Serving in One Body is simple. As each opportunity arises, we will post the event on our homepage. Simply indicate your interest or commitment to serve by clicking "Sign me up!" You will receive a confirmation email with further details.
Many thanks to the guys and girls who braved the heat to help plant and trim at Family Gateway in June! I will post the few pictures I have sooner or later.
It’s been a while since One Body DFW’s last volunteering event. I apologize for the lack of updates to the One Body DFW website, but thanks to those for checking it and asking me about our events 
August’s event will be at Buckner’s Shoes for Orphans Warehouse. I’ve been looking forward to this opportunity since it’s such an awesome minstry (http://shoesfororphansouls.org/).
When: August 28,2010, 1:30PM-4:30PM
Where: Buckner Center for Humanitarian Aid
5405 Shoe Drive
Mesquite, Texas 75149
Unfortunately, I will be out of town that day, but Rebekah from VBC – Garland has thankfully agreed to be this month’s contact person. We signed up for 15 spots, so hopefully we will get those all filled! I don’t think there’s an age limit for this so feel free to bring the younger ones. Hope you guys can make it!
Where: Gateway Apartments, 4712 Gaston Avenue Dallas, TX 75246
When: Saturday, June 5th 10AM
What: June Community Service Opportunity – “Faith Through Flowers”
We’re going to do a landscaping/beautification project at Gateway Apartments. I’m asking each volunteer to buy a PERENNIALS (Any color. Approx. $10 worth) at your local Wal-Mart/Lowes/Home Depot and bring it with you in addition to whatever gardening tools you have. We will start planting at 10AM.
One Body DFW Contact: Ellen Vuong
As I’m organizing the landscaping/beautification project at Gateway Apartments, I spoke to Shama Shams, Family Gateway Community Relations Manager, to gain a better understanding of the organization and its clients. The question I really wondered about was, “How does someone find themselves living in transitional housing?” Shama explained that multiple contributing factors often play a part in homelessness: lack of work skill, lack of role models, different value systems, lack of values of self sufficiency, etc. She encounters “Generations of Welfare,” which is when the children, who have homeless parents using welfare, grow up and live out the same situations.
The goal of Family Gateway is to provide housing for employable individuals and then teach them job and life skills. Currently, Gateway Apartment has 74 residents, 48 of whom are children (under 17 years old). The program’s process:
So why flowers? Well, why not? Actually, Shama asked us to help make the apartment complex feel less like an “institution” and more like a home. I hope the flowers will serve as a beautiful reminder to the residents of God’s love for them. It’s always nice to come home to a place that is welcoming.
Friday afternoon – I stopped by Springcreek Community Church to help organize the donations that the church had received. My first impression when I walked into the church’s main auditorium was, “Wow. This is a lot of stuff!” There was literally a mountain of clothing donations. I had flashbacks of when I worked in retail. Some donated items that caught my attention: furniture (sofas and tables), t.v.’s, and a wedding dress and its matching veil (still in its original dry-cleaning box). Amusingly enough, a male volunteer temporary labeled post-its to sort the apparel into sections. We put the wedding dress in “Ladies Fancy Things.”
Saturday afternoon – The goal was to give away all of the donations in the above photo. Praise God – that is exactly what happened! I don’t have an “after” photo, but there was nothing left. We signed up for the afternoon time slot to clean-up after the event. Only a couple of us were able to commit to this event: Tin, Tiffany , Linh, and myself. However, everything was running so smoothly that if any more people had come, we really wouldn’t have had anything to do! Our assigned task was to clean-up and organize the volunteer meeting room. After some sweeping and chair-stacking, it was back in order for the church to hold their regular activities. Our service experience was brief but was still a good opportunity to serve alongside others.
Thanks to the volunteers for coming out on Saturday and thanks to Springcreek Community Church for organizing this amazing event!
On a side note: We’re wearing “GiveDifferent.org” t-shirts that Springcreek provided. Instead of spending money to make t-shirts for the event, the church saved money and spray painted “Go and Be.Org” on the back of these extra shirts. Springcreek is actively making a global difference in Katito, Kenya by improving the lives of our neighbors across the world. Check it out at www.GiveDifferent.org !
Note: The Kids Activity Day on April 17th was cancelled due to weather. The rescheduled date and details will be posted soon.
May 1st – 2nd is “Go and Be” weekend (www.goandbe.org) One Body DFW will not all be volunteering together at one event (similar to Mission Arlington) Instead, please anticipate splitting up into smaller groups and choosing whatever activity most interests you!
Springcreek Community Church of Garland has organized numerous volunteer opportunities.
How to SIGN UP:
Some members of One Body DFW will be volunteering at the Garage Giveaway. Details:
Name of Organization: Springcreek Community Church of Garland
Address: 2660 Belt Line Road, Garland, TX. 75044
Organization’s Contact: Lorraine Kempf (972-494-5683)
Time Commitment : 3.5 Hr Shifts
Project Description: Think Garage Sale, but everything’s free. Springcreek Community Church is giving away donations that are collected during the week. Donations are accepted on Thursday, April 29h from 4pm-8pm and Friday, April 30th from 10am-8pm. They are still in need of prayer team, security (which can be anyone), runners (people who help carry stuff to cars), and clean up crew.
Where: Gateway Apartments, 4712 Gaston Avenue Dallas, TX 75246
When: Saturday, April 17th 1-3PM
What: April Community Service Opportunity
We are hosting a Kids’ Activity Day from 1-3pm. Activities will include: face painting, games, prizes, balloons, etc. Volunteers will be running the activities and interacting with kids and parents.
One Body DFW Contact: Ellen Vuong, member of Vietnamese Baptist Church of Garland
A few weeks ago, I met with Shama Shams, the Community Relations Manager for Family Gateway. Family Gateway is a social service organization that helps homeless families transition into permanent housing. Family Gateway has two locations: a center in downtown Dallas and “Gateway Apartments” on Gaston Avenue. The residents at Family Gateway can call the apartments “home” for a period up to 1 year, and everyone pays rent on a scale based on their earnings. As part of the program, the residents receive career counseling and must abide by rules regarding drug use, curfew, and chores.
I asked Shama to identify Family Gateway’s greatest need and how our group could help. She asked if our group could help with a landscaping project to help make the apartment complex feel more like a home and “less like an institution.” So, that’s what we’re doing! In JUNE.
On April 17th, we are going to host a Kids’ Activity Day from 1-3pm. Instead of just stopping by and leaving flowers, I figured it’d be more worthwhile to get to know the tenants who call Family Gateway, “home.” I invite you to stop by to have some fun with the kids and parents while familiarizing yourself with the location and thinking of some landscaping ideas.
What a great turn out for our first event! Thank you to all the volunteers. I hope you guys had fun and met some interesting people. I don’t know if everyone likes surprises, but I kind of liked the fact that we blindly went into this opportunity. I had no idea what we would be doing. The staff at Mission Arlington was well organized and sent our team out to deliver free goods from the “Handy Tram.” At least, that’s what I think they called it…
We carpooled to an apartment complex that was located a couple of blocks away from Mission Arlington. The tenants were familiar with Mission Arlington’s Handy Tram, because people started following the bus once we pulled into the complex. When we arrived some of the volunteers knocked on doors and informed the tenants that Mission Arlington was giving away free stuff by the apartment mailboxes. The other half of the group unloaded clothes, books, toys, and other knick knacks from the bus. We mingled with the residents and helped them find things and take them back to their apartments. It was a good experience, and One Body DFW plans to volunteer with Mission Arlington again in the future.
Where: Mission Arlington / Mission Metroplex, 210 W South St. Arlington, TX 76010
When: Saturday, March 27th 1-4PM
What: March Community Service Opportunity
Activity is TBD – But the following paragraph is a general description:
“Volunteer groups … help pick up donations, make deliveries, pass out flyers, stock the food pantry, manage the clothing room, work around the office, and a myriad of other day-to-day activities. Mission Arlington hosts health fairs, crime watch socials, neighborhood cookouts, back-to-school parties, day camps, and a multitude of other events. Groups help these events happen by painting faces, grilling hot dogs, knocking on doors, driving buses, and fulfilling every other role imaginable.”
- Jim Burgin of Mission Arlington
One Body DFW Contact: Ellen Vuong, member of Vietnamese Baptist Church of Garland
With the launch of One Body DFW, I wondered, “Is loving our neighbor the same thing as helping our neighbor?” If I think that “I want to help my neighbor,” then I sometimes view my neighbor as someone who lacks something that I can provide. I have food; they are hungry. I have a job; they are unemployed. I have a home; they are looking for shelter. I am part of the “have’s” and they are part of the “have not’s.” I am different than they are.
John 3:16 doesn’t say, “For God so wanted to help the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him, shall not perish but have eternal life.” I am humbled that John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son so that whoever believes in him, shall not perish but have eternal life.”
So, as we move as One Body DFW, I choose not to help, but to love. I encourage everyone who participates in a One Body DFW community service event to cultivate an attitude of “loving our neighbor” and to regard the neighbors you meet in this journey as a brother or a sister in Christ. Afterall, my neighbor and I are not so different.
We have the same Father.
As the event coordinator, I will organize service opportunities with different social service agencies in the area, so we learn about all types of good work. Many non-profits in the Dallas/Fort Worth area work alongside public and private foundations, generous corporations, and individuals to provide amenities, programs, and guidance to those in need. How blessed we are to live in a country, state, city with these resources! Not every country has these means to provide.
I am SO excited about the opportunities that God will bring our way, this year! For all of you who want to love like Jesus loved, I invite you to serve at our organized events. 1 John 3:18 says, “Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” I look forward to serving the community alongside all of you.
- Ellen, Event Coordinator for One Body DFW
Thank you for visiting One Body DFW. We’re just getting started, but we already have some great opportunities lined up! Please be patient and check back often as we begin posting each event. We hope you are just as excited as we are to serve the Dallas/Fort Worth community as One Body.
If you have any questions, feel free to use our “Sign me up!” form, or contact us directly via email at info@onebodydfw.org.
