Sabrina Porter, president and CEO of Juliette Fowler Communities listens to Ebby Halliday thank supporters of the nonprofit. (Brandon Wade/Special Contributor)
Juliette Fowler Communities announced a new project of the nonprofit family and senior services organization ? a transitional home for young women aging out of foster care, to be named after Dallas real estate icon Ebby Halliday.
The Ebby House, scheduled to open in late 2014, will be a community designed for women ages 18-22 to learn skills such as hygiene and personal finance as well as career training and education. It will be in a renovated house on Abrams Road in the Lakewood area in the Fowler Communities campus.
?Many young women are not prepared to be out on their own and are unable to do things we expect them to do,? said Sabrina Porter, president and chief executive of Juliette Fowler Communities. ?It?s disheartening, overwhelming and it?s heart breaking,? Porter said referencing several statistics.
Nationally, only 2 percent of youth who age out of foster care earn a bachelor?s degree or higher and about 84 percent become parents within 18 months of leaving care, according to statistics from the Foster Care Alumni of America.
?When I say we?ll be taking care of these young women, what I really mean is equipping them,? Porter said. ?Because they?ll receive mentoring and skills. It?ll be a little bit different than what you?ve seen before.?
Halliday said she took an interest in the issue of women aging out of care as she has helped support organizations that help needy families and children. The home once remodeled will be painted a bright yellow, Halliday?s favorite color, Porter said.
?This is wonderful,? the 102-year-old icon said after the announcement. ?I support this because I know the good that Fowler Communities does.?
She added that she hopes to meet the young women who move into the home one day.
Juliette Fowler Communities was founded in 1892 as a home for women and children, and today operates assisted and independent living programs, nursing care and rehab therapy as well as a foster care program in collaboration with Presbyterian Children?s Home & Services.
The structure for the home is set to be renovated and will cost an estimated $3 million. The nonprofit has raised about $2 million. Additionally, the annual operating cost of the facility will be about $325,000, Porter said. Young women in the program will apply for it and are expected to remain in the home for 18 to 24 months. The goal, Porter said, is not to rely on government assistance to fund the program.
?We want to teach these women to be as independent as possible,? she said.
Juliette Fowler Communities is seeking to raise $1 million to renovate a building on their campus east of downtown Dallas in order to serve young women aging out of foster care. (Brandon Wade/Special Contributor)
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