| One
of the primary objectives of the Swiss Avenue Women’s
Guild is to serve the surrounding community through
charitable giving of time, money, and resources.
The Guild is proud to provide generous support to
the following charitable organizations in our area: |
Disciples of
Trinity (DOT)
Disciples of Trinity, commonly referred to as “DOT,”
aids and assists terminally ill
individuals and their families by providing everything
from basic necessities to last
wishes and burial arrangements. DOT’s mission
is to make life more comfortable
for the terminally ill and allow them to live the remainder
of their lives with dignity.
DOT began its mission by providing patient transportation
for the Parkland
Hospital Geriatric Department. Since that time, DOT
has greatly expanded to
offer its clients a food pantry, clothing bank, diaper
and dairy program, medical
equipment, utility assistance, plus much more. In 2001,
Jim Davis, DOT’s
Executive Director, helped over 900 registered clients
that included terminally ill
children, women and men suffering from cancer, leukemia,
heart and transplant
complications, AIDS, and many other catastrophic illnesses.
DOT also operates
DOT’s Closet, a resale/consignment store located
at the corner of Live Oak and
Skillman that raises funds for and distributes food,
clothing and necessities to its
clients.
DOT does not receive federal, state or local funding
and depends heavily on the
generosity of organizations such as ours. Over the years,
the Guild has assisted
DOT through our annual Thanksgiving food drive and Easter
basket drive as
well as through Christmas Angel Tree parties and monetary
contributions.
Wilkinson
Center
When Reverend Clayton Lewis saw children eating out
of a dumpster, he vowed
that East Dallas youth would never again go to bed hungry.
From that vision in
1976 sprang a small food pantry in the basement of the
Munger Place United
Methodist Church. Today that pantry is a thriving network
of employment assistance,
emergency care, and community activity known as The
Wilkinson Center.
The Wilkinson Center is a joint ministry of Munger Place
United Methodist
Church and the East Dallas Cooperative Parish. Located
at 5200 Bryan Street,
the Center serves more than 18,000 people each year
with food, clothing, employment,
after-school programs and other emergency services.
The Wilkinson Center
operates such programs as the Food Pantry, Clothing
Closet, Employment
Assistance Program, Emergency Assistance Program, and
children’s Safe Haven
and Art Programs.
Through these programs and services, The Wilkinson Center
ministers to a wide
variety of people of differing ethnic groups and family
composition, offering a
helping hand to those who have the desire to break out
of the cycle of poverty
and take control of their lives. Ultimately, it is their
long term goal to empower
individuals to take an active role in improving the
quality of their own lives.
The Guild has made donations to The Wilkinson Center
through school supply
and food drives. In 1997, the Guild conducted a successful
holiday home tour, with
proceeds from the tour and gift shop benefiting the
Center.
Interfaith
Housing Coalition
Interfaith Housing Coalition is a unique ministry that
utilizes a holistic approach to
attack the root causes of homelessness. Though there
are several emergency
shelters in Dallas County that provide beds and meals,
Interfaith aims for a more
lasting solution, with three-month transitional housing,
job placement, and
counseling. Support, accountability, and faith guide
each family member back to
a functional and productive lifestyle. The ministry
empowers the homeless to
obtain employment and rebuild their lives and families.
It is an approach that
works: two out of three families that complete Interfaith’s
program are able to
sustain self-sufficiency.
Interfaith Housing Coalition was established in 1985
by two local churches in a
12-unit apartment building. Today, Interfaith provides
housing, counseling, and
educational programs to 100 homeless families each year.
Most of these are the
“hidden homeless” – families without
a fixed residence who move from relative to
relative, friend to friend. Local agencies and shelters
help identify families in need.
Financial support for Interfaith is obtained from individuals,
private foundations,
churches, and corporations. No government or United
Way funds are utilized.
The Guild began assisting Interfaith in 2001 through
our annual Angel Tree
Party, during which our members generously provided
Christmas gifts of toys
and clothing for several Interfaith families.
|
