Jonathan's Place

There are few places and few people that exceed my high expectations, Jonathan's Place and the staff who work there definitely fall into the small group that are far better than I could have ever imagined. For the Last 15 years Jonathan's place has been taking in Dallas's youngest victims of abuse and giving them a safe, nurturing environment to grow in. Today my friend Mark and I were lucky enough to visit one of the best run and generous places in America.

The first thing I noticed as I arrived at the campus was its open and safe feel. The buildings and recreation equipment could have belonged at any of the finest summer camps or private schools. The staff were not only receptive but were caring. The only tragedy of a place such as Jonathan's is that children need a safe place to escape some of the domestic nightmares in their life.

A brief history of Jonathan's place.

Lisa Matthews was raising her two sons when she decided to become a foster parent. The first child that she cared for was an infant less than one week who was born to a drug addicted mother who was unable to care for the child. The birth certificate for the child was left blank and Lisa decided to name the child Jonathan. A very brief time later a local Dallas couple adopted Jonathan and the idea was born to create a place for the children who are trapped between broken homes and the foster system. Jonathan's place has grown tremendously in the past 15 years and has placed scores of children in need into loving adoptive families. Jonathan's place opened its doors in January of 1995 as the first licenced foster group home in Texas for drug addicted babies and small children. Currently the group now serves a shelter that provides specialized services and 24 hour residential care for abused and neglected children and is the only licenced emergency shelter in Dallas that serves children in crises under the age of 10. The group now offers a comprehensive training program for would be foster and adoptive parents.

All of that said the most important thing that I want to stress is that Jonathan's House is an amazing place. The charity stands as a testament to the amazing ability of ordinary people changing the world. The state of Texas gives a small per diem for each child taken in but close to 70% of the funding for Jonathan's Place comes through donations.

I will continue this series on Jonathan's Place this week but for now I will tell you what we can do to make it an even better place.

1. Just Donate to help them cover their costs Link

2. Send Art supplies, Clothes, Toys, Gift Cards and many of the day to day items these kids need link

3. Tell your friends and family about this place and see how much we can help

I have been in talks with some local art stores here and my friend Kari Ferrell who writes for Animal New York and it looks like we can get some art supplies to Jonathan's House this week but they need more help than we can offer.

Plus my big goal before leaving Texas is to get the place something better than a Gamecube. The charity takes children up to 17 and I do not know many teenagers that still play Gamecube.