TARRANT COUNTY (WBAP/KLIF)- Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County (CIS-GTC) received an unprecedented gift of $4 million from philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott. The local gift is part of a $133.5 million unrestricted donation to the Communities In Schools network and national office.
“We are humbled and honored that Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County was selected as one of 40 CIS organizations from 18 states to receive such generous support from MacKenzie Scott. Our team will work closely with our board to determine the most appropriate use of these unrestricted funds, for now and for the future,” stated Lindsey Garner, president and chief executive officer of Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County.
The funds will go toward wrap-around support for at-risk Tarrant County students and families.
Garner said they hire licensed social workers to provide intensive case management and have a team of clinicians that provide 1 on 1 counseling services.
CIS-GTC works with 63 campuses across 11 school districts in Tarrant County, but the group has received an increase in requests for services at more schools.
“The need for wrap-around supports, including mental health counseling, has skyrocketed since the start of the pandemic. We are experiencing the highest demand for case managers and mental health counselors than we have ever seen before. Our goal is to utilize these funds both for immediate response to the growing demand, but also to invest in the long-term sustainability of our program. This unrestricted gift will allow us to combat inequities in public education and reimagine the way our social workers can show up for thousands more Tarrant County students whose basic needs are not met – students like Nathaniel of Lake Worth High School.”
Nathaniel – “Junior” to his family and friends – is a senior at Lake Worth High School. Junior first met CIS-GTC social worker Kimeeka Brown in the seventh grade when his family became homeless. Kimeeka sprang into action to help the family get back on their feet, establishing a close relationship with Junior and his mom.
During his freshman year, Junior’s mother was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Kimeeka and Junior’s high school social worker, Morgan Eary, were at the hospital with Junior when his mother passed away, vowing to honor the dying woman’s request to help take care of her son. Today, Junior is months away from graduating with a 3.8 GPA and will be attending Bethany College in Kansas on a full-ride football scholarship. He is regarded as a leader among his peers and is fiercely self-reliant.
“Imagine if our social workers were not there to surround Junior and his siblings with support when no one else was available. Sadly, that’s the reality of many local students,” continued Garner. “Fortunately, that’s where CIS-GTC bridges a gap. We go behind the scenes to assess unique needs and connect at-risk students and their family with local resources. We provide a trusted, caring adult to children who would otherwise have nowhere else to turn.
“The global pandemic has created unparalleled challenges for students and families — including experiences of social isolation, economic crisis, stress and trauma,” Matt Dufrene, board chair and vice president at Texas Health Resources. “The growth enabled by this donation will allow CIS-GTC to not only increase the number of schools and students we serve, it will also allow us to potentially layer our traditional services with mental health services, providing more wrap-around support to our school partners, students and families.”
Approximately $113.5 million of the overall $133.5 million gift was directed to 40 CIS affiliate organizations to support and expand school and community operations. The remaining $20 million will fund national CIS efforts to ensure program quality and consistency, provide rigorous research and evaluation, conduct effective advocacy, leverage the power of the national CIS brand and provide professional development opportunities.
