City of Lewisville brings multiple nonprofits together, making access to social services easier
LEWISVILLE (CBSNewsTexas.com) – A North Texas city is bringing multiple nonprofits together under one roof to make it easier for people in need to access social services.
Serve Lewisville will officially open its doors to the public on July 10.
"Being able to have a resident come in the door, that's maybe only two minutes from their home, instead of having to drive across the lake, that's going to be helpful for them," said Ashleigh Feryan, the neighborhood services manager for the City of Lewisville.
When services are spread out across the county, it's often difficult for people to take time off work, get transportation, and arrange childcare to make an appointment.
"They're in Denton or in other cities, so they provide services to Lewisville residents, but they are not officed here," Feryan said.
Having multiple organizations in the same building, and in the heart of Lewisville, will remove some of the barriers to accessing help. People will be able to get mental health services, fresh food, or help for kids and teens in one place.
Six different nonprofits will move in the Serve Lewisville building: Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County, the Mission Market Food Pantry, MHMR of Tarrant County, Denton County MHMR, and the Lewisville CoCare Team.
"Opening this office is an incredible opportunity for us because we can extend our reach into a new community and really increase our capacity to serve more kids and teens at Boys and Girls Club," said Daphne Barlow Stigliano, CEO & president of Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County.
Serve Lewisville is modeled after Serve Denton, which has grown to a five-acre campus with 22 nonprofits in its network.
"Last year, they served over 31,000 people, just at our Serve Denton site," said Kristen Gramling, who works as the director of operations for both Serve Denton and Serve Lewisville.
Other cities in North Texas are interested in creating their own nonprofit centers as well. The shared space benefits the organizations who participate with below-market rent and less overhead costs.
"What's been most helpful or beneficial is with the money saved by our partner agencies, that they're to hire more staff to provide more services, they're able to put more money towards their services to help more people in need," Gramling said.
Serve Lewisville will hold a ribbon cutting on July 20 at 9 a.m. The public is invited and can RSVP here.
This just Phase One of the project. Serve Lewisville expects the building to be at capacity within a few months of opening, once all the current nonprofit partners move in.
The next phase of the project is building a new, two-story facility right next door.
"We want this to be a respectful, safe place for everybody that comes," Gramling said. "We just ultimately want it to be in service to those in need."