Originally published in the 2025 DRC Homecomer
With human services facing insecurity, DRC Solutions is taking a stronger stance on education to ensure we all understand our shared community responsibility. Although now more than ever, it will take all of us to understand what role we can specifically take to support our neighbors. But here’s the thing- we’ve been getting an education and exciting motivation from some pretty inspiring people: kids from all around the country!
This summer, DRC Solutions had the opportunity to meet with two youth groups. In June, University Christian Church’s Summer Youth Camp visited the DRC offices, and they came prepared! The group delivered more than 300 hygiene kits for our Street Outreach team to deliver to those living unsheltered on our streets. DRC Team members, Brit, Nubia, and Harriet facilitated an extremely thorough and thoughtful 30-minute Q&A session about our work, our clients, and the different methods and nuances that come with evidence-based housing-focused programs. The most powerful moment came when the group toured our Housing Department and saw that success stories can easily turn to tragedy when there’s not enough support to sustain programs and funding is low. A student was shocked to find out a certain group of housed clients would find themselves suffering through homelessness again through no fault of their own, but because their HUD program was being defunded. There was also relief and hope when they were informed that the incredible DRC Permanent-Supportive Housing Case Management team had already rehoused more than 2/3 of the clients that would be affected before the December 2025 deadline.
During July and August, teenagers from all over the country visited Fort Worth with Be The Neighbor, a service-focused collective of church youth groups that help teens find purpose and action in and outside of their home communities. DRC Team members Nubia, Fatimah, Brit, Jonathan, Tony, and Elizabeth helped the students understand the specifics of unsheltered homelessness in Fort Worth, how it compares to their experiences in their communities, and what talents they have that can aid those in need where they live.
It was very exciting to see these students empathize with the experiences and needs of others. One student from Colorado had an idea to help those facing homelessness in his community by offering free haircuts, while another from New York wanted to immediately consider her family’s amount of food waste upon returning to the city. A group from Arkansas visited the DRC office to prepare more hygiene kits to help clients fight the dangerous Texas summer heat.
These groups are just two of the amazing organizations we’ve been able to partner with this year. And what a way for the kids to show up! These interactions, conversations, and actions were extremely moving and special to our team. We initially set out to connect, listen, learn, encourage, and teach, but what is really happening is that we’re all recognizing our roles as community members across the nation that are demanding and actionably ushering in real change.
The DRC Solutions team was honored to meet such young, caring people, wondering and working on how to make the present and future brighter for all of us. If this is a new trend that America’s kids are into, we truly hope it’s here to stay!
