A few days after the school year started in the fall of 2005, Hurricane Katrina was about to hit New Orleans. We did our best in preparing to evacuate our beautiful 1920s-built home. My 10 and 13-year-old daughters packed for a three-day evacuation while my husband Mark and I boarded up our windows…
We were on the last flight to Dallas before the storm hit. We never went back home.
After many previous evacuations and seeing the devastation of Katrina, we made the decision to move our family to Dallas permanently. A family in the community took us in for a few weeks and were fortunate not to need critical services like furniture or financial assistance. But over the months, as I processed what my family had experienced, it became clear that we were all having difficulty coping.
We had been running on adrenaline, putting one foot in front of the other to settle into a new school, look for a new job, deal with the insurance companies, and find a new home. The stress and overwhelm of the hurricane, the evacuation, and trying to settle in a new city started to catch up to us. The need for support became clear as we tried to rebuild our lives.
That’s when I reached out to JFS Dallas.
JFS was there for us at that moment of transition, and because of the services we received, we were able to properly process what had happened. JFS provided us not only with essential services but also with a community to find strength, comfort, and belonging.
I will always be thankful for what JFS did for my family. Over the years, we have been involved in volunteering and attending events, and our daughter was even a Klein Intern. Now during JFS’s 75th year, I serve as Board Chair-Elect.
I’m proud to be a part of this organization that helps others in their times of need, just as they helped me.
It has been an honor to give back to JFS as both a board member and a donor, supporting the mission to meet the needs of our community members.
Mark and I choose to make our contributions through stock transfer, a meaningful way to maximize the impact of our gift while supporting an organization that does so much for so many, and we encourage you to explore that option, too. We absolutely love being involved because we see the direct impact that our time and financial support have. Â
I am supporting JFS Dallas’s Meeting the Moment campaign, as they build a foundation for the future. Every contribution—whether big or small, traditional or through stock transfer—ensures that JFS is ready to meet the needs of our community whenever they arise.Â