Harmony CDC is Working to Transform the Community, One Neighbor at a Time
An NTFB Hope for Tomorrow Grant is Supporting the agency partner’s Whole & Empowered program that provides counseling, financial and career coaching.
Shelida knew there was a market for her homemade bath and beauty products. But as a single mom living paycheck to paycheck while working part-time, she didn’t have the time or resources to grow her business and career.
She was encouraged to apply for the new Whole & Empowered program at Harmony CDC, a North Texas Food Bank agency partner in South Dallas, and a year later, Shelida says she found not only stability but also direction.
“The program helped me excel and just find my way,” she says.
Champella Hatcher, director of education pathways at Harmony CDC, said their organization has long been known as a “one-stop” shop in Southern Dallas for those needing assistance with food, housing or other support. After ramping up emergency support during the pandemic, they spent the last few years researching the best structure for a program that could support neighbors in moving toward a place of self-sufficiency and ultimately launched Whole & Empowered. Their pilot cohort completed the program in 2025, and with a Hope for Tomorrow grant from NTFB, a second class is underway while applications for a third class have opened. Harmony CDC is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year.
Using the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix as a model, Harmony CDC built their yearlong program that includes three components: counseling to look at the past and examine root causes of the present, case management to determine what supports are needed to gain stability, and life coaching to help neighbors envision their future and then build a plan for moving toward it.
A stipend for childcare is provided to ensure participants—for now all single women working at least part-time—can attend classes. Financial education is included and all participants are given support in career development, whether financial assistance completing a certification, coaching in marketing and building their own business or otherwise.
“We do a deep dive,” says Lisa Ratcliff, the program’s life coach, a position funded by the NTFB grant. “A lot of our clients operate in survival mode. We want them to move beyond that.”
For Shelida, the financial and life coaching was transformational. She earned a certificate in personal training and is now completing a certificate in nutrition coaching. As she grew personally, she was able to secure a full-time, better paying job at the same healthcare company where she’d worked part-time. And with her increased income, she now has the money to fund her personal beauty business, Star Essentials, while working toward launching another business utilizing her new certifications.
Along with support in building a better future, Shelida said it’s the relationships with Harmony CDC staff and her peers in the program that made all the difference.
Denise, who is part of the second class completing the Whole & Empowered program, agreed. She said she wakes up each morning to text messages in her class’s group chat. They might be encouraging one another about something small—like mastering their own hairstyles to save money at the salon—or celebrating something major, such as purchasing a car they saved up for or completing a degree.
“It’s nice to have a group of women who want to help others,” she said, adding that she applied for the program after a divorce and a difficult year financially. “I love being part of the community.”
Champella said it’s early in the life of the program, but results are promising so far. In the pilot group that Shelida was a part of, 100% of participants were housing and food stable at the end of the program. Sixty percent had achieved an increase in income and 40% had achieved entrepreneurship or a certification that can lead to better pay.
“In this neighborhood, it’s a lot of repeat people coming to us for food assistance,” Champella says. “I’m hoping that as we grow this program, they can see for themselves that change is possible.”