As Project Innovation Grant Deadline Nears, Past Recipient Encourages Non-Profits to Apply – NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth

Hope Farm in Fort Worth’s Morningside neighborhood takes up a full block. The non-profit is an after-school faith-based leadership program for ‘at-risk’ boys.

“The zip code that we live in, 76104… has the lowest life expectancy in the whole state of Texas,” Hope Farm Executive Director Sacher Dawson said. “So that means we have a lot of young people that are dying.”

The non-profit mentors boys, opening their eyes to opportunities.

“We don’t want any of our kids falling through the cracks. It’s too much of a risk,” Dawson said. “There’s no doubt in my mind that Hope Farm is a safe haven for a lot of the kids in this neighborhood.”

Hope Farm is a past recipient of the Comcast NBCUniversal Foundation Project Innovation grant. The organization used some of its $25,000 grant to upgrade programs and buy computers and headphones for its reading literacy program.

“The reading literacy program has really been a game-changer for us,” Dawson said. “100% of our boys have improved their reading grade level across the board.”

“Without a male figure, sometimes it’s really hard to keep them on the straight and narrow path,” mom Cherrina Clark said. “So Hope Farm, that’s where they come in.”

Clark’s son, Charles Jackson, has been going to Hope Farm since he was almost 5-years-old. He’s a junior in high school now.

“He has opportunities here that I didn’t have coming up,” Clark said. “You don’t have to stay here. There’s a bigger world out there.”

“I’ve learned different life skills that can help me in the future,” Jackson said. “It helps me realize it’s not always just about doing your assignments. It’s more about doing the extra to get better at what you’re trying to do.”

Jackson plans to intern at Lockheed Martin next year. He wants to be a mechanical engineer.

“Honestly, it puts me in the mindset that I can do anything,” Jackson said.

Hope Farm wants boys to be on one of three tracks; college, military, or vocational. Some of the Project Innovation grant money will be spent on a new vocational center.

“We know not all our boys will or want to go to college,” Dawson said, explaining the need for a vocational center. “So in many cases that will put them ahead of the college student, because some of these jobs like welding or HVAC, some of them are paying like $30-$35 an hour entry-level.”

Hope Farm has locations in Fort Worth and South Dallas, with plans to expand in other cities across Texas.

The deadline to apply for a Project Innovation grant is Friday, March 25. For more information click here.