NONPROFIT
Kyle’s Place is a shelter for homeless teens o ered by Journey to Dream.
FULFILLING DREAMS
Journey to Dream 579 N. Valley Parkway, Ste. 200, Lewisville 469-470-2382 www.journeytodream.com O ce hours: Mon.-Fri. 9 a.m.-5 p.m. food and clothing • Life skills training • Mental health care and assessment • Individual counseling • Medical and dental care referrals Journey to Dream is a nonpro t that provides shelter and other options for homeless youth in Denton County. • Caring and professional adult guidance • Case management • Referrals for necessities, such as
From left, three of Journey to Dream’s leaders are Chief Development O cer Samantha Sims, CEO Nesa Grider and Development Coordinator Sarah Ryan. (Photos by Don Munsch/Community Impact)
Journey to Dream Denton County organization assists teens
BY DON MUNSCH
High School student who died in 2012. It started with eight beds but has grown to a capacity of 19, Ryan said. Outside of the actual building, the facility can help both young people in the community and in foster care. It’s a transitional living facility that helps people move on to the next phase of their lives. “We’re pretty much always full,” Ryan said. “We actually have a waitlist usually for Kyle’s Place, so that’s part of why we’re trying to grow right now so that we can meet that need. When the teens come into Kyle’s Place, they typically are coming through [Child Protective Services] or being referred to us. So we sit down with them, make sure that we can actually serve them and that we’re able to meet their needs, and that they’ll t well at the home with the other teens.”
organization—including at Kyle’s Place, which is a residential facility that houses homeless teens ages 14-19. The Dream Initiative is a school-based program. The nonpro t accepts monetary and in-kind contributions, and volunteers are eagerly accepted. Between Kyle’s Place, and the school programs and outreach, Journey to Dream serves about 15,000 young people every year, Ryan said. The school programs under the Dream Initiative are ongoing and a big part of the overall organization’s programs. “Through those programs, we had teens that were coming to us and disclosing that they were homeless, and they needed a place to stay. They needed shelter; they needed more support than just at school,” Ryan said. Kyle’s Place opened in 2017. It was named after Kyle Milliman, a Hebron
Local nonpro t Journey to Dream seeks to be a guiding light for young people. The organization relies on its donors—it is not state or federally funded—and held its gala at the Hilton Garden Inn on June 17 in Lewisville to fund its two main programs, Kyle’s Place and the Dream Initiative. CEO Nesa Grider and Development Coordinator Sarah Ryan spoke about the nonpro t’s needs at the Journey to Dream o ce in Lewisville. “We realized that there weren’t a lot of resources out there for teens needing support for mental health, struggling with anxiety, depression, bullying—all those challenges that
teens go through,” Ryan said. Journey to Dream employs 33 people who work in di er- ent capacities throughout the
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