A group of Dallas kids experienced a once-in-a-lifetime lesson that will help them on their path to success.
Interfaith Family Services' Youth Program hosted its first business pitch competition in honor of Black History Month. past and present.
Children in the nonprofit Hope & Horizons Afterschool Program spend weeks researching business icons from Black history and create and launch business ideas inspired by them. I came up with a plan.
The kids then pitched their next big business idea to Dallas' top leaders on Tuesday night. The kids, dressed in lab-like white coats, prepared presentations reminiscent of a science fair, but aimed at businesses.
Winners received gift cards and other prizes to help them take the first steps toward realizing their dreams.
Kimberly Williams, CEO of Interface Family Services, said, “One of the things that helps children do well in school and make big financial decisions as adults is… It's about having a vision for your future.” Since they have potential in their hearts from a young age, they will be inspired to perform well. ”
What makes these kids even more amazing is the obstacles they have overcome. They are some of the people most likely to be homeless in Dallas.
“For us, it's very important to help children succeed in school. The instability of being homeless or dealing with poverty can impact academic performance.” said Williams.
Through interfaith, the cycle of poverty for children and their families is broken. The organization offers a variety of services, including full-day child care for working parents, rental assistance, counseling, career coaching for parents, and cooking classes.
While their parents, most of them single mothers, receive support, their children are cared for in after-school and summer programs that include tutoring, field trips, exposure to the arts, and business pitch competitions symbolizing black entrepreneurship. We will provide events for you. In history.
“It is very important to us that we do everything we can to expose our children to heroes and innovators, especially people who look like them, so that they feel that they will be successful in the future. .And this is exactly how we do it,” Williams said. He said.
Interfaith is always accepting donations of books, snacks, and other items, as well as volunteers to connect and inspire children throughout the summer.
“When kids leave school, we want them to take one or two books with them. We want as many books as possible to come through the door so they can start their own personal library or something. , we want to be able to add things like that,” Williams said.
Click here to learn more about Interfaith.
