From Crisis to Hope: Vogel Alcove is Transforming Lives in Dallas

© Courtesy of Vogel Alcove

From Crisis to Hope: Vogel Alcove is Transforming Lives in Dallas

With billion-dollar businesses, trendy restaurants, parks, concert venues, and family attractions, Dallas looks like the perfect place for families to live.

But despite all the good things Dallas offers, our beloved city is not an easy place for thousands of families. For many, it is easy to go about busy lives not knowing the plight of the estimated 4,000 children who are homeless—not knowing that Dallas leads the nation in child poverty for cities its size, that the trauma of homelessness creates developmental delays in children during the most critical years of brain development, or that a family that has been evicted will often spend years searching for stable housing, unable to obtain it.

Vogel’s vision is that every child in our community has a home, a self-sufficient family, and a foundation for success in school and life. They are committed to helping young children and their families prevent and overcome the traumatic effects of homelessness and poverty.

A Lifeline for Families

Vogel has a unique opportunity to join an innovative development: The Shops at RedBird, a multi-award winning urban mixed-use development with apartment homes, retail shops, hotels, education, offices, healthcare, entertainment, and community gathering spaces.

The Shops at Redbird is part of Dallas’ Grow South initiative to build a foundation for sustainable growth in poverty areas. To break the cycle of poverty, you need employment, affordable housing, health care, education, transportation, and childcare. The missing element in the development has been childcare. Many more families need childcare in this area than available slots in quality early childhood programs, and Vogel is poised to open the Vogel Childcare Center at RedBird this year.

The expansion to RedBird allows Vogel to transition their stable families currently enrolled at the Main campus to childcare and employment opportunities at RedBird. This will free up spaces for families in crisis to be enrolled at the Main campus, as the current families enrolled with Vogel reside in 36 different zip codes—many reside near the RedBird location.

The childcare facility at RedBird will house 12 classrooms for infants, toddlers, and preschool children, including a play therapy room, sensory room, resource room, multi-purpose room, reception area, conference room, office space, and outdoor playground.

They focus on QUALITY Early Childhood programming. The outcomes speak for themselves, with an average of 81 percent of preschool children exiting their program assessed as kindergarten-ready. The organization also provides AFFORDABLE quality childcare for single moms, working to lift their families out of poverty and trauma. Childcare costs today can be more than a mortgage—a sample budget of a single mom working an entry-level job shows how much childcare takes from the monthly budget. By providing quality childcare at an affordable rate, moms will not have to make tough decisions about paying for rent, food, clothing, or childcare. At Redbird, moms will have both—Quality and Affordability so that their families can thrive.

It Takes a Village

Vogel is grateful for the support of Phase One of their capital campaign to raise the required construction costs for the Redbird facility build-out. With Phase One complete, Vogel is launching the second phase of the capital campaign to raise operational funds for four sites. This is a crucial phase, as their annual operating budget will grow from $8.5 million to nearly $13 million annually when the expansion and sites are operational. Vogel will build it, and they will come—but Vogel needs help from the Dallas community.

Join Vogel and support this vital project and exciting time in their history—together, we can move children and families from crisis to thriving! For additional information about Vogel or to donate, contact us at vogelalcove.org or Greg Brinkley at gbrinkley@vogelalcove.org.