CEC Fall Update

MINISTRY: Community Enrichment Center | North Richland Hills, TX

MINISTRY PURPOSE: Helping people up and out of the grip of poverty.

TESTIMONY:
Here is a story from a recent family we were able to help:
When a single mother of two young children, ages 6 and 8, lost her job on July 31st, she faced an uncertain road ahead.

The loss of employment was due to a lack of childcare, creating an especially difficult situation for a mom working hard to provide for her family. Thankfully, she was able to secure a new job about a month later and arrange new childcare. But after the unexpected gap in employment, she found herself unable to pay her September rent and was at risk of losing her home.

Determined to find a solution, she contacted 211 Texas to learn about available resources and was connected with the CEC. While visiting the CEC food pantry, she met with a Navigator who listened to her situation and provided an application for rental assistance.

After reviewing her application, the CEC was able to provide $1,950 toward her rent, helping prevent eviction and allowing this mother and her two children to remain safely housed.

Today, this family has a fresh start. With a new job, dependable childcare, and the support she received through the CEC, this mother can continue providing for her children and maintaining their home.

KNOW:
Thank you so much for partnering with us to restore hope in our local community!

We truly could not do the work we do without your faithful support. But, what if I told you that you can double your impact with one simple step.

Next time you come and serve in our food pantry, bring a bag or two of non-perishable food items with you!

Right now, we are struggling to keep these items in stock as we strive to meet the needs of the families we are serving. By bringing a couple bags with you when you come to serve, you aren't only giving your time to help us serve families, but your helping put food directly on their table as well. It's a simple way to make a meaningful day of service go even further and have greater impact. Some of the most needed items are: canned fruit/vegetables, canned meat, rice, oatmeal, peanut butter, soups, and other similar items.

PRAY:
Ask: Please share this with the prayer ministry teams at your church. This is truly such a need for the families we serve, and it is an opportunity to have one-on-one interactions with families, intercede on their behalf, and connect them with even more resources that can help them with their specific needs. If you have any questions, please have them email or call Jeremy Rock and he would be happy to help. Jeremy Rock Community Engagement Manager Office: 817-281-1164 ext. 142

GIVE:
Benevolence: Between January and August 2026, we have received 2,260 calls for financial assistance, affordable housing, or emergency housing. That's an average of 282.5 calls per month. Not all of these calls filtered to benevolence were met because some required more long-term help or were outside of our benevolence service radius (NRH, Richland Hills, Hurst, Watauga, or Haltom City). However, this highlights the massive need we are seeing in our local community.

Ask: Prayerfully consider supporting our benevolence ministry financially. So far this year we have supported 10 families with rent and utility assistance totaling $16,852.03. If you were to give towards benevolence, it is restricted for benevolence use only, which means every dollar you give is going directly to families. Also, please know that you can refer people to us for benevolence and if we are able to help, we'd be honored to step into their crisis with them.

GO:
Christmas is right around the corner, which means CEC Season of Hope (formerly Christmas Extravaganza) is coming and the CEC could not be more excited about the opportunity we have to serve 1,200 at-risk students and their families in our local school district.

In case you haven't heard, on December 19th we will be at Wiley G. Thomas Coliseum serving many of the same students that we served at Refresh in July.

It's going to be a magical experience as we reintroduce an in-person element to the event and create a Christmas Village experience for the families to enjoy. Many of these families may not have a Christmas if it wasn't for this event.

We are so blessed and grateful that we have the opportunity to serve them.

I know that I have shared about volunteer opportunities with some of you, but I wanted to share a couple of other ways that you can get involved in helping make this Christmas special for these families:

Starting October 21st, there will be a challenge board located in the CEC lobby. The money donated towards this event will go towards supplying gift cards for older students or the curation of the Christmas experience for these families at the event. If you feel led to participate in the event this way, we would be honored to partner with you.

Starting October 21st, there will also be a toy barrel located in the CEC lobby. This is a great place to drop off new, unwrapped toys that you would like to donate towards the event.

Please visit cecseasonofhope.org for gift ideas. We have a new website! Please visit cecseasonofhope.org to learn more about the event, see where we have toy drives taking place, or events happening that will be supporting this event.

However you choose to participate in supporting these students and their families this Christmas, we are honored to have the opportunity to partner with you. Thank you so much for your faithful support of the CEC and our community.

If you are interested in volunteering, please send us an email - david@wellspringdfw.org .