During the catastrophic Dallas snowstorm in February, Eastside Modern took action to take care of their homeless neighbors knowing the storm would be to much to handle. Their swift thinking and selfless deeds allowed for their neighbors to survive the storm with the help from many incredible donors.
Eastside Modern did an amazing thing. How did you get the idea in the first place?
When we first heard about the storm coming in, we were initially concerned about a good friend of ours who works a couple days a week in our warehouse, refinishing furniture for us, who actually lives in the homeless camp nearby. It honestly kept us up at night thinking about him being stuck out in the cold.
What did you feel you needed to do for your good friend?
We sat down with family and brainstormed ways we could help and ultimately, we decided we would book hotel rooms. At first, we hoped we could put up a few people for a couple nights.
How were you able to spread the word so fast?
We started a GoFundMe page to offset the cost and shared it with our Instagram followers. We were truly amazed by the amount of people who wanted to help. We surpassed our fundraising goal of $3,000 within an hour and before we knew it, we had raised $30,000. At that point we knew we had the resources to help more people than we initially thought.
That is incredible! What were your next steps?
It turned into something truly special because of the community response. The next morning, we hit the streets and went tent by tent to spread word about the storm coming and see who would be interested in staying at the hotel. For those who were willing to go, we loaded them and a couple belongings into our cars and drove them to the hotel. For the next couple of days, we continued to go out looking for people who wanted shelter from the storm. It was truly a family effort though... while we were out looking for more people, our parents and siblings were at the store getting groceries, new clothing and personal care items. My father-in-law actually went to each room and asked each person what they needed and got their sizes too. Ultimately, we were able to get hotel rooms for 35 individuals for 8 days as the storm passed over.
A full family affair. Were other people getting involved?
Yes! In addition to groceries, we brought to the rooms, some local restaurants and organizations stepped up to provide meals: Good Friend Burger, Resident Tacqueria, Sauce Pizza and Wine, Fount Board and Table, June Bakes, and Feed the People Dallas. We were also able to purchase with the donations 350 lunches for the homeless at the convention center & routed some of the money to The Family Place—a local Family violence agency that was displaced after pipes at their shelter burst.
So many people were involved then, are there plans to continue to help in the future?
When the storm finally passed, we also purchased new tents for those in need, sleeping bags, tarps and warm clothing to help these individuals get through the rest of winter. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we still have some funds left over that we are putting towards food that we have started handing out each Saturday. Through this process we’ve become close with many of our homeless neighbors and now know each other by name. We’re just thankful to have been given this opportunity!
We want to hear more about neighbors helping each other. If you or someone you know has any incredible stories about the Park Cities Community coming together for a great cause, share them with us on social media. Message us on Instagram or Facebook @parkcitieslifestyle or please email them to amanda.maggiore@lifestylepubs.com.