As Toyota celebrates the opening of its new North American headquarters in Plano, it’s also committing $1 million to help homeless women and children in Collin County.
On Thursday, Toyota and United Way of Metropolitan Dallas awarded a $1 million Impact Grant to four area shelters — Agape Resource and Assistance Center, Family Promise of Collin County, Hope’s Door New Beginning Center, and Shiloh Place of McKinney — who are pooling together their efforts to help homeless families. The grant will be administered over a two-year period by the partnership.
Toyota announced the grant program in January challenging Dallas-area organizations to come up with solutions to social and physical mobility issues in North Texas. Applicants were required to show how they would collaborate with other local organization partners. The initiative partners Toyota Motor North America and Toyota Financial Services as well as United Way of Metropolitan Dallas.
The four shelters, who are working collectively as the Collin County Mobility Collaborative, came up with a program designed to give “self-sustaining independence” for homeless women and their children. The collaborative was selected from more than 40 applications.
“We look forward to working with the collaborative, applying assets beyond dollars, to make a difference right here in our new backyard.”
KAREN IDENO
“By combining resources and sharing expertise, we can achieve greater collective impact to improve the lives of these women, their children, and generations to come,” said Karen Ideno, vice president of product, marketing, corporate social responsibility, and communications at Toyota Financial Services, in a release.
“We look forward to working with the collaborative, applying assets beyond dollars, to make a difference right here in our new backyard.”According to a release, there are about 3,000 homeless women in Collin County. The new program will work to help those in need.
“Our approach taps into the strengths of each of our organizations, providing a holistic approach that addresses housing, transportation, childcare, education and support services,” said Janet Collinsworth, founder and executive director of Agape Resource and Assistance Center, in a release.
“Through this effort our hope is not only to empower these women, but also to create a model of collaboration with a program that can be replicated.”
![homeless](https://s24806.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Toyota_970_StephanieMojonet_DIFile-Jul-07-9-54-45-AM.jpeg04.jpg)
[Photo by Dallas Innovates]
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