Connections Executive Director Recognized in FayObservers 19 people to watch in 2019!

Congratulations to our Executive Director Crystal Bennett for being named one of The Fayetteville Observer’s 19 people to watch in 2019! She and our amazing Team at Connections’ Day Resource Center (DRC) is excited to be “CHANGEMAKERS” in 2019! 

Check out what’s been happening at the DRC and what’s to come!

Connections of Cumberland County is a non-profit DRC that assists homeless single women, single mothers and children with overcoming barriers that have led to chronic instability and homelessness. There is no other walk in DRC in Cumberland County that offers one-stop access to supportive services designed to improve outcomes for homeless women and children.

2018 Challenges: Having our client population increase by 45% after Hurricane Florence has posed challenges. We were able to navigate the volume by utilizing 14 bachelors and masters level social work students from local and nationwide universities. Additionally, managing the expectations of women with children who are experiencing homelessness has been challenging. The demand for emergency and transitional shelter is far greater than the resources available for women and children in our community.

2018 Successes: We’ve made wonderful progress in the implementation of a social enterprise concept designed to bring revenue into our non-profit to support programs for homeless women and children. For Goodness Sake, SHOP! is up and running so our community and beyond can SHOP WITH PURPOSE!

In 2019, we will be celebrating our 5-year anniversary. We are humbled and grateful that our community has trusted us to serve such a vulnerable population of 1,004 women and 1,284 children since our opening in July 2014. We are starting off our new year bright with a generous grant from The Terri Union Endowment for Women and Girls and Community Grants Fund of Cumberland Community Foundation, Inc. to help us with DRC operating costs. So many hands and hearts come together each day to improve the lives of our clients at the DRC!