Tuesday, May 14, 2024
DREARY DAY, BRIGHT FUTURE: Although the skies were cloudy and the ground was muddy, that didn’t stop many families from coming out to network with several local nonprofits. The future of the Cresson Pods is bright as one home located at 8958 French Drive will soon serve as a multi-purpose outreach center for the community.
I SEE YOU: Families gathered at the Cresson Pod community on Aug. 23, where several local nonprofits had set up booths to perform outreach services to the community as a team.
BOUNCE HOUSE FUN: While parents of the Cresson Pods visited with each nonprofit organization, children got to enjoy frozen treats, blowing bubbles and fun in a bounce house.
Residents of the Cresson Pods will soon have more opportunities than ever before as a single-family home rental community, thanks to the collaboration of Crystal Moore, executive director of United Way of Hood County, and several local nonprofit organizations.
The Cresson Pods community currently has 275 individual homes, 1,100 residents, between 450-600 children under the age of 18 and three different school districts — Granbury, Godley and Fort Worth — where children are enrolled.
Nonprofits like Hood County Christmas for Children, Hood County Children's Charity Fund, The Salvation Army of Hood County, the Paluxy River Children’s Advocacy Center and STAR Council on Substance Abuse out of Stephenville, visited the Cresson Pods community on Aug. 23, to perform outreach services as a team.
“We started a community roundtable with all of the nonprofits, so we could put down when our fundraisers are, but it morphed into ‘Let’s all work together, collaborate and identify needs,’ and Cresson Pods was a need that was identified,” Moore said. “What we found is they need something more and not necessarily resources, but they need this empowerment piece. A lot has changed out there. Now that Amada (Chan) has taken over, the dynamics have changed and the families are connecting to build a stronger community."
Each nonprofit had a booth set up where adults could learn more about that particular organization, while children enjoyed jumping in a bounce house, blowing bubbles, playing basketball and eating ice cream.
“Crystal from United Way has done a great job of getting all the different organizations in Granbury and Hood County to work together,” said Shane Deshoutel, president of Hood County Christmas for Children and head of Junior Leadership Granbury. “We just were trying to reach out. We felt like we missed this community a lot last year. We used to do sign-ups at the old Cresson Elementary School, and I think last year, we took two applications there. We've already done five or six. Last year, we did about 1,300 kids and with this community here and everything, we hope to get 2,000 this year.”
Moore created the Cresson Pod Outreach Program with three goals in mind: to engage, encourage and empower the community.
She met with Amada Chan, owner of the Cresson Pods, who decided to donate a home from the community to United Way that will serve as a multi-purpose outreach center for residents.
“Acton Elementary School teachers have said that they will come up here once or twice a week to tutor in the afternoons, and the Independent Financial Bank says they will come, and they'll do a financial literacy, so it's giving lots of opportunities for the community,” said Barbara Townsend, board member of Hood County Christmas for Children and president of the GISD board of trustees. “This is a community that, so far, we haven't been able to do anything with, but having a place to come makes all the difference in the world.”
The home — at 8958 French Drive — will provide classes and programs for residents including: volunteer opportunities, service projects, life skill classes, budgeting tips, healthy relationships, freezer club, mini camps, mobile library, after-school tutoring, basic needs closet, ESL classes, resume writing, community leadership, GED prep and parent café.
“With a large subset of population in the Cresson Pods along with the fact that there’s anywhere from 450 to 600 kiddos that reside at the Pods, all of us collectively felt like this was a great investment,” said Cresson Mayor Teena Putteet-Conway. “The timing could not have been more perfect with Crystal coming on board and seeking out different opportunities where United Way could help. I like Crystal’s methodology where she thinks it’s important to not just throw goodies at families, but also to teach them from the ground roots of what it takes to be successful in this challenging world we live in — and that goes for the adults as well as the children.”
Jimmy Dawson, assistant superintendent with GISD added, “When we can have a sense of community and families for students, we’re better off that way. When you have lots of support systems in place, whether it be Crystal, Teena or all the folks that are around here to develop that community, we're all better for it, so that's what I love about what's being offered here."
