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“Truly a Lifesaver”: How the BBHH After School Program is Helping West Dallas Families
Every so often, Melissa arrives a little bit early to pick up her son Ezra from the BBHH After School Program. On those days, she might wait in her car for a few more minutes before going inside.
“He’s actually upset if I pick him up a little bit early, even if it’s just a few minutes,” she laughs.
Ezra, a second-grader at West Dallas Community School, has been participating in the BBHH After School Program for four years, ever since the program was officially launched in 2021. He loves playing soccer, and he especially loves playing with his friends in the grassy area by the playground.
When Melissa picks him up (and not a minute too soon!), Ezra is eager to tell her all about his day. Sometimes, she says, he’s more excited to talk about what he learned at Brother Bill’s than what he learned in school.
“They learned how to play golf one day; the next day, they did science experiments on the mobile truck from the Perot Science Center.” And, no matter how exciting the daily activities can be, Melissa says, “his homework is already done, and all I have to do is check it.”
For parents like Melissa, the BBHH After School program is making a tremendous impact on their students by equipping them with the skills they need for future success in school and in life.
When it comes to afterschool programs, working parents in West Dallas are often at a disadvantage. For starters, there are few afterschool programs for Pre-K–3rd-grade students in the local area, and even fewer programs that provide reliable transportation from the child’s school campus.
Beyond that, when Melissa and her husband were looking for an after school program for Ezra, they wanted to enroll him in a program that would actually benefit their son—that would support his educational, emotional, and spiritual growth.
“It is difficult to find a program that shares your values, that cares for your child the way you do.” But the BBHH After School Program, Melissa says, “checked all the boxes.” From the beginning, she and her husband knew they had found the right afterschool program for Ezra.
The BBHH After School Program was founded to meet the significant need in our community for quality after-school programming. It has been such a success, that we can no longer host it in our building any longer!
The After School Program seeks to give each child the tools and skills needed to achieve academic success. The program works to inspire, promote, and build positive self-worth within each student enrolled in the program.
The faith-based programming includes homework help, STEM programming, hands-on learning experiences, fun activities, Bible studies, and even an afternoon snack. But what makes the program truly special? The highly-trained staff of teachers and volunteers.
“It’s a good feeling to know the workers and teachers at Brother Bill’s Helping Hand are caring individuals and very communicative about Ezra while he’s there—they really care.” Melissa adds that sometimes, during her shifts as a nurse manager at Parkland Hospital, “it’s not rare that I get a random text with a photo of him that day, having a great time.”
Melissa says she has seen her son become more engaged in reading because of the After School Program. “Ezra’s reading has definitely improved,” she says. “He has more patience to sit down and learn the end of the story.”
Ezra reads every day, and teachers help keep track of the books he has read on a weekly calendar for his school. The teachers take time with each of the students—another parent told Melissa, “It’s like having a private tutor.”
“The After School Program is truly a lifesaver. I don’t know how we’d get all of it done. It is such a godsend for working parents. And did I tell you it’s free!?”
Melissa says the After School Program has helped her family “in more ways than I can even imagine.” She looks forward to picking up Ezra from school every day and listening to his stories about what he did or learned or discovered.
Still, she is very careful not to pick him up too early because, for Ezra, every minute in the After School Program is a minute that counts.
Safe, reliable, and beneficial after-school programs are hard to find in West Dallas, but because of the generosity of our supporters and community partners, Brother Bill’s is helping children like Ezra build the foundation for future success. This North Texas Giving Day, please consider making a gift to help support BBHH programs, like After School, today!
Brother Bill's Helping Hand ministers to the Dallas community by ensuring the essentials of life, empowering through learning, and enriching relationships through faith, family, fitness, and finance.
Volunteers are the heartbeat of everything we do at Brother Bill’s Helping Hand. Volunteers are especially needed to make our Grocery Store (the biggest program we offer at BBHH) run week after week. Volunteers will help break down pallets, restock shelves, and bag produce for distribution. Volunteers will also help our neighbors navigate the grocery aisles, make their selections, bag the groceries they receive, and help neighbors out to their vehicles as needed.
We now have multiple Grocery Store locations including our main BBHH Campus, our South Dallas Community Market and our school pantries! We need volunteers at all our locations!
Volunteers are also needed to help with our annual events, camps and educational programs, as well as our After School program.
You can learn more about all of our volunteer opportunities, and how to sign up, by visiting this website: https://bbhh.org/volunteer2
Thank you!
We publicly denounce all forms of racism, injustice, white supremacy, abuse of power, and other sins that are against the heart of God. Brother Bill's Helping Hand is not, by nature, an advocacy organization, but we are a social service organization that seeks justice for the poor, oppressed, and marginalized. What is more, we strongly support those who advocate for our neighbors. In Holy Scripture, the Prophet Isaiah exhorts us to:
Learn to do right; seek justice.
Defend the oppressed.
Take up the cause of the fatherless;
plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17)
Social justice issues are woven into the fabric of God's mission and, moreover, in our work as we provide our neighbors with the essentials of life: food for the hungry; care for their mental and physical health; and job training, education, and Christian discipleship. We have not turned a blind eye to these issues in the past and refuse to do so in the present climate.
The neighbors, staff members, and community we know and love are disproportionately vulnerable to the current injustice. This is an unavoidable truth. We have witnessed stories of hardship, abuse, and suffering at the hands of those in power for far too long. We are adding our voice to the current conversation as we have been responding to social injustice for 80 years.
Organization name
Brother Bill's Helping Hand
Causes
Social Services, Health Care, Hunger & Food Access
Operating Budget
$1,000,000 - $2,999,999
Counties Served
Collin, Dallas, Denton, Ellis, Grayson, Kaufman, Rockwall, Tarrant
BIPOC Serving
Asian/Pacific Islander, Hispanic or Latinx, Native American, Black or African American
Equity Statement
Equity Statement
Address
3906 North Westmoreland Road