Amid the on-going impact of COVID-19, Bryan’s House has shifted operations to a co-working location that will allow the organization to deliver its mission while keeping children in its care safe.
Bryan’s House serves medically fragile, at-risk children in six North Texas counties. The new initiative will allow staff to host trainings, team workshops, partner agency meetings and more via a new innovation lab at WORK214 in Uptown Dallas. It features a five-desk dedicated work space for a six-month period that begins in April.
“Bryan’s House has a need to bring people together as it continues telling its story during the COVID era and having this innovation lab separate from the children on our West Dallas campus will help us do that,” said Bryan’s House CEO Abigail Erickson-Torres. “Also, this new hybrid working model and unique, inspiring space will reinvigorate the Bryan’s House team as it does this important work.”
The venue has modern common areas and meeting rooms that Bryan’s House board members as well as the agency’s volunteer Jubilee Society can utilize for regular meetings. Client meetings will not be held in the space.
The transition will free-up space in the Bryan’s House campus for mission-critical clinical services. It allows for broader geographic reach and provides a new way for businesses to be exposed to the work that Bryan’s House does. Work214 also hosts monthly social hours that the organization’s staff and board can attend, allowing new individuals to learn about its mission.
“This space will be quieter than the hustle and bustle that goes on at our West Dallas campus, where we care for children from birth through age 6,” Erickson-Torres said. “It will give the staff a chance to think more creatively about the problems we solve. I envision this space as a think tank to re-energize both our board and staff to envision all that Bryan’s House can be.”
Bryan’s House departments – children’s programs, social services, development and operations – will rotate use of the innovation lab. The agency hopes this unique partnership will serve to redefine the way nonprofits and corporations can work together to achieve critical community goals.
Bryan’s House was founded in 1988 at the peak of the HIV/AIDS crisis and works with at-risk children who have special needs. The agency has helped thousands of North Texas families get their lives on track and their children in stable early childhood education programs that also care for their medical and therapeutic needs.
The pilot hybrid workplace initiative was funded by gifts from donors Sarah Losinger and Rust E. Reid.
