Dallas nonprofit raises more money than ever
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One of Dallas' oldest nonprofits is raising more money and serving more people than ever, thanks in part to the pandemic.
The latest: Ascend Dallas is one of more than 3,000 nonprofits participating in North Texas Giving Day on Thursday.
- The nonprofit changed its name from WiNGS this year, and CEO Kate Rose Marquez wants donors to know it is the same organization that has helped women in Dallas for over a century.
- It was also formerly the YWCA.
The big picture: Ascend Dallas served more than 2,600 clients last year, 95% of whom are women of color. That's more than double what the organization served the year before.
- Marquez said the lockdowns and overwhelming need in 2020 pushed Dallas-area nonprofits to collaborate in a way they never had.
Between the lines: Nonprofits in Dallas tended to be siloed and sometimes territorial before the pandemic.
- Many tried to do it all, offering food pantries, job training and housing services in one spot.
State of play: During the shutdown, nonprofits went into triage mode, pooling resources to help people.
- Now, for example, Ascend works with 60 other nonprofits, including Brother Bill's Helping Hand, For Oak Cliff, and St. Philip's School and Community Center.
- The pandemic also showed the public that the line between poverty and security isn't theoretical. Donors are more engaged now.
- "It really shone the light on the plight of the working poor," Marquez tells Axios. "It shone the light on the razor's edge of being homed to being homeless, being able to feed your children, having health care to not having health care."
The intrigue: Ascend offers a financial literacy program to women and a nurse-family partnership program that offers families home visits from a nurse for two-and-a-half years — from pregnancy to toddlerhood.
- Many Ascend clients participate in both programs.
What's next: There are several events in North Texas on Thursday to celebrate the annual day of giving.