DALLAS (WBAP/KLIF) – As homelessness in Dallas becomes more visible, a local teenager is helping homeless individuals find a job.
Armando Parrish, a senior at Bishop Lynch High School, started a GoFundMe page to help a homeless man named Lorenzo in the Spring of 2021.
“I would see him outside my mom’s office near the High-5 and grew to know him over six years,” Armando told WBAP/KLIF News.
After a successful fundraising campaign, Project Lorenzo was formed as a 501(c) (3) non-profit in October 2021 to help more people experiencing homelessness.
Project Lorenzo helps homeless people in Dallas by offering a Computer Skills Certification program.
“We teach them certification courses, such as U.S. Designer, and then we set them up with jobs after they’re done with the program,” said Parrish. “After they’re done with the certification program we have a staffer on our team who looks for jobs for them, so they don’t have to look themselves.”
In January, Project Lorenzo partnered with In My Shoes, a home for pregnant and new mothers who are experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit offers its resources to women working with In My Shoes.
Volunteers with Project Lorenzo also create care packages to distribute to people experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit speaks to different student organizations about homelessness and have them assemble packages. The students take the packages to give to people they encounter on street corners.
Project Lorenzo was one of three finalists in The Dallas Foundation Pegasus Prize and received $10,000 for its Computer Skills Certification Program in Fall 2022.
The nonprofit is hosting a Color Run and Easter Egg Hunt fundraiser on April 8 at 9 a.m. at Breckinridge Park in Richardson.
Listen to Clayton Neville’s story below:
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