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A new foster parent resource has launched as part of a foster parent awareness campaign to recruit loving foster homes in Metroplex East, a nine-county region in North Texas including Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Kaufman, Navarro and Rockwall. 

 

There are currently over 2,000 children in foster care within the Metroplex East region and a shortage of foster homes. To fulfill the need of finding more loving homes for children, EMPOWER is launching the Empower Dreams, Foster Futures awareness campaign to inform the Metroplex East community about the life-changing impact to children by becoming a foster parent. The newly developed online toolkit of information for prospective foster parents has been created to help those interested find support and the best placement agency tailored to their unique needs.

 

Finding the right support and tools when embarking on the journey to become a licensed foster parent is paramount. This user-friendly, intuitive platform is tailored to help navigate the process with ease and precision. Families and individuals can find foster home providers based on proximity to location, specialties and categories, and counties served. 

 

Due to instability and other factors, children in foster care face higher rates of poverty, incarceration, and mental health issues. Loving foster families play a huge role in making a difference in the lives of these children. Foster parents often provide a safe and nurturing base for children during a short time while agencies are advocating for and with their biological families, with the end goal of children reuniting with their family or primary caregiver. 

 

“All children deserve a loving home to experience stability, whether it is for a short time or an extended period,” says Dr. Linda Garcia, Senior Vice President of EMPOWER. “There is a great need for more foster parents in North Texas to provide safe and stable environments for children in our communities. We hope that those that are able will consider becoming a licensed foster parent. We see the difference these families make in the lives and futures of children every day.”

 

EMPOWER is a nonprofit child welfare collaborative and the Community-Based Care contractor for the Metroplex East region in North Texas. EMPOWER provides foster care case management, kinship and reunifications services for all children and families in the region.

 

The Metroplex East region’s new foster parent online resource features different agencies and organizations to help families walk through the process of becoming a foster parent, support them through each placement and provide training services to help foster families improve and learn new parenting techniques. The process to become a licensed foster parent is broken into three main steps, each with supportive materials, including:

 

  • Step One - Finding the right foster care provider agency. 

  • Step Two - Walking through the process of becoming a foster parent with the chosen agency and receiving support with the required documents, training, home studies, background checks, and references. 

  • Step Three - After becoming a licensed foster parent, the next step is to receive a first placement where case workers will be available to help at all times. Foster families will also continue to complete foster parent training hours each year they are licensed to help them improve and learn new parenting skills. 

 

“Though it surely has challenges, it’s important to remember healing is not linear,” says Kayla and Joseph Liz, licensed foster parents with CK Family Services’ Treatment Foster Care Program. “With every challenge overcome brings a greater reward. It’s been very fulfilling having the opportunity to change someone’s life around for the better.”

 

Foster care journeys are a life changing experience for both the foster families and the children. Deciding to become a foster parent is the first step in making a lasting impact on the lives of children. 


There are many local children in foster care in need of a safe, loving place to call home. To learn more about becoming a foster parent and other ways individuals and families can help these children in need, please visit 3empower.org/fosterfutures.

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Draft Sports Bar and Lounge

Cheer on the Dallas Mavericks tonight at Draft Sport Bar & Lounge in Downtown Dallas within Sheraton Dallas Hotel.

Happy hour specials will be available during every Dallas Mavericks game this month at Draft Sports Bar & Lounge, which include $6 draught beer, seasonal sangria, Old Fashioned, house red and white wine, and house spirits. A new Game-Day Platter is on the menu available just for the Dallas Mavericks games, offering a few favorite appetizers. 

Draft Sports Bar & Lounge is located across the street from the DART train's Pearl Arts District station, and parking in Sheraton Dallas’ parking garage is complimentary when you dine at one of the hotel’s restaurants including Draft Sports Bar & Lounge, so guests can easily stop at the sports bar before or after attending the game at American Airlines Center. 

Draft Sports Bar & Lounge is the ultimate destination for craft beer on tap, innovative cocktails, tasty eats, a lively atmosphere, and 25 flat screen HDTVs, which is the most TVs for any sports bar in Downtown Dallas. 

Draft Sports Bar & Lounge, inside Sheraton Dallas Hotel, is a 4,000 square-foot world of sports nirvana. From the moment you walk in the door, you will be propelled into the ultimate entertainment experience and will be inspired to cheer the Mavs all the way to a victory!

Draft Sports Bar & Lounge features a private karaoke room with an Xbox gaming system. 

To reserve a table or the private Karaoke room at Draft Sports Bar & Lounge, call 469-371-1486. 

The Sheraton Dallas Hotel is the largest hotel in North Texas with 1,840 guest rooms, four dining outlets, rooftop pool, fitness center, 230,000 square feet of flexible meeting and event space, and much more. 

 

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Legacy Bank and Trust is excited to announce the opening of its new location at 17561 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75287. This is the company’s first branch in Dallas and second in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, after recently opening a branch in Fort Worth at 5721 N. Tarrant Parkway. The operating hours of the new bank are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  

The company’s expansion into the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex includes a corporate office in the Uptown area of Dallas at 2401 Cedar Springs, Suite 305, Dallas, TX 75201, and three new branches, the last of which is now open in Plano at 437 Coit Road, Plano, TX 75075. Legacy offers innovative products and services with personalized, in-house lending services and strong account benefits. 

“We are pleased to have a presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and look forward to providing customers in the area with the personal service, attention and commitment Legacy is known for,” says Jeremy Loftin, Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer at Legacy Bank and Trust. “Our bank has been in business since 1907 and has been committed to providing leading services in banking for our customers since the day we opened. Our new branches are designed with a warm, welcoming environment to foster personal relationships with our customers. We hope our surrounding neighbors will stop in to meet us.”

With the foundation of providing the best in banking for citizens looking for a trusted local partner and a personalized experience, Legacy offers many innovative services to meet customers' banking needs and a toolkit of resources to support clients in making the right financial decisions for themselves or their business. In addition to Legacy’s trusted services, the Texas branches offer top of market certificate of deposit rates and four signature checking account options. 

Based in Springfield, Missouri, Legacy was founded in 1907, and currently serves nine branches in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, with plans of further expansion. Legacy is a subsidiary of Ozarks Heritage Financial Group, and recently acquired Crain Mortgage Group LLC, a Dallas-based provider of secondary market Federal Housing Administration / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development multifamily loans. Crain Mortgage Group is now known as Legacy Capital. 

The company’s vision has been to surpass standards in banking for its customers as well as local businesses to help the community thrive. With a mission to serve as the financial leader in economic and community development by providing financial products and services that benefit largely underserved populations, Legacy’s employees and shareholders are committed to partnering financially with customers to ensure vital capital investment in its communities. 

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Legacy Bank and Trust is excited to announce the opening of its new location at 17561 Dallas Parkway, Dallas, TX 75287. This is the company’s first branch in Dallas and second in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, after recently opening a branch in Fort Worth at 5721 N. Tarrant Parkway. The operating hours of the new bank are Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  

The company’s expansion into the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex includes a corporate office in the Uptown area of Dallas at 2401 Cedar Springs, Suite 305, Dallas, TX 75201, and three new branches, the last of which is now open in Plano at 437 Coit Road, Plano, TX 75075. Legacy offers innovative products and services with personalized, in-house lending services and strong account benefits. 

“We are pleased to have a presence in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and look forward to providing customers in the area with the personal service, attention and commitment Legacy is known for,” says Jeremy Loftin, Executive Vice President, Chief Operations Officer at Legacy Bank and Trust. “Our bank has been in business since 1907 and has been committed to providing leading services in banking for our customers since the day we opened. Our new branches are designed with a warm, welcoming environment to foster personal relationships with our customers. We hope our surrounding neighbors will stop in to meet us.”

With the foundation of providing the best in banking for citizens looking for a trusted local partner and a personalized experience, Legacy offers many innovative services to meet customers' banking needs and a toolkit of resources to support clients in making the right financial decisions for themselves or their business. In addition to Legacy’s trusted services, the Texas branches offer top of market certificate of deposit rates and four signature checking account options. 

Based in Springfield, Missouri, Legacy was founded in 1907, and currently serves 10 branches in Missouri, Oklahoma, and Texas, with plans of further expansion. Legacy is a subsidiary of Ozarks Heritage Financial Group, and recently acquired Crain Mortgage Group LLC, a Dallas-based provider of secondary market Federal Housing Administration / U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development multifamily loans. Crain Mortgage Group is now known as Legacy Capital. 

The company’s vision has been to surpass standards in banking for its customers as well as local businesses to help the community thrive. With a mission to serve as the financial leader in economic and community development by providing financial products and services that benefit largely underserved populations, Legacy’s employees and shareholders are committed to partnering financially with customers to ensure vital capital investment in its communities. 

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The Texas Family Initiative hosted its third annual charity golf tournament benefiting EMPOWER, a nonprofit child welfare collaborative, on Monday, May 6 at The Nelson Golf and Sports Club, raising just over $75,000 in donations to impact local children in foster care. The first place winners of the tournament were Chris Mullins, Brandon Betts, Scott Porter and Jim Toney. 

EMPOWER is led by Texas Family Initiative LLC and is supported by local providers in North Texas including CK Family Services, Jonathan’s Place, Bair Foundation, Pathways Youth and Family Services that work together to serve some of our most vulnerable children and families.

EMPOWER was awarded as the Community-Based Care (CBC) contractor by the State of Texas for the Metroplex East region which is a nine-county area including Dallas, Collin, Ellis, Fannin, Grayson, Hunt, Rockwall, Kaufman and Navarro counties. As the CBC contractor, EMPOWER provides foster care management, kinship and reunification services for all children and families in the Metroplex East region. There are nearly 2,000 foster children in the region.

There are many local children in foster care in need of a safe, loving place to call home. To learn more about how individuals and families can help these children in need, please visit www.3empower.org or www.fosterfuturestx.org.

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Sheraton Dallas

Sheraton Dallas Hotel in downtown Dallas is spreading the joy for Pride Month in June with their Pride and Joy Couples Retreat Package. The hotel’s Pride and Joy Couples Retreat Package includes a bottle of champagne to toast to love and complimentary buffet breakfast for two to start the day right at Open Palette. The package is valid for stay dates between June 1, 2024 and June 30, 2024. The package can be booked online using the promotional code: 4LG

Open Palette, the hotel’s signature restaurant and bar, offers fresh, flavorful American classics inspired by its Dallas roots. 

Sheraton Dallas is the largest hotel in Texas and the second largest Sheraton in the world, with 1,840 guest rooms, 230,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention spaces, pool, fitness center with state-of-the-art fitness equipment and Peloton bikes, and four dining outlets. 

Sheraton Dallas offers many activities to enjoy while staying at the hotel, including:

  • Mixology Mondays - a mixology class at the hotel’s upscale lounge bar, The Parlor; reservations can be made here

  • Trivia Thursdays - every Thursday at 8pm in Open Palette’s bar area, Dallas Trivia Guy hosts Trivia Night

  • Live Music - every Saturday evening from 6-10pm there is live music played in Open Palette

  • Reese’s Book Club Gatherings- every month the hotel hosts a Reese’s Book Club Gathering to meet, discuss the book, and enjoy light sips and bites; for June it is on June 25 from 5:30-6:30pm in the Sheraton Club Lounge library

  • Karaoke in Draft Sports Bar & Lounge - Sing karaoke with a group of close friends in Draft Sports Bar & Lounge’s private karaoke room 

 Sheraton Dallas Hotel is located at 400 North Olive Street, Dallas, Texas 75201. 

 

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Sheraton Dallas Mixology Mondays at The Parlor

Sheraton Dallas Hotel in downtown Dallas is spreading the joy for Pride Month in June with their Pride and Joy Couples Retreat Package. The hotel’s Pride and Joy Couples Retreat Package includes a bottle of champagne to toast to love and complimentary buffet breakfast for two to start the day right at Open Palette. The package is valid for stay dates between June 1, 2024 and June 30, 2024. The package can be booked online using the promotional code: 4LG

Open Palette, the hotel’s signature restaurant and bar, offers fresh, flavorful American classics inspired by its Dallas roots. 

Sheraton Dallas is the largest hotel in Texas and the second largest Sheraton in the world, with 1,840 guest rooms, 230,000 square feet of flexible meeting and convention spaces, pool, fitness center with state-of-the-art fitness equipment and Peloton bikes, and four dining outlets. 

Sheraton Dallas offers many activities to enjoy while staying at the hotel, including:

  • Mixology Mondays - a mixology class at the hotel’s upscale lounge bar, The Parlor; reservations can be made here

  • Trivia Thursdays - every Thursday at 8pm in Open Palette’s bar area, Dallas Trivia Guy hosts Trivia Night

  • Live Music - every Saturday evening from 6-10pm there is live music played in Open Palette

  • Reese’s Book Club Gatherings- every month the hotel hosts a Reese’s Book Club Gathering to meet, discuss the book, and enjoy light sips and bites; for June it is on June 25 from 5:30-6:30pm in the Sheraton Club Lounge library

  • Karaoke in Draft Sports Bar & Lounge - Sing karaoke with a group of close friends in Draft Sports Bar & Lounge’s private karaoke room 

 Sheraton Dallas Hotel is located at 400 North Olive Street, Dallas, Texas 75201. 

 

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Two generations received recognition at Bachman Lake Together’s annual Community Action Network (CAN) graduation ceremony, which celebrated the achievements of parent leaders and preschool graduates in the Bachman Lake community of Dallas. 

Eighteen Bachman Lake-area parents graduated from the nine-month CAN program, which equipped them with the skills and knowledge to advance their children's education and well-being. Additionally, 13 parents, who completed advanced levels of the program, were also celebrated for their achievements in volunteer leadership and early education advocacy. 

The bilingual ceremony, held at the Bachman Recreation Center, marked the culmination of Bachman Lake Together’s CAN parent leadership program, which empowers parents to become advocates for their children's education and leaders in the community. Additionally, 16 preschool graduates from AVANCE North Texas joined their parents in celebrating this milestone, recognizing the shared success of two generations.

Bachman Lake Together Executive Director Olga Martinez Hickman, Ph.D., welcomed the audience of Bachman Lake families, and Bachman Lake Together partners and supporters, saying, “Every day I get the honor of experiencing the magic of parent leadership first-hand – whether it’s witnessing a family enrolling their child in school for the first time, talking to a partner about the power of community voice they have seen in one of our meetings, or listening to a parent speak of their leadership journey. Today we know that the change that is happening in our community is due to the wonderful parent leaders who are here in front of you.”

George Rodriguez, chairman of the Bachman Lake Together Board of Trustees, added, “The parents graduating today are leaders dedicated to improving the lives not only of their children, but also of countless families in the Bachman Lake community – and beyond. They are developing their voices as leaders, recruiting families in the neighborhood to register for Pre-K and taking on volunteer leadership roles. They have the power to transform this community.” 

During the ceremony, Yesenia Cardoza Ramirez, Dallas ISD Director of Family & Community Engagement in Early Learning, delivered a keynote address, highlighting the importance of parent engagement in children's education. Graduates shared their personal experiences in the program, emphasizing the transformative impact it had on their families' lives. 

Among those graduates was Gabriela Pacas, who described how her experience in the CAN program inspired her, saying, “When parents are informed, they have the power to build a better future for their children, and early education is a fundamental part of our children’s success.” 

To close the ceremony, the preschool-age AVANCE graduates performed a song, “Súbete al tren de la alegría (All Aboard the Happy Train).”

Bachman Lake Together extends its gratitude to its partners, volunteers and supporters for their commitment to empowering families and building a stronger community. The organization remains dedicated to its mission of uniting the Bachman Lake community to fully prepare children for kindergarten – academically, socially, and emotionally – so they thrive in school and in life.

 

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Grammy Award winner and punk glamor icon Cyndi Lauper will headline Rhapsody at the Omni Dallas Hotel on Saturday, June 1, 2024. Not only is this event a fabulous start to Pride month, but funds raised will benefit the Chorale’s mission to entertain, educate, unite, and inspire through its musical, cultural, and educational programs. 

The evening will offer an opening reception, seated dinner, luxury live auction, and an exclusive private concert by Cyndi Lauper with full band and featuring a selection of her greatest hits. The co-chairs for the event benefiting the Turtle Creek Chorale are Grace Cook, Sheilon King, Tara Lewis, and Whitney Strauss.

“We are thrilled to have the privilege of hosting Cyndi Lauper at the fourth annual Rhapsody Gala,” Executive Director Jeremy Wayne said. “Cyndi is loved by so many, including TCC patrons and the LGBTQ+ community, and we are excited to share her talent with our community.”

Gala tickets are now available and will include the opening reception, seated dinner, and access to the exclusive private concert for $600, $800, and $1,000. Tables are available for $6,000, $8,000, and $10,000. Sponsorships range from $15,000 to $30,000. For more information, go to tccgala.com.

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Kitchen Design Concepts

Kitchen Design Concepts, a leading provider of turnkey remodeling services in Dallas, proudly announces the grand opening of its new design studio located in the vibrant Dallas Design District. With a commitment to delivering unparalleled design solutions tailored to each client's unique lifestyle and preferences, the expansion marks a significant milestone in the company's continued growth and dedication to serving the Dallas community.

 

The new design studio, spanning an impressive 5,000 square feet, offers clients an immersive experience in luxury kitchen, bath and whole home design and remodeling. Nestled in the heart of the Dallas Design District, the studio showcases Kitchen Design Concepts' signature blend of innovative design concepts, superior craftsmanship and personalized service.

 

The design studio features 14 distinct spaces personally tailored by the dedicated design team. Featuring a reception area with a backlit Cambria Skara Brae; a fully functional kitchen with pastel tear-shaped backsplash and sage, gloss-finished cabinets; a cabinet room with natural lighting for clients to view selections in different environments; a moody primary bathroom featuring an array of material selections; and a half bathroom with pink lacquer wall and pink plumbing, the design studio showcases styles and materials for clients to explore and inspire for home projects.

 

The space also features a Revive display, the company’s line of business that focuses on refreshing kitchens by making cosmetic changes for a budget-friendly option. An updated kitchen display with repurposed cabinets is another in-studio example of Kitchen Design Concepts’ Revive services.

 

"At Kitchen Design Concepts, we believe that exceptional design is born from a deep understanding of our client's needs and aspirations," said Mary Kathryn Reese, CEO at Kitchen Design Concepts. "Our new design studio embodies our commitment to providing Dallas homeowners with a space to explore their visions and collaborate with our team of experts to bring their dream homes to life."

 

The design studio is located at 150 Payne St. Dallas, TX, and is open Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.  


For more information about Kitchen Design Concepts or to schedule a consultation, visit kitchendesignconcepts.com.