Spreading Love Through Meaningful Acts

At All Angels Foundation (AAF), our call to service drives us to take meaningful actions that positively impact people’s lives. This spring, AAF awarded community grants to four inspiring organizations whose work reflects our shared commitment to love, healing, and hope. Each gift symbolizes an investment in the power of community to create transformative change.

Many of our neighbors in Dallas’s high-crime neighborhoods, including South Dallas, South Oak Cliff, and Pleasant Grove, live in a constant state of fear. Gunshots and threats of violence keep them awake at night. Encountering drugs and prostitution is a daily reality for children as they walk to school or play outside.

Advocates for Community Transformation (ACT) recognizes the impact of crime and violence on a family’s health. True to its name, ACT is a pioneering mobilization agent, driven by Christ’s call to seek justice and love our neighbors. The organization collaborates with residents, neighborhood associations, churches, nonprofits, police and other stakeholders to shut down places of criminal activity through the civil justice system.

Over the last 15 years, ACT has empowered communities to close down 260 drug houses in DFW. AAF’s grant of $25,000 will contribute to the organization’s goal of shutting down 22 more.

The benefits of this effort extend beyond reducing the threat of stray bullets. Removing these properties from the community restores hope, dignity, and peace to areas historically plagued by crime and neglect, while also directly impacting the surrounding neighborhoods.

Children are less likely to get caught in the crosshairs or be drawn into the drug trade before turning ten years old. Families can walk the streets without fear, children can play outside, and communities can engage in life-enriching programs such as education, job training, housing, and food assistance.

Dallas County has the second-highest number of people living with HIV/AIDs in Texas. Since 1983, Resource Center has been a vital source of community awareness, education, legal services, emergency funding, and basic needs for this community. Serving over 62,000 people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, the Center operates one of the largest LGBTQIA+ community centers in the United States and is a primary HIV/AIDS service organization in North Texas.

Though no longer a death sentence, HIV continues to pervade vulnerable and impoverished communities. Poor nutrition is particularly dangerous for compromised immune systems. An unhealthy diet combined with inconsistent healthcare can contribute to immune dysfunction, malnutrition, inhibit HIV medication absorption, and may even result in disease progression.

Maintaining good health and wellness is crucial, but often impossible for individuals on a fixed income or those who are homeless. Too often, they must choose between food and the medications necessary for survival. Rising food costs and the ongoing uncertainty regarding federal funding for food banks and meal kitchens will continue to affect this vulnerable community.

The Resource Center’s HIV Nutrition Program bridges this gap by ensuring that underserved communities are nourished, cared for, and empowered to manage their health and well-being. The Program operates the only food pantry and one of just two congregate meal programs that focus on meeting the nutritional needs of individuals living with HIV/AIDS.

AAF’s $20,000 grant will support the Program in continuing to provide weekly shops and healthy meals designed to meet the necessary percentages of proteins, fruits, vegetables, and carbohydrates for individuals with compromised immune systems and other health conditions.

Today’s youth increasingly feel isolated, anxious, depressed, and hopeless. They are often ill-prepared to understand and manage emotions, confront challenges, or make healthy choices. Adolescent victims of cyberbullying are four times more likely to contemplate or attempt suicide, and many young people feel they have no one to turn to for support. They have never had anyone tell them their lives have value and purpose.

Youth Equipped to Succeed (YES) speaks these truths into adolescent lives, empowering K-12 students through life-changing connections and Christ-centered values. The nonprofit’s programs are grounded in research and fully aligned with Bible-based messaging.

By promoting understanding, compassion, and youth dialogue, YES helps students develop skills to navigate bullying, social media safety, mental health, relationships, sexting, pornography, and substance use with wisdom and resilience. Since 2002, YES has impacted the lives of nearly 5 million students, parents, and educators in 43 states.

The Dallas Ministry Youth Impact Plan is an important outreach program designed to build knowledge and capacity within credible, mission-driven organizations across Dallas. Through this initiative, YES provides high-impact youth ministries with expertise and resources to enhance their ability to assist students and parents in tackling critical challenges and social pressures.

AAF’s grant of $20,000 will support the Plan’s goal of expanding its reach to more faith-based organizations and serving 5,200 students during the next school year.

Youth With A Mission (YWAM) is a 65-year-old international, interdenominational Christian mission organization with affiliates in Dallas and Costa Rica. Many of you have participated in the annual Homes for Hope event, where families gather for a long weekend dedicated to building homes in San Jose. Volunteers construct simple two-room houses from the ground up over two days in collaboration with the family whose home is being built. At the end, the family receives the keys to a completed home that is stocked and furnished.

Gifting a family a debt-free home is more than just an act of mercy or goodwill. Adequate shelter is transformative in breaking the cycle of poverty and giving a family a chance at a brighter future. Children are more likely to stay in school when they have a safe and stable home, and families tend to be healthier because they have access to better hygiene and nutrition. A home also helps maintain and nurture one’s relationship with God.

Since 1990, Homes for Hope has engaged over 130,000 volunteers to build thousands of homes worldwide. This act of service has become particularly important to young people whose faith is deeply intertwined with making an impact in the world.

AAF’s $10,000 grant will establish a new partnership between Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church and YWAM Costa Rica Homes for Hope, with the intent to grant an additional $10,000 per year for the next two years.

This initiative will offer meaningful opportunities for service engagement among parishioners of all ages, supporting the Church’s vision to form Christian disciples who transform communities.

All Angels Foundation is a separately chartered 501(c)(3) nonprofit supporting the mission of Saint Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church by funding initiatives of the church and community organizations that transform people’s lives. Governed by a Board of Trustees elected by SMAA, the Foundation reviews and funds grant applications twice yearly, in Spring and Fall. Visit www.allangelsfoundation.org to learn more.

**This article was written by Helen Holman and was featured in the 2025 Fall Archangel.