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Assistance Center of Collin County honors founder, celebrates 35 years
Kelsey Kruzich/Staff Photo - Former Texas Senator and Assistance Center of Collin County founder Florence Shapiro, center, holds a plaque presented to her on Wednesday by Assistance Center of Collin County Board President Steve Sutton, left, and Executive Director Tanya Sastoque.
By Kelley Chambers, kchambers@starlocalnews.com, @KelleyChambers7 on Twitter
Former local dignitaries and supporters met Wednesday in Plano to honor longtime volunteers for the Assistance Center of Collin County (ACCC) and its founder, former state Sen. Florence Shapiro.
The luncheon was also an opportunity for the center to celebrate its 35th anniversary and recognize those who have helped it grow from a referral center to a hands-on facility that provides direct support for its clients.
"We want to touch and serve more people," said Tanya Sastoque, ACCC executive director. "We are getting about 100 new clients who've never been served by the center a month, and there are about 160 who we cannot serve because we do not have the money. Our goal is to serve these people because there is a need here."
Upon opening in 1977 as the Information & Referral Center of Collin County, the center was established as a not-for-profit organization to "inform, guide, direct and link people to appropriate human service resources." Today the center offers deserving families financial assistance for medical and dental care, prescriptions, gas housing, food, clothing, utilities, school supplies and other necessities.
Despite losing grant funding from United Way - about 48 percent of its annual budget - the center managed to help nearly 18,000 people in Collin County last year.
Facing monumental challenges, the center turned to the public.
Thanks in large part to newly forged partnerships with local corporations and entities such as LegacyTexas Bank, the Junior League of Collin County and the City of Plano, the center has kept its doors open.
Texas Health Presbyterian Plano recently donated $20,000 to the center, a contribution that will help continue annual programs like the center's back-to-school and Christmas fundraisers.
Last June, the center also did some restructuring allowing it to cut operating expenses in half. In terms of meeting client needs, the center is establishing collaborations enabling them to share client history data with other agencies. The partnerships will allow them to better track needs and see where these individuals are receiving help to prevent duplication of services.
"Last year, we proved that we can succeed as a community funded organization," said Steve Sutton, ACCC board president. "The good news is that you doubled down on your investment. In two years, the contributions from the community have doubled. Now we have a viable and sustainable organization that can allow them to move forward in their work."
Former Plano City Councilmember Pat Evans was one of the first volunteers at I&R and remembered when its operations took place in a small room in the Douglas Community, its primary role to hand out contact information for other social services in the area to those in need.
Although that may pale in comparison to what the assistance center does now, Evans believes it planted the foundational roots for knowing what resources were out there and where the gaps were.
"We had a little book with names of agencies ... and there weren't very many of them. It was a very difficult job," she said. "I think I&R was the beginning of growth and the recognition of what we could impact here. Perhaps we did more than we thought we were going to do when we started this agency."
From 2010-2011, for example, homelessness in Plano increased 275 percent, and 106 percent countywide, with homeless teens the fastest-growing demographic.
The assistance center helped nearly 18,000 people last year and welcomes about 4,000 walk-ins a year. It also provided $80,000 in financial assistance to prevent homelessness, more than half of which went toward paying utility bills to prevent shut-offs.
"We cannot plan for crisis or setbacks," Sastoque said. "These things happen ... and we get to help these people so they're situation does not spiral out of control."
The luncheon was also an opportunity to honor three of its longest-tenured volunteers and announce its newest change - renaming the front lobby of its office off E. 18th St. the Florence Shapiro Welcome Center.
Shapiro, who sat on the Plano City Council 1979-1990, also served as its mayor from 1990 to 1992 before leaving for the state senate, from which she officially retired two weeks ago.
While the guest of honor was touched at the level of gratitude displayed at Wednesday's event, she was quick to recognize others who helped her make the assistance center a reality.
"This is not a project that is done by any one person. I am honored that Tanya and the board have decided that I should be honored after 35 years - that is a wonderful thing," she said. "But I am not the person who did everything. I have lots of people that worked for lots of days trying to put together this organization that afterwards spent years on. That's what really counts.
"The idea isn't what really counts - it's the worker bees. It is a joy when you close your eyes and think about where you were in 1977 and wake up and look around and think, 'What a wonderful community that we all have helped to build.'"
The luncheon was also an opportunity for the center to celebrate its 35th anniversary and recognize those who have helped it grow from a referral center to a hands-on facility that provides direct support for its clients.
"We want to touch and serve more people," said Tanya Sastoque, ACCC executive director. "We are getting about 100 new clients who've never been served by the center a month, and there are about 160 who we cannot serve because we do not have the money. Our goal is to serve these people because there is a need here."
Upon opening in 1977 as the Information & Referral Center of Collin County, the center was established as a not-for-profit organization to "inform, guide, direct and link people to appropriate human service resources." Today the center offers deserving families financial assistance for medical and dental care, prescriptions, gas housing, food, clothing, utilities, school supplies and other necessities.
Despite losing grant funding from United Way - about 48 percent of its annual budget - the center managed to help nearly 18,000 people in Collin County last year.
Facing monumental challenges, the center turned to the public.
Thanks in large part to newly forged partnerships with local corporations and entities such as LegacyTexas Bank, the Junior League of Collin County and the City of Plano, the center has kept its doors open.
Texas Health Presbyterian Plano recently donated $20,000 to the center, a contribution that will help continue annual programs like the center's back-to-school and Christmas fundraisers.
Last June, the center also did some restructuring allowing it to cut operating expenses in half. In terms of meeting client needs, the center is establishing collaborations enabling them to share client history data with other agencies. The partnerships will allow them to better track needs and see where these individuals are receiving help to prevent duplication of services.
"Last year, we proved that we can succeed as a community funded organization," said Steve Sutton, ACCC board president. "The good news is that you doubled down on your investment. In two years, the contributions from the community have doubled. Now we have a viable and sustainable organization that can allow them to move forward in their work."
Former Plano City Councilmember Pat Evans was one of the first volunteers at I&R and remembered when its operations took place in a small room in the Douglas Community, its primary role to hand out contact information for other social services in the area to those in need.
Although that may pale in comparison to what the assistance center does now, Evans believes it planted the foundational roots for knowing what resources were out there and where the gaps were.
"We had a little book with names of agencies ... and there weren't very many of them. It was a very difficult job," she said. "I think I&R was the beginning of growth and the recognition of what we could impact here. Perhaps we did more than we thought we were going to do when we started this agency."
From 2010-2011, for example, homelessness in Plano increased 275 percent, and 106 percent countywide, with homeless teens the fastest-growing demographic.
The assistance center helped nearly 18,000 people last year and welcomes about 4,000 walk-ins a year. It also provided $80,000 in financial assistance to prevent homelessness, more than half of which went toward paying utility bills to prevent shut-offs.
"We cannot plan for crisis or setbacks," Sastoque said. "These things happen ... and we get to help these people so they're situation does not spiral out of control."
The luncheon was also an opportunity to honor three of its longest-tenured volunteers and announce its newest change - renaming the front lobby of its office off E. 18th St. the Florence Shapiro Welcome Center.
Shapiro, who sat on the Plano City Council 1979-1990, also served as its mayor from 1990 to 1992 before leaving for the state senate, from which she officially retired two weeks ago.
While the guest of honor was touched at the level of gratitude displayed at Wednesday's event, she was quick to recognize others who helped her make the assistance center a reality.
"This is not a project that is done by any one person. I am honored that Tanya and the board have decided that I should be honored after 35 years - that is a wonderful thing," she said. "But I am not the person who did everything. I have lots of people that worked for lots of days trying to put together this organization that afterwards spent years on. That's what really counts.
"The idea isn't what really counts - it's the worker bees. It is a joy when you close your eyes and think about where you were in 1977 and wake up and look around and think, 'What a wonderful community that we all have helped to build.'"
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