Anonymous donors provided a Thomas bus donation to the Housing Authority of the City of High Point through the High Point Community Foundation.
The new bus is vital to provide High Point youth in public housing transportation to educational programs, college tours, service projects, athletic programs and similar activities, a key function of the Housing Authority that is solely funded by private donations.
The Housing Authority of the City of High Point was established to provide safe housing for eligible low-to-moderate income families, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.Housing comes in all sizes and types, from single-family houses to hi-rise apartments for elderly families.
While public housing provides funding for facilities, they still have a huge need for services throughout their community like transportation. The ability to have access to transportation is very important and without it, road blocks for gaining success and forward movement for these families can get in the way. Having transportation gives youth the opportunity to have access to educational programs, college tours, service projects, athletic programs, and so much more. These types of opportunities can expose the youth to endless possibilities!
Angela McGill, Chief Executive Officer of the Housing Authority of the City of High Point, is a passionate leader that will go above and beyond to provide her families what they need to be successful. The High Point Community Foundation has donors with a vested interest in serving this type of need and community members like Chuck Portaro who has connections with resources like Carolina Thomas.
Kids were eager to check out the bus and took a test ride.
“We impact more than 2,400 school age children directly,” says McGill. “Our goal is to keep the graduation rate up and break cycles from living in public housing. We are extremely excited and grateful to High Point Community Foundation donors for assisting us with a much-needed bus. The bus will allow us to enhance and expand the scope of available programs and services, increase empowerment program participation, provide access to services that are not located in the HPHA communities and much more. Having a bus opens up endless possibilities and positive impacts for our families. Most importantly, our youth who have been eager to participate in all of our youth programs will no longer have to forgo opportunities due to transportation. The youth will now have year-round access to transportation!”
The driving force behind the High Point Community Foundation is to serve the donor to benefit the community as a whole. Donors of the Foundation learned of the need for the Housing Authority of the City of High Point and came together to benefit the residents. As a result of these amazing donors and with great excitement, Paul Lessard and Chuck Portaro handed over bus keys to Angela McGill on March 14, for their residents of the Housing Authority. This bus will allow these deserving families to participate in activities and engage in empowering opportunities that they could never have imagined!
Chuck Portaro (left) and Paul Lessard.
“My belief is we need to move away from toxic charity. I believe charity becomes toxic if recipients are not gaining empowerment by doing something through the process of assistance,” says McGill. “When you only provide services, people think they can’t do it themselves. Therefore, our goal is to provide opportunities to empower.”
Donors of the High Point Community Foundation learned of this need and came together to benefit Housing Authority residents. The Foundation has donors with a vested interest in serving this type of need and arranged the bus purchase through locally based bus manufacturer Thomas Carolina with the help of Foundation member Chuck Portaro.
Angela McGill
