At early as age three, Courtney’s first memories were of her parents’ substance-induced rage. Both were stricken with debilitating alcoholism, the toxic choices which one night led to her mother’s hospitalization and father’s incarceration. Courtney would not see her father until four years later at her mother’s funeral. With Courtney facing a dizzied future, addiction hadn’t taken its final blow; she was sent to live with her grandmother, yet another alcoholic caretaker who battled major depression. Later Courtney realized that those hardships made her stronger from a young age, but as one can imagine she wasn’t freed from the aftermath. Courtney attests that she made the wrong friends was on a self-destructive path. Courtney found herself facing an unplanned pregnancy. At the first sound of her baby’s heartbeat, she vowed to make changes to give her son the best life possible. She was connected with a maternity program that helped

Not only is Drive Into the Night unique night golf experience for your friends or colleagues, 100% of the event proceeds fund programs that give hope to at-risk children in our community. JOIN US FOR DRIVE INTO THE NIGHT Twilight Tee Off Glow Golf Tournament Benefiting GRACE WHEN Friday, April 21, 2017 WHERE Grapevine Golf Course 3800 Fairway Drive in Grapevine PROGRAM Check in 5:30 PM Putting Contest/Driving Range Open: 6:00 PM Shotgun Start Help us make a difference! GRACE is a faith-based, social service agency that provides emergency assistance to an average of 5,100 families and individuals each year. For nearly three decades, GRACE has partnered with the community provide food, clothing, shelter, education and medical care to guide families and individuals toward self-sufficiency. The money raised will support programs like Christmas Cottage, which supplies over 2,700 family members with new Christmas gifts and Feed Our Kids,  a program

Some volunteer roles don’t get to enjoy the spotlight, but it’s often the low-profile projects that exhibit the most humility and hard work by young volunteers. That is what is said of Michael Zelewski, an Eagle Scout who has volunteered at GRACEful Buys with his brother, Andrew, for two years. Michael’s most recent project was for his Eagle project, which entailed replacing the retaining wall lining the side entrance of GRACEful Buys Grapevine. While he and his friends literally improved our curb appeal, the new siding also prevented safety hazards for customers by reinforcing the structure of the sidewalk. “Michael and his team exhibit a lot of heart in their projects,” noted GRACEful Buys Grapevine Manager Terri Haun. “We are blessed to have young people who understand they are improving more than a store; their work improves lives of families in our community!” The group planned the logistics well in

The next time you want something done well, ask a mom. The Southlake Moms Club collected a room full of children’s items, including shoes, clothes, books and toys to help children of families in need. The group met at a member’s home, where items from all three drop-off locations were gathered and packaged for donation. At nearly 5,000 strong, the moms (and some dads) create an educational network that also hosts social gatherings and a cyber marketplace to encourage patronage within their membership. A special thanks to the Southlake Moms for their examples of daily strength, selflessness and nurturing! If your group is interested in hosting a collection drive, we have resources available to you! Contact Chelsea Rose for additional information. CLOTHING ROOM NEED! Boys are known for putting extra wear on their shoes, which is why it is difficult to receive gently-used or new shoes for boys. Shoes continue

The votes are in, and we were thrilled to be the recipients of this year’s, “Best Place to Volunteer” by the Colleyville and Grapevine Courier. GRACE proudly partners with 5,700 active volunteers, who served for 61, 697 hours in 2016 to ensure every family facing hardship in Northeast Tarrant County has the opportunity to receive food, clothing, utility assistance, job training, medical care, and much more. That means if each volunteer combined their hour of service, someone would be serving at GRACE 24 hours a day for seven years! “We believe that every person at every age and from every walk of life has God-given talents and resources to offer,” says Volunteer Manager Lara Hohweiler. “If there is a cause you care deeply about, we’re here to help facilitate a way to serve.” Those interested in volunteering are encouraged to attend an hour-long orientation to find ways to get involved.

Last month the world celebrated Social Work month, but at GRACE Case Workers strive each day of the year to ensure every client is heard, loved and supported to build stronger families. These are the hardworking women behind the scenes who exemplify GRACE’s core values of compassion, respect, excellence and servanthood: Client Services Manager, Marcela Melendez, LMSW, Transitional Housing Manager, Jamé Scott, MBA, MSW, Transitional Housing Case Manager, Brittany Griggs, and Bilingual Case Workers Dyan Anderson and Kassie Rivas. The women in our Client Services and Transitional Housing departments advocate measurable positive changes that address unique barriers and provide long-term solutions to family members, such as accountability, continued education and budgeting. Selected as the Case Manager of the Year for the Tarrant County Homeless Coalition and recipient of the GRACE MVP in 2013, Marcela Melendez, LMSW, has touched countless lives and lends reliable oversight for her Case Managers. Marcela achieved

If you love moving days, you must be popular with your friends. Moving is often a large undertaking, which makes it all the more amazing that 80 selfless volunteers were willing to roll up their sleeves when we had to move our items to a new storage facility. For the past eight years, GRACE had been a recipient of a large storage facility at no cost to the agency, contingent if the property was to later be sold. Once the property owners informed us the space would be renovated to sell, we had less than six weeks to find a creative solution. GRACE stores bicycles for Christmas Cottage and all other toys, furnishings and mattresses for Transitional Housing clients, Resale merchandise and event equipment throughout the year. Thankfully, longtime supporter Susie Howell and the fine folks at Frost Bank graciously offered a storehouse for all our program needs. Over a

Since Pegasus Logistics made a visit to tour GRACE facilities last month, the Coppell team wasted no time employing their resources to meet real-time needs. When we learned we had to move an overwhelming pile of merchandise and storage materials to a new facility, Pegasus offered help without hesitation. The team provided bulk packing materials to make the transition as easy as possible. Company staff nominated a Community Service team, which communications needs to the corporate team. For the month of March, Pegasus Logistics Group is collecting new, unopened over-the-counter medications essential to every medicine cabinet, including Tylenol, multi-vitamins, Neosporin, eye drops and a dozen more. Their donations will supplement the medications the GRACE Community Clinic has on hand to remedy every day ailments, but also small preventative measures, such as taking aspirin. The Community Clinic is home to at least 820 patients each year. The team is also representing

It never ceases to amaze us how God meets the specific needs of this agency. Just over a month ago, Executive Director Shonda Schaefer was seated next to Nancy Coplen, Stake Public Affairs Director of The Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-day Saints and GRACE nominee for the Colleyville Chamber Leadership Award. Nancy’s husband, Phil Coplen, Warehouse Manager of Bishops’ Storehouse, was retiring a forklift that retained all its function, and the two pondered if it could be used elsewhere. Meanwhile, the Food Pantry had been in great need of another forklift to streamline processes and easily transport pallets of commodities to the storefront. If the Food Pantry were to purchase a new forklift, it would have costed the agency up to $33,000. Bishops’ Storehouse is a like-minded ministry to meet the needs of those in crisis. Food and supplies from the Bishops’ Storehouse is often sent to those affected

GRACE’s Annual Staff Retreat is a treasured day of fellowship, personal growth and reflection that revives our focus on our particular role in the GRACE mission. This year we reflected on the agency’s past, present and future. What made this retreat particularly moving was the theme of being “rooted in GRACE”. Like a tree must be planted in rich soil to grow, we revisited our roots and heard about the seeds that began this agency from the founder and former Executive Director Tricia Wood. Tricia embodies the kind of spirit a person of specific calling has, but as she explained, she didn’t always feel like that. Her transparency about GRACE’s humble beginnings, and her unlikely role to GRACE from a secretary position at Living Word Church is a testament to God’s ability to shape our talents into the pillars of His work. A single mother who slept in her station