Who Agape Serves
Whatever brought you to wherever you are, we’re here to help you
For single women, single moms and their children who are experiencing the trauma of poverty and situational homelessness (often associated with abuse and/or domestic violence), Agape provides safe, stable, transitional housing and a grace-filled safety net of support services such as counseling, life skills, business/financial matters and much, much more.
Agape Serves Single Women and Single Moms
Agape women served are from two main situations:
- 1st situation – A woman who grew up with “enough” or “plenty” and who had not experienced homelessness as a child. She is likely educated and may have post graduate degrees. She’s fallen on hard times, lost a job, family crisis, etc. She wants to get back to what she had and doesn’t want her children to go through homelessness.
- 2nd situation – A woman who has lived through generational poverty or experienced homelessness as a child. She wants a better life for her kids. She says, “I want an out.”
- More than 80% of our women have survived family violence, sexual assault or trafficking
- She feels alone, she feels shame. She is tired. She struggles to find strength with limited resources and limited contacts. She feels isolated, sad, with almost paralyzing depression.
Agape Serves Children
Children in a homeless and domestic violence situation:
- Like the women we serve, over 80% of the children have directly or indirectly experienced the trauma of abuse. ALL of them have experienced the trauma and uncertainty of homelessness.
- The children are scared, to the point of being paralyzed. They feel anger, guilt, and can’t comprehend what’s going on. They feel alone. Unworthy. Vulnerable. Transient.
Services
How We Do It
Stable, Safe Housing
- Start a Savings Program and provide budget training
- Provide safe, stable housing at Agape to build community & friendships
- Address barriers to being able to rent
- Apply for housing subsidies
- Evaluate models to achieve equitable housing families can afford
Child Care & Development
- Facilitate childcare, especially 3rd shift (beyond traditional child care hours) so participants can engage in Life Skills classes
- Advocate for the family at schools and child care providers
- Provide academic tutoring and social/emotional counseling
- Organize enrichment & STEAM based experiences so kids can have fun & aspire to a life beyond their current circumstances
Workforce Preparation
- Provide education/vocation workforce preparation through:
- Job training for living wage jobs, updating of skills, preparing for market re-entry
- Resume review
- Interviewing practice
- Engagement with staffing company
- Train on life skills – budgeting/savings/personal financial management
- Help increase credit scores, decrease debt, become rent-worthy and banked
Reliable Transportation
- Assist with car repairs, title loans, and addressing tickets surcharge
- Provide Agape loaner cars
- Facilitate purchasing a used, reliable car at a discounted cost and 0% interest
- Teach auto care and maintenance skills
Eligibility
Agape might be the transformational program you are looking for if:
- You do not have a history of substance abuse or you can demonstrate you have managed the illness / situation for at least 12 months and will commit to continue a successful management plan.
- You are ready to commit to do the hard work necessary to progress towards personal economic and emotional stability.
- Agape is not equipped to assist with unmanaged, chronic physical or mental health conditions.
- You have a paying job. Continued, consistent work is a program expectation and a key step to self-sufficiency.
- You must agree to a Criminal Background Check.
- You are homeless as a result of situational/circumstantial events (e.g. the result of domestic violence, job loss, inadequate income to stay housed, etc.)
If you think you are eligible
Fill the form with answers to these questions:
Agape’s Points of Differentiation
Agape focuses on transformational, long term impact by nurturing and providing holistic solutions. Our goal is for women to achieve emotional and economic stability – in ways that work for them.
Agape is intentionally 2 generational – we serve both the mother and her children. We provide counseling, enrichment, and support to help children stabilize, address trauma, and envision themselves beyond their current situation. Our Agape children won’t be with us for long so we plant and nurture the seeds for them to thrive.
Agape guides women along a vocational path by providing opportunities to gain skills, education and contacts so they can grab on to the upward mobility ladder in ways that fit their capabilities and dreams.
Recognize Signs of Domestic Violence
Speaking & Training
Founder and President Janet Collinsworth is available for speaking engagements on the topics of:
- The homelessness situation in Collin County compared to its perception
- How homelessness impacts our community & children
- What can and should be done about it to solve homelessness systemically
- How people can get involved
Janet shares stories of women and their families, not just statistics.
Contact Janet at: info@hope4agape.com
