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If you followed ACO’s progress last year, then you know we had quite a year of expansion! We weren’t one of those agencies who had big bucks to match our big dreams (oh yes, we did have the dreams!) of building a big beautiful new facility to serve Collin County families. We could have spent a few years in the midst of a capital campaign to raise funds to do so. However, is that the best use of funding? How many families could we help versus the cost of a new building?
Practicality set in, and we knew that we could tap into the resources already in our community- such as the former Big Lots building on Greenville Ave that was purchased and renovated, and a redesign of the current space we have at the Main St location. While this was a multi-year project, that majority of the work was completed in 2024.
Heading into 2025, the ACO Resale and Donation Center is thriving on Greenville Ave. Because of the income generated by that enterprise, much of ACO’s operating expenses are covered through the sales of donated goods. Also, because of your donations of clothing and housewares, we are able to keep the ACO Cares Center fully stocked with essentials to offer families in need at no cost. Consequently, when donors give financial donations to ACO’s mission they can be assured that their gifts are going to benefit many more families in need of housing, utility assistance and food, and the programs that are changing lives!
So, the question for 2025 becomes, “where do we grow from here?” Actually, it’s a simple answer. While last year we grew on the outside, as in our facilities expansion and reconfiguring the space that we have, this is the year to grow our programs on the inside to meet the needs of the community.
The largest need in our community is help with rent and utilities. The basics of shelter and food continue to top the list of assistance provided by ACO’s programs and services. We must grow in two directions to meet these needs.
- Direct more funding to pay rent and utilities. Before we can help families with anything else, we must secure their shelter and safety. This takes money. The average assistance for housing one time is $1200, and $250 for utility assistance. We average 20 applications per day. Do the math. The 2025 Budget allows for additional housing assistance, more than ever has been directed in ACO’s 40-year history. Even so, it’s not enough to secure every family with immediate shelter.
- Because we cannot completely fulfill the needs in #1, #2 becomes even more critical. We must now grow from the inside, expand our programs and services to prevent hunger and homelessness before it gets critical for families in crisis.
In 2024, the Kiser-Covington ACO Learning Academy doors were opened to offer a long list of classes, seminars and coaching with everything from basic budgeting and Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University program to Microsoft computer classes and GED, to job search and interview skills and more. Classes began filling quickly with waiting lists, demonstrating the need for more. In 2025 our class schedule has expanded with additional opportunities.
Last Fall, The ACO Food Pantry returned to a choice-pantry with client shopping versus the drive-thru distribution lines that we had to convert to during the pandemic. However, the difference in pre-2020 and current pantry shopping is the need to accommodate 4X as many families as we had 5 years ago. To maintain the fresh foods and shelf stable groceries to feed so many additional families it takes more donations, more space and more hours, which also means more staff time and volunteers. In 2025 we are adding more food storage space, more freezers and refrigeration, and expanding appointment times for clients to shop.
Our 2025 Board of Directors Planning Retreat this month will address these challenges, and our staff meetings will continue to focus on solutions to the question, “where do we grow from here?” The solution really is simple, but finding the resources is difficult. We need more funding for programs and services. We need more volunteers. We need more donors willing to join hands with ACO and change lives.
One more thing.... With the new year, also comes a new look for WWW.ACOcares.org. I hope that you will visit our website and see all of the changes. There’s now a search bar to find specific information easier. It’s a clean look and feel that is user friendly for families seeking help, for volunteers willing to give of their time and for donors wanting to make a financial gift easily online. I want to thank our staff, particularly Rhonda and Bradley, for the many, many hours that went into the project and to congratulate them on its success as a very useful tool for our community.
Finally, also worth a mention is the Diane and John Schoch ACO Donation Center! Last Spring it moved from the borrowed space next to the Allen PD to the same location as the ACO Resale, both located on Greenville Ave. However, a few donations that were left outside in recent months at the former location grew over time as more people noticed the pile and must have thought it a good idea to leave their items outside as well, exposed to the elements and making much of it unusable. What was worse, was then it was left to be picked through by others, which created a huge mess at the City of Allen facilities. Your donations are important to us. In fact, they are critical! As I mentioned above, your clothing and housewares go to help families needing those essentials AND provide an income source to better serve our community. Please make sure they get to the proper location. The Diane and John Schoch Donation Center is open the same hours as ACO Resale, Monday-Saturday, 10am-6pm at 117 N. Greenville Ave at Main Street in Allen.
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