With over 400 attendees, many fabulous designer bags and enough delicious food to go around, we can positively say that the second annual Designer Bags & Bingo benefiting Transitional Housing was a success. Sam’s Pack Five Star Subaru of Grapevine once again hosted this wonderful event. From the moment guests entered the building, they were greeted by the handsome Bingo Gents, who would then escort them to the registration table. As you walk towards the back of the venue where the game was held, you were met with many activities to participate in, such as a selfie wall and a pie, prosecco and purse pull. All of that was just a start to all of the fun and friendly competition that was in store. Event Co-Chair, Lynda Warner and CEO, Shonda Schaefer opened up the event by recognizing our presenting sponsor, Trusted Results Realty, and a heartwarming video of the GRACE

The annual GRACE Staff Retreat is a cherished day of fellowship, personal growth and this year – some friendly competition. With rest and reflection as the focus, the goal of the day was to build community with each other, highlight individual strengths and provide visual reminders of how each staff member’s role plays a vital part in providing a continuum of care to each of our clients. Staff members spent the day doing a variety of activities ranging from therapeutic crafts to a full-blown scavenger hunt. We began our morning with a visit from The House of Shine who helped each staff member reflect on what made them their strongest, most successful version of themselves so they could better shine their light in the community. House of Shine provided several creative ways to recognize our individual strengths and encourage others in the process. After lunch, the GRACE staff took to

The GRACE Food Pantry does an incredible job at making sure our clients get the right food and necessities to take home to their families. That is why we are so honored to receive this year’s Pounds per Family award from Tarrant Area Food Bank. Last week the Tarrant Area Food Bank hosted a Partner Agency conference at the Met Church in Fort Worth. The conference was attended by many food banks and pantries across Tarrant County including GRACE. The theme of the conference was “Convene, Connect and Engage”, and it highlighted capacity building throughout many food banks throughout Tarrant County. The conference also presented strong tips that each agency could use to modernize their programs. During the awards portion of the conference, Community Impact’s Vice President, Vicky Martinez, presented GRACE with the award of distributing the Most Pounds per Family in Tarrant County. “The GRACE Food Pantry is always

If you are a first time Designer Bags & Bingo guest, you’re probably wondering what the afternoon has in store! Aside from a great time with friends, we can promise you a few more things. When you enter the venue doors Sunday afternoon, you will be greeted with a glass of champagne and a fun surprise to pair with it. For those looking to keep their head in the game, non-alcoholic beverages will be available down the hall and throughout the afternoon’s activities. Small bites, compliments of Ted Bilsky at Scratch Kitchen, await guests in the bingo room. Before you make your way to your table, however, make sure you stop by and get a photo with your friends or family! Selph Marketing has provided a fabulous photo booth that is just waiting for your most goofy, serious and even embarrassing photos (depending on what mood you’re in)! There will

Summer is approaching, and we have many different volunteer opportunities for you and your loved ones to serve your community. Feed Our Kids is a spring and summer program that provides lunches for children at designated sites close to their homes. Most of the children qualify for reduced or free lunches during the school year. Lunches are provided throughout the summer, and are made and served by various groups in the community. Volunteers can serve in this program by selecting a week at an available site and making and/or handing out lunches to the children. Volunteers also help out by greeting the families and planning fun activities for them. In addition to Feed Our Kids, GRACE Grocery Giveaway will be handing out food every Friday at various sites throughout the summer. Volunteers can be a part of this program by setting up and taking down, passing out and loading food

Financial stability is a very important part in becoming self-sufficient. Here at GRACE, we are always trying to find new ways to guide our clients on their journey into self-sufficiency, and our community helps us do this in so many special ways. Transitional Housing Manager, Martisha Smith, and Certified Public Accountant, Monica Huber, had a great idea of having our clients take a class on financial stability. The Chalmers Faith Based Center is the host curriculum for this course. Monica participated in this course and loved it so much she went on to become a certified instructor. Towards the end of March, our Transitional Housing clients began the nine week course and have already been putting what they’ve learned into action. “The course is designed to help people manage their finances while understanding what God says about finances,” said Monica. “The women are about six weeks in, and are continuing

Volunteers play such an important part in the GRACE family. They help with out with events, assist in many of our programs plus, much more. This year, Volunteer Appreciation week was a success. The week was full of fun activities, games, food and more. The GRACE staff surely does love our volunteers, and we want to show them how much we appreciate them. The Volunteer appreciation luncheon was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Community, and was catered by Loveria Caffé. This year’s theme was the Academy Awards, and was hosted by GRACE’s Chief Executive Officer, Shonda Schaefer and Volunteer Manager, Ryan Jackson. Over 6,000 volunteers served with GRACE over the past year, and we continue to see new faces at each of our semi-monthly Volunteer Orientations. The luncheon highlighted the many accomplishments and achievements from our volunteers. We handed out 19 awards to individuals and groups alike, who have shown

For the past ten years, the GRACE Community Garden has not only been a source of fresh produce for the local community, but it also serves as an educational resource. With 12 garden plots producing up to 2,500 pounds of organically grown produce a year, it helps supply much-needed nutrients to GRACE families. This year is looking to be a great one for the garden as mother nature has been on our side with ample growing weather! In honor of Earth Day, it only seemed fitting to take a look at what our green-thumbs in the GRACE Community Garden have been up to this spring. As with most activities at GRACE, it’s the volunteers who do the heavy lifting, scooping, raking, and shoveling that gets the job done. Master Gardener Caryn Hutchinson assisted by Robert “Bob” Dansby and Becca Clarke and many more have put so much time and attention

In the spirit of spring and starting fresh, several local businesses decided to host events involving cleaning for a cause in honor of GRACE! To kick things off, ReMax hosted their “Ninja Shredding Event” where attendees were encouraged to bring unwanted papers to shred, as well as household goods and clothing they no longer wanted. Briggs Freeman Sotheby’s International had a similar idea and requested people clean out their closets for any unused clothing. All housing and clothing items were then collected and sent straight to Donation Station and our resale stores. Keller Williams Southlake hosted their “Red Day” event, which stands for Renew, Energize and Donate. For their global day of service, the folks at KW gathered food items to restock the GRACE Food Pantry – a much needed blessing! Lezlie Frazier with My Personal Dox recently learned about the mission of GRACE and wanted to partner with us

Volunteer Appreciation week is here, and GRACE wants to take the time to thank and show appreciation to our wonderful volunteers. We have the best volunteers who are always looking out for the betterment of our community. For that reason alone we have a week full of fun celebrations for our volunteers. Our Pantry Manager, Marcus Miranda has been coming up with different activities for his volunteers. He has announced that this year he will host a game day for volunteers. Wednesday, April 20th, at 11 am, volunteers are welcomed to come to the community room at GRACE Main to participate in fun board games, socializing, and delicious food. Both GRACEful Buys Grapevine and Euless will be providing lunch for their volunteers this week. Donation Station will have fruits, cupcakes, bread, and more to celebrate. “Without volunteers, DS would not be able to get donations to the stores in a