Thank You, Monica Housewright, for thinking of GRACE and including us in your First Anniversary Celebration! Monica’s House of Mo Boutique, 120 South Main Street, will come alive with music, margaritas, and hot dogs tomorrow, Saturday, July 18. The festivities begin at 10 a.m. with live music kicking in at noon. Monica’s journey is an entrepreneurial how-to! She grew up in North Richland Hills and moved to New York City after college to build a career in marketing. Her fashion senses were excited by the diversity and creativity she found in Manhattan neighborhoods. “I fell in love with the city,” said Monica. “Especially the unique items I found in small clothing boutiques sprinkled throughout!” When she moved back to Texas to raise her family, she tapped into these sensibilities to launch a small online clothing site in the Spring of 2017. It quickly gained popularity and she expanded to a

GRACE welcomes Atmos Energy as the Presenting Sponsor for the 17th Annual GRACE Gala on Saturday, November 7 at the Irving Convention Center. This is the first year the Dallas-based energy corporation has held the top sponsor position, but the company is no stranger to GRACE or the GRACE Gala. Atmos has supported GRACE since 2009, donating nearly $40,000 to support GRACE programs and services in that time. In April, Atmos Energy selected GRACE as one of the recipients of the Atmos Energy/Robert W. Best Charitable Giving Fund to aid individuals and families during the coronavirus pandemic. Over the last five years, Atmos Energy has donated nearly $24 million to communities to support education, health, and community welfare. On average, Atmos employees volunteer more than 35,000 hours each year donating their time and skills to the cities and towns they live in. In addition to charitable gifts, Atmos provides energy

Donors making that hairpin turn at GRACE Donation Station have noticed the new banners adorning the chainlink fences. “Help Us Build a New Donation Station”, is a rallying cry for all those who have made gifts through Donation Station in recent years, and/or have served volunteer hours in the building or on the drive-through. [NOTE: The campaign to raise funds for a new Donation Station was slated to launch in mid-March. COVID-19 had other ideas. While the timing is still not right for a capital campaign, the need for a new Donation Station, and the hazards our beloved donors and volunteers face still remain. Our volunteers and staff will be passing out donation envelopes asking you to “Help Us Build a New Donation Station”. We are hoping this grass-roots campaign can take hold and bring us closer to a new Donation Station.] On any given day, at GRACE Donation Station,

In these uncertain times, there are a few things we can still count on. Positively, the sun will rise around 6:30 in the morning and set a little after 8:30 in the evening. Surely, the weather will be hot and dry, or hot and rainy. And there is absolutely no doubt the GRACE Community Gardens will continue to grow. As with most activities at GRACE, it’s the volunteers who do the heavy lifting, scooping, raking, and shoveling that gets the job done. Tarrant County Master Gardener Becca Clarke has set this month’s Gardening Day for Saturday, July 25. “These summer dates are best accomplished early in the day,” said Becca. “Our start time is at 8 a.m.” Summer is a great time for our clients who shop at the GRACE Food Pantry. The Community Gardens  yield loads of fresh produce ranging from tomatoes and squash to cucumbers and okra.  In

“Chestnuts roasting in the blazing sun. AC nipping at your nose. Tiny tots splashing around the pool. And folks dressed up to keep their cool.” Yeah. No. As hard as we try, Christmas In July meets up with triple-digit heat and loses some punch. Still, if we squint real hard, and turn our heads just so, maybe a little of the Yuletide magic can be captured. Beginning Monday, July 13 through Sunday, July 19, GRACEful Buys shopping centers in Grapevine and Euless will be offering a little holiday cheer along with all the other one-of-a-kind treasures to be found. During that time, all games, puzzles, and toys are half-price and, of course, you’ll find great GRACE prices on everything else in the shops. This is just the right mix of activities and entertainment for stay-in-the-house sweltering July afternoons. The GRACE stores are fully stocked with great finds, terrific prices, and

The Grapevine Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star has supported GRACE since 1994 with gifts to help those in need. Their most recent donation—nearly doubling the total of their gifts since 1994—is a dedicated sacrifice from chapter members and an investment in the health and well-being of their community. Officers Christine Loven, Ray Brockie, Nancy Jo Estill, Jerry Holland, Dianna Blood, Jennifer Sylvestor, and Karen Apple carry on the tradition of the Grapevine Chapter that dates back to its founding in May 1906. The Grapevine Chapter arose while the Order of the Eastern Star (OES) traditions were still developing. The OES was established in 1850 by lawyer and educator Rob Morris, a noted Freemason, but was only adopted and approved as an appendant body of the Masonic Fraternity in 1873. Today, the OES has approximately 10,000 chapters in twenty countries and more than 500,000 members. The Order is

Every day, it seems, we hear new statistics, directives, warnings, regulations, and predictions related to COVID-19 and the pandemic crisis. Most are reasonable and valid. Some are contradictory. Others are just plain headscratchers. GRACE is fortunate to have a learned and sensible advisor on board to guide us through. Shirley Roberts, RN, BAS, CCM, is the GRACE Community Clinic Nurse Manager and the staff go-to on all things COVID-19 (and nearly all other medical issues, as well). Nurse Shirley’s medical foresight and instincts are unerring. For example, the Community Clinic was one of the first medical facilities—not just charitable clinics, but all medical facilities—to switch over to telemed services in March. Early on, she quickly adopted protective measures to control coronavirus spread. Not only was her patient population at greater risk of contracting and spreading the virus, her staff of nearly all volunteer medical professionals were forming the frontline of

Many times the GRACE Donation Station is the first experience a donor has with our agency. They donate clothing for families and help furnish homes for our Transitional Housing clients. Donation Station (DS) is a hub where the generosity of our community is truly directed to those in need. In a very similar way, DS is often the first volunteer experience many people have at GRACE. Church and youth groups, families, companies, and many others donate their time to receive and sort donations. The heart of DS is truly its volunteers. Ordinarily this time of year is our peak for donations. With people at home—working or quarantining—lots of closets, attics, and garages are getting cleaned. Donations are coming in great volumes and volunteers are needed now more than ever. Just like with our GRACEful Buys shopping centers, masking and spacing protocols are being followed to protect volunteers, staff, and donors.

This week marked the launch of the new Southlake Cares initiative. A small cadre of city staffers from the City Manager’s Office, the City Library, Public Relations Department, Volunteers, and Human Resources created this program to “pull our community together in support of the local service organizations that support us”. Over the next six months, Southlake Cares will be asking for help in meeting the specific needs of local social services agencies. The website for Southlake Cares launched Wednesday with this message: “Here’s your first mission in our Southlake Cares 6-month Challenge: The GRACE Food Pantry and Community Clinic have suffered reduced funding while trying to meet triple the demand. Help us stock their shelves.” The site continued: “This is a difficult time for our nation and our community. The basics of food, medicine, shelter, and support services are desperately needed by families in our area. Our local service organizations

“We build strength with the communities we serve.” One of the mottos of the Air National Guard (ANG) has helped GRACE sustain the day-in, day-out duties of providing assistance to those impacted by COVID-19. GRACE is normally a volunteer-driven agency with scores of people serving volunteer capacities throughout all GRACE sites. Since mid-March, and only recently with a select group of volunteers returning, GRACE has been running with staff only. At the same time, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic nearly tripled the need for services over the same time last year. Into this situation stepped a squadron of ANG members to help. GRACE was very honored to be selected as one of the assignments the Wing accepted in the North Texas area. The work accomplished by this group of dedicated people most certainly helped build strength in the community, and gave many GRACE families the food and supplies to