A Tarrant County non-profit has received a generous gift from a well-known philanthropist.
MacKenzie Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, has given $4 million to Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County.
The organization provides student support services, such as social workers, to at-risk kids directly inside schools.
"It is really a testament to the good work that our social workers are doing and the impact that they're making in students' lives," Lindsey Garner, president and CEO of Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County said.
For the 2020-21 school year, GIS-GTC provided services to 4,287 at-risk students.
"We have seen an enormous amount of needs for basic needs and mental health supports from families throughout the Tarrant County area that really require we expand our services and place additional licensed social workers in more schools," Garner said.
And Garner does not envision the need subsiding come this fall.
"We are already serving 63 campuses within 11 school districts," Garner said; "and looking ahead to next school year, we foresee that that demand is only going to increase because of the substantial need."
This $4 million gift is the largest in the organization's 30-year history; and it's part of a $133.5 million donation to 40 CIS organizations in 18 states across the country, as well as its national office.
Garner says the organization will try to stretch that money as far as it can.
"We have to look at this in two parts: how do we answer short term needs, and then how do we sustain it over the long term?," Garner said. "How might we need to invest some of these funds to be able to continue to fund and fuel future growth and future sustainability of our programs?"
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