Across the country, not-for-profits benefit from ReEmployAbility participants. One of those not-for-profits is Christian Community Action (CCA), which has been helping families in need in Texas for over 45 years. Headquartered in Lewisville, Christian Community Action serves individuals and families across North Texas. CCA provides services to over 7,000 people annually preventing hunger, averting homelessness, and bringing home to people of all ages.
We sat down with Thelma Cantu, Church & Volunteer Relations Coordinator, to learn more about CCA and the people they serve.
Briefly describe your organization’s goals for the community you serve.
Christian Community Action provides comprehensive services that alleviate suffering and bring hope, changing the lives of those we serve. We serve people and families experiencing life crises, providing for their present needs to stabilize their situations so we can then set up a plan with them for next steps.
We provide individuals and families in crisis with rent/mortgage and utility assistance, food from our self-selection grocery store, counseling and chaplain outreach when requested, life skills including English classes, computer skills training, financial literacy coaching, resume building and job placement assistance.
We also offer seasonal programs that provide assistance for various needs, such as summer meals for children in low-income areas, back to school shopping for students in need, and Christmas gifts for children and the elderly.
How has your experience been with ReEmployAbility’s Transition2Work participants?
Your program participants have been providing us with extra assistance for at least 2 years and this has benefited our non-profit organization tremendously.
In 2017, we were able to have loss control positions in our resale stores, which we would have never had the ability to fund. Extra helpers sorting donated goods allowed us to place the merchandise on the floor for resale faster and generate more funds to be able to help more people and fulfill our mission.
For the administration office, we were not able to hire a receptionist/greeter so having an extra helper taking care of answering the phone, helping guests with their needs, and assisting staff with minor tasks that are time consuming allowed us to be more productive and focus on important projects.
For Family Services, helpers are able to help greet clients, explain the application process and prepare their folders for the caseworkers, which makes their processes more efficient and we are able to give better client service overall.
The [ReEmployAbility] representatives we work with to match new helpers are always professional, attentive to our needs and do their best to meet our needs.
In your opinion, how does the injured worker benefit from participating in T2W or volunteering in their community?
The injured worker benefits by having a sense of purpose while they are off work and recovering. Once they understand how their contribution is making a difference in people’s lives, they feel content and grateful to have had the opportunity to serve and still receive pay.
What is the most important message that you would like to relay to the readers about your organization?
We are here to serve those in our community who are experiencing a life crisis, no matter what their background or beliefs are.
Currently, we are making ourselves available to federal workers who have had a financial strain. Our most current outreach program available is free tax preparation services for economically disadvantaged individuals and families. This program is scheduled for Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursday from 11 am – 2 pm & 4 pm – 6 pm and will run until April 15th.
What is the best way readers can sign up to volunteer?
Sign up on line at: https://ccahelps.org/participate-volunteer/.
