministry. We are here to help those in the community who most need our assistance, and it is our pledge to be an encouragement and a resource for all who God leads through our doors. Even in these uncertain times, we want to be there for the most vulnerable among us--those hardest hit by this weakening economy. And even though our coffers may be slimmer than they have been in recent months because of increasing needs, we are led by God's word in Proverbs 3:28--

Do not say to your neighbor,
"Come back later; I'll give it tomorrow"—
when you now have it with you.

Even when our personal finances become more constrained, we are all still richly blessed. In spite of uncertainty, we DO have the capacity to continue to help. And we trust that our God will be faithful as we are faithful to his people--our neighbors who need us now more than ever.

May God bless us all in our efforts in His name.