2020 Annual Report

2020 annual report

But God... a letter from the table of executive director But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which contents he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. - Eph. 2: 4-7 ...... letter from the 1 executive director For most of us, 2020 was a year of uncertainty, chaos, and confusion. From a global pandemic to the racial unrest in our nation, we have all ...... been touched by these unprecedented times. Mercy Street was no 2 mission exception. In many ways, 2020 changed the ways we minister to our neighbors. For a ministry focused on relationships, we had to pivot from in person to virtual gatherings, which were out of the box and 4 ...... programs out of our comfort zones. But God, in the midst of all of this, allowed us to serve Him and local families in ways we never imagined. We were able to provide for our ...... sports community’s physical, mental, and spiritual needs in brand new ways. We learned to partner with orga- 6 nizations we had never partnered with before. We did things we had never done before, from providing food and other essentials to launching the Mercy Street Learning Center...... 8 mentoring 2020 was difficult for so many people. Other nonprofits and businesses around the world shut their doors. But God allowed us to pivot our programs and adapt to serve our neighbors well...... As we enter 2021, we are excited about what God is doing. We have big dreams that God will expand our 10 leadership programs in West Dallas and establish the Mercy Street program in South Dallas. • In Mercy Street Sports, we will continue baseball and soccer, add flag football, to reach even ...... more families with the Gospel. 12 south dallas • In Mercy Street Mentoring, we will expand to have even more relationships in West Dallas and South Dallas, and continue to develop new ways to equip our mentors online...... • In the Leadership Institute 2020, we successfully hosted Leadership Institute online; we 14 financials hope to do the summer intensive in person (or a hybrid version) this year, as well as expand the Mercy Street Dream Center. • In the brand new Mercy Street Learning Center, we are serving students who are learning ...... coming soon online by providing them with supervision, support, and a safe small group learning envi- 16 ronment. • In South Dallas, we will partner with Bridge Builders and Frazier Revitalization to mentor ...... kids that live in DHA properties. We will expand our services to students in South Dallas 17 staff & board schools through mentorship and the Leadership Institute. To accomplish these big dreams we need ongoing prayers, we need to grow our volunteers in each of our programs, and we need the financial resources to make ministry possible. We need you! We welcome you to join what God is doing through Mercy Street. We invite you to join this multicultural, multiethnic, multigenerational movement of God’s people that work together for His glory and the good of our city.

LaCarlton Oby Executive Director (972) 689-5413 [email protected] 1i mission Mercy Street exists to cultivate mutually transforming relationships with inner-city youth through Christian mentorship.

vision To empower the next generation of Christian leaders to transform their communities. impact Ethan and Ryan were struggling with self-confidence, focus and motivation. Their mother, Dawn, knew Mercy Street sports was a place they would have fun and build character, so she signed them up.

After playing in our baseball league, Dawn began to no- tice changes in her sons. Ethan learned valuable lessons about motivation and focus after working with his coach to earn a spot playing catcher. Ryan did not think he was capable of pitching, but when given the chance, pitched well and walked away with newfound self-confidence!

After each practice, Dawn noticed it was harder and harder to pull her boys off the field. If they had their way, they would’ve stayed all night. In Dawn’s words:

“Mercy Street has enriched Ethan and Ryan’s lives. They are more motivated for school and look forward to the new friendships they’ve built through Mercy Street.”

2 3 mercy street equip mercy street leadership The Leadership Institute aims to dou- reach ble-down our efforts with emerging lead- sports ers when they are in high school to ensure At Mercy Street Sports, we reach over 1,200 they thrive as they enter the “real world.” athletes with the Gospel annually. Sports is a As we work to prepare the next generation low committment, high impact way to get of servant leaders, we desire to develop families in our communities involved in what three things in our students: distinctively the Lord is doing through Mercy Street. Every Christian leadership, workforce readiness, week we teach the fundamentals of a sport and grit—the passion and perseverance and the fundamentals of faith. This is where needed to fulfill their God-given potential. volunteer coaches get to be the salt and light The Leadership Institute provides training Jesus talks about in Matthew 5:13-16. Not only through the Summer Intensive, Alumni are young athletes taught Biblical values in Association, Street Teams, and the Learn- weekly devotionals, they are challenged to ing Center. The only way to do this is hav- practice them on and off the field. Additional- ing godly men and women who are willing ly, we are able to see students who may bene- to say, “Follow me as I follow Christ” (1 Cor. fit from a one-on-one mentoring relationship 11:1) and show how to honor God through and refer them to the mentoring department. their career.

when those who are resourced walk alongside mercy street those who are under-resourced, mentoring grow both are made into the image of Mercy Street Mentoring cultivates mutually transforming relationships by pairing children Christ. in West and South Dallas with a caring Christian adult and providing a way for the local church to fulfill the Great Commission. We coach each mentor to embody Paul’s posture when he says, “We were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.” (1 Thess. 2:8) Each child finds that their mentor is some- one that they can confide in and express their dreams. However, time and time again, we have seen that mentors also have much to learn through the blessing of being a mentor. 4 5 sports Marvin Rosales director of sports

This year turned out to be a challenge nobody saw coming. But God, amidst the challenges and obstacles the Lord blessed our ministry and provided for us to have a great year!

In the month of February 2020, we hosted a Home Run Der- by and a Black History Month Baseball Camp in partnership with Nike and the Texas Rangers. In the spring months we were in con- tinual prayer as the pandemic began to take a toll on our community. In April, we facilitated equipment distributions in West Dallas and South Dallas (in partnership with BridgeBuilders), to over 400 young athletes. In the month of August, we served over 180 athletes through our sports camps, including soccer, football and baseball camps. As fall approached, we planned how to safely and strategical- ly deliver our programs. Our first and foremost goal is to glorify God in all we do! Our prayers were answered. We served over 475 youth in our fall leagues for baseball and soccer. We had over 70 volunteers support our programs, 30 coaches and 40 volunteers from Jesuit Col- lege Preparatory School. Throughout the year God continued to be faithful to our ministry. We anticipate growth across our programs but we are also excited about all God has done this past year. He knew. He had a plan.

Julian 9 years with Mercy Street Sports “My [single] mom’s strength and sacrifices gave me the motivation to be successful. Mercy Street Sports and the people I met there gave me the tools to make it happen.” quick facts • 118 athletes participated in • 115+ athletes attended the our 2020 fall soccer league. 9th Annual Kershaw’s Chal- lenge Baseball Camp. We • 90 athletes participated in continue to be thankful for our 2020 fall flag football our partnership with Clayton showcase. Kershaw and the Kershaw Foundation and look forward • 270 athletes participated in to celebrating the decade our 2020 fall baseball league. long relationship in 2021! “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.Remember that the Lord will give you an inheritance as your reward, and that the Master you are serving is Christ.” Colossians 3:23-24 6 7 mentoring Jill Collum director of mentoring

The pandemic required us to pivot our programs But God blessed us by using that time to focus on our own learning in order to better help others. Mentors grew by taking an online course from Dal- las Children’s Advocacy Center about Recognizing & Reporting Child Abuse. The mentoring staff took an in person Mental Health course, CPR, and First Aid, and attended a webinar on Trauma Informed Care.

Amidst COVID-19, some of the events we hosted were: • A virtual pizza party for mentor/mentee matches. • An outdoor socially distanced graduation ceremony for our senior mentees. • A drive through trunk-or-treat event for National Night Out. • A socially distanced Christmas Party. • Additionally, we celebrated our mentored parents/guard- ians with a personal sugar scrub delivered to their door- step by Amazon along with an encouraging note from us.

We are excited for 2021 as we begin to hold in-person events again. We have committed to following health guidelines and our safety protocol. We will host a “No Strings Attached” event which will be about having a healthy view of God’s design for relationships and sexuality. We plan to do outside activities like hiking and a bonfire. We are producing a mentor manual and planning a mentor training for all new mentors. We are also creating training videos about various important topics for mentors.

Hailey Mercy Street Mentee “[My mentor] is like a role model to me. She taught me how to [act like] a lady and how to have confidence. I really do think having mentors is worth it. She’s like a sister.”

quick facts

• 175 mentor/mentee matches • 97% of mentees expressed served in 2020. an improvement in their hopefulness. • 4.1 years average match re- • 86% of mentees expressed tention rate. improvements in their resil- “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” Proverbs 27:17 iency.

8 9 leadership institute Dr. Micaela Herndon director of south dallas & leadership

In the midst of a pandemic, we found a way to pivot and cre- ate powerful impacts in the communities we are called to serve. We innovated our methodology, and the leadership institute prepared 76 students to become the future leaders of their communities through Gospel centered studies, college and career readiness, and social development. We faced many obstacles But God was faithful to make an impact. For the first time ever, Mercy Street hosted one of the nation’s only virtual paid summer internships that was strictly focused on developing students. For leadership, students focused on SMART goals, collaboration, flexibility, and postsecondary success. For career focus, students reviewed, researched, and completed job assessments on the business, STEM, and health science clusters. For college readiness, students completed their readiness assessments to determine their college readiness levels as well as writing with an authoritative tone and prepare them for various forms of academic reading and methods for academic writing. In 2021, we want to continue to impact students on a larg- er scale. We have begun expanding street teams, our small group program, into South Dallas. We will offer college and workforce readiness workshops to our local schools and community partners. We have sent care packages to alumni students who are in college across the state of Texas. We will offer a hybrid version of the summer intensive to ensure we are offering COVID-19 safety precautions while continuing to provide students with the skills needed to become the leaders who can change their communities.

Debrial Leadership Institute Alum “When I came to Mercy Street I came closer to finding my purpose. Not even finding my purpose in a job but actually in the world. Who do I want to help? What do I want to do with my future?” quick facts • 36 students served in the • 100% retention rate for stu- Summer Leadership Intensive. dents in Street Teams. • 4 students received summer • Created virtual workforce “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers scholarship bonuses. readiness workshops for students in West & South Dallas. in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity.” 1 Timothy 4:12 10 11 letter from south a supporter In 2020, we continued to expand our programs into South Dallas. With multiple partners, we have seen tremendous Mercy Street is a place where God brings peo- growth and are excited about all 2021 will bring! ple together from all parts of the city to grow dallas in mutually transforming mentoring relationships that are formed and nurtured over the years together. We were introduced to the ministry by Bill Farrell who came into our sports Sunday School class back in 2004. He shared We had 50 young athletes attend our sports camps, and we about the Mercy Street mentoring program in distributed equipment to athletes in the Buckeye’s Commons West Dallas being led by our friend, Trey Hill, Apartment Complex, through a partnership with BridgeBuild- who had just also moved his family to West ers. In the spring of 2021 we will launch sports in South Dallas Dallas so they could live among those that through a partnership with Frazier Revitalization. Our Sports they were seeking to serve. Tyler and I both program will consist of baseball, soccer, and flag football. We immediately felt the call to join hands with continue to have many athletes from South Dallas participate them and become mentors. At that time, we in Mercy Street Sports activities held at the Mercy Street Sports had no idea how all of the joys and challenges of going through life together with our mentee Complex in West Dallas. would grow us all and help us become more aware of the reality of life for our friends in West Dallas.

Our relationship with our mentee, Sharmonique, has been a blessing for our entire family. Our four children all grew up together with her coming to soccer practices, baseball and football mentoring games, ballet recitals, birthday parties, and many other special family events, hers and ours. In partnership with BridgeBuilders, we have successfully Bringing Sharmonique along with us all was the only way that I could work out mentoring and launched South Dallas mentoring and have begun matching raising our family at the same time. It worked so well as everyone was blessed by being togeth- mentors with local mentees. BridgeBuilders is an organization er. that has a 20+ year history in the South Dallas neighborhood, Bonton. They have identified kids that are in need of mentors As Sharmonique has grown into a beautiful, kind, and independent woman, we now share and we work to match them with a caring Christian adult an adult friendship that is such a joy. I am so proud of her and the person she has become. She mentor. is the proud mother of her precious daughter, Armoni, is working full time, and is continuing to work her way through college. She plans to mentor a child from Mercy Street someday as well, and I know she will do a wonderful job. That’s the beauty of Mercy Street and why we believe so much in the work that Carlton Oby, along with his staff and volunteers, are doing in West and South Dallas. Children benefit so leadership much from mentors who love the Lord and who are invested in them. Equally, the mentors ben- After a successful 2020 virtual summer leadership intensive pro- efit so greatly from the relationship that develops and the many outlooks on life that wouldn’t gram with 20 students from Lincoln & Madison High Schools, be possible without that child in their life. we are ecstatic to launch a 2021 summer intensive that will be We hope that you will join us in this incredible, life-changing ministry at Mercy Street. You don’t a hybrid of in-person and online. Many of these students will be even need to leave the city on a mission trip! By mentoring a child as they grow, you have the from South Dallas, or attend school in South Dallas. Our small beautiful opportunity to share life together and really make a profound difference not only in group program—Street Teams will also launch in South Dallas their life, but also in the life of their family and community. We pray that you will experience the in spring 2021. blessings to be had as you pour your love into the heart and life of a child and then be gently amazed as your own heart is filled with transforming love in return and a greater idea of God’s love for us all.

Blessings and Love, Stacy Burke

12 13 financials income Brian Roy, CPA foundations director of operations $1,209,059 individual donors $397,068 This year marked 17 years of service to the West Dallas community. We have grown and expanded forgivable PPP loan over those years. We have added programs and made strategic partnerships. As we set out on 2020 we $193,700 embarked on a year of health for the organization. As we prepare for the coming years serving our neigh- churches bors, we highly value the financial health and stewardship of Mercy Street. When COVID-19 hit, we pivot- $178,000 ed programming and reduced spending as a precautionary measure. But God in his goodness continued corporations to bless our ministry through supporters like you! $126,011 Some of the steps we took to maintain a strong financial statement amidst a global pandemic: other income • We engaged top notch financial professionals to ensure financial stewardship. $79,886 • We partned with Armanino LLP for high quality audit/tax services, coupled with their industry expertise as a trusted advisor. united way • We restructured internal systems and processes to improve financial clarity and accountability. $21,232 • We spent frugally while simultaneously investing in future growth. • We planned for strategic financial investment in mission-critical areas. expenses by program sports — $397,773 mentoring — $494,710 leadership — $178,010

*unaudited financial information

14 p1315 Destiny Brookins development services coordinator staff Jill Collum coming soon director of mentoring

Terell Duncan the mercy street facilities manager

Sam Flores board center director of development dream Matt Van Beber, Chair As a ministry, we want to grow and adapt with the community we serve. Over the past CEO, Marketing Systems, Inc. year, Dallas ISD has continued construction of the new $93,000,000 campus of Pinkston Clarissa Garcia High School, located directly across the street from the Mercy Street building. On the oth- mentor coordinator Kenneth Aboussie er side of Mercy Street is Uplift Heights School. We are currently planning and researching Managing Partner, Stonelake Capital Partners ways to utilize our current building as a tool for impact in the lives of the 2,500+ students Kevin Garcia mentor coordinator Errol Coner that will walk past it every day. One of those projects is the Dream Center. Executive Pastor, Concord Baptist Church

The Mercy Street Dream Center will be a much needed addition to the Leadership Miriam Garcia mentor coordinator Laura Downey Institute. We’ll breathe life into the old bike shop by completely remodeling the space to in- Crystal Charity Ball Representative clude: David Hatteberg Ed Franklin • Computer Lab development team manager President/CEO, Voice of Hope • Photography/Videography Studio • Music Studio Chris Hawkins Dr. Micaela Herndon Attorney, Dallas County District Attorney’s Office • Collaboration Spaces director of south dallas & leadership • Additional Office Space Jeff Mulkey Joshua Luckett Owner/Operator, Chick-Fil-A We’re excited to be able to teach classes after school and in the summer. While the south dallas program coordinator Leadership Institute currently excels at building leaders through microenterprises, this en- Carlton Oby deavor will allow us to expand and build leaders through the Arts. Executive Director, Mercy Street Jonathan Lyon marketing coordinator To learn more about how you can make the dream center a reality, contact Sam Flores Erin Mitchell Pope at [email protected]. There are several ways to get involved! Attorney Carlton Oby executive director Dr. Mark Ramirez Assistant Superintendent, Dallas ISD uplift heights mercy street pinkston high school Marvin Rosales Michael Violi director of sports Owner, Violi Enterprises

Brian Roy, CPA Emily Walker director of operations Mercy Street Mentor

Danae Stack chief of staff

Wynne Wideman major gifts officer

16 17 get connected. mercy street 3801 holystone st dallas, texas 75212 214-905-1042 mercystreetdallas.org

[email protected]