Alex Lepe
Lauren Doeren-Barnett was working in development for a Fort Worth architecture firm when she took her daughter in 2014 to volunteer at Beautiful Feet Ministries, a nonprofit benefitting homeless men.
“I quickly realized how wrong I was about the homeless population,” says Doeren-Barnett, who continued to volunteer for Beautiful Feet and began to put out feelers for a job in nonprofits.
Coincidence intervened. Doeren-Barnett teamed up with businessman Bob McCarthy, whom she’d met while working at an ad agency on a campaign for the Entrepreneurs’ Organization, which McCarthy belongs to. McCarthy was moving his businesses to a building he bought in the heart of East Lancaster Street and was hiring homeless people in exchange for an incentive from the city.
“Bob hired the first five people and realized they needed more than just a job,” says Doeren-Barnett, who came to work for McCarthy in October 2014 and began working on putting together a nonprofit.
The Leg Up Program was soon born, with Doeren-Barnett, 34, as its executive director. The goal: to help bring the homeless to self-sufficiency through a rigorous program that starts with self-assessment and moves through courses and workshops in soft and professional skills; personal, professional and financial “visioning”; working with mentors; building resumes and interview skills; and getting jobs.
Leg Up worked with 60 people in both 2015 and 2016, placing 27 of 60 in the first year, and 30 of 60 in the second year. So far this year, Leg Up is working with two groups of 10 people in each and is starting a cohort with the nonprofit Samaritan House.
Leg Up recently won a $600,000, three-year grant that will cover payroll and taxes for Doeren-Barnett and three new employees. Leg Up wants to move to serving 250-300 clients per year.
The organization has hired one social worker and an administrative assistant and is seeking another social worker.
Leg Up doesn’t work with sex offenders, and its clients must stay on their prescribed medications. Social service agencies and one apartment complex screen potential clients for Leg Up.
The growing mentorship piece of the program launched in March last year – Leg Up has 14 volunteer mentors, and Doeren-Barnett is looking for more – helps Leg Up keep track of its clients.
At its graduation ceremonies, Leg Up clients receive a “key” to the program’s job bank, updated daily. “They have a job log where they wrote each position they applied for,” Doeren-Barnett says. “I’ll call and advocate for that person.”
Looking forward, Leg Up plans to launch a fundraising campaign after it’s done with its new hires, Doeren-Barnett says. It’s also planning an eventual move next door to another of McCarthy’s properties, a strip center at 1110 E. Lancaster. Leg Up will be looking for donors to help renovate the 3,500-square-foot building. “We’ll put your name on a plaque,” she says.