When Sandra Stanley, founder of Opening Doors for Women in Need, showed up at the Junior League Fort Worth office last November, she was expecting to talk about the organization's request for $10,000.
She left with a $75,000 commitment from the League to build a second transitional home that has been a dream of the organization for some time. "I was shocked, surprised - and so grateful," Stanley said.
ODWIN is a local faith-based charity that seeks to empower women to become self-sufficient after jail or prison through a variety of programs that can include housing.
"Our membership has really embraced working with ODWIN this year as a current Junior League project. Our members feel that we are truly making a difference with the women at ODWIN through the work we are doing there, and we wanted to take it to the next level," said League president Sandra Tuomey.
"It saved my life," says client Kristy Culver, who was released in July from Dawson State Jail in Dallas. "If I hadn't come to Opening Doors, I would have had to go back to Orange [Texas], and I'm almost 100 percent positive I would have ended up back on drugs." Instead, she's going to school to become a paralegal.
"I was raised in a country club neighborhood," Culver said. "I have four older sisters who all went to college and graduated college and lived completely different lives from me. … It was just a couple of bad choices, and it lasted for about 13 years. The only good that came out of it is now the bad can be used for good. I can help other women."
Darmon Sydney called Stanley in a panic when she was dropped off at the bus station after release from Federal Medical Center Carswell with a $100 check. "She sent somebody to come get me," Sydney said. "She called probation, and I've been with her ever since. If I could stay with her forever, I would. … Without this program, I probably would be headed back [to prison] right about now," she said.
Stanley says that one of the four largest concentrations of parolees in Tarrant County is in Como's area code 76107. The recidivism rate is one of the two highest percentages in the county - 30 percent after 12 months and 45 percent after 24 months.
"Commonly, men and women attempting reentry face difficulties securing employment, finding clean, safe affordable housing, and obtaining numerous necessities that are essential during the process of reintegration," Stanley said.
"We knew Sandra Stanley had in her vision to build another home but did not currently have the funds for it," Tuomey said. "As our Project Research and Development Committee analyzed all of the community applications that came in, they determined a signature project with ODWIN is something our members would embrace because it truly fits our mission of developing the potential of women while making a positive impact in our community."
It made an impact for Sydney. "Two and a half years of incarceration and no family support or anything, and you don't have an idea of what love looks like. When you come into this program, you're surrounded by it. Everywhere, everybody you meet, their arms are open, their hearts are open," she said.