{"id":485285,"date":"2026-01-01T18:23:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:23:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/485285\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T18:23:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T18:23:22","slug":"hope-farm-launches-4m-push-to-expand-north-texas-job-training-add-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/485285\/","title":{"rendered":"Hope Farm launches $4M push to expand North Texas job training, add school"},"content":{"rendered":"

by Scott Nishimura, Fort Worth Report
January 1, 2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s late afternoon when the boys show up for their after-school programs at Hope Farm, a nearly 30-year-old Fort Worth nonprofit that aims to break the cycle of poverty and crime among boys who don\u2019t have father figures.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a stranger being shown around on the south Fort Worth campus, and the boys know what to do about it: line up, cheerfully introduce themselves, make eye contact and extend their hands for a shake. \u201cWho are you?\u201d one says, politely.<\/p>\n

Those sorts of manners and confidence are just a part of the Hope Farm equation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe tackle ending the cycle of fatherlessness. We\u2019re ending generational cycles of poverty,\u201d said Sacher Dawson, the nonprofit\u2019s executive director since 2018. \u201cWe\u2019re ending generational cycles of hopelessness where they find new hope. We\u2019re shining that light in places and in people that I think a lot of the area forgets about.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"(MariaHope Farm runs afterschool programs at its two campuses in Fort Worth and one in Dallas through Bible study, reading labs, and homework tutoring. Boys come to the program by buses from school and being dropped off by moms and guardians. (Maria Crane | Fort Worth Report\/CatchLight Local\/Report for America)<\/p>\n

Hope Farm, which has another campus in west Fort Worth\u2019s Como neighborhood and one in south Dallas, is pushing ahead with a $4 million fundraising campaign that the nonprofit leaders plan to lead to the establishment of an elementary school.<\/p>\n

In the fall, the nonprofit neared completion of a vocational building at its main campus in south Fort Worth. Dawson called the training building a major step up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pound into (the boys) go to college, go to college, go to college, but we realized not all of our boys are going to college,\u201d Dawson said.<\/p>\n

Construction on the Slone Vocational Center \u2014 named after longtime Hope Farm supporter and former board member Tom Slone \u2014 is about 95% complete, Dawson said. The five high-demand trades Hope Farm will focus on are: welding, auto mechanics, information technology, culinary and plumbing.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey can earn you a very good living if taken seriously,\u201d Dawson said.<\/p>\n

Hope Farm also needs to make repairs to the gymnasium and renovate and expand it. The building is critical to all of the organization\u2019s programs: Bible study, literacy, homework and tutoring, choir, recreation and, every day at 5:30 p.m., service of a freshly prepared dinner. Hope Farm wants to create HOPE Farm Academy, a kindergarten through fifth grade school, in the renovated gym.<\/p>\n

Hope Farm also needs new vehicles, which it uses to pick up boys at their schools each afternoon, officials said.<\/p>\n

Hope Farm is at the end of the first year of a four-year campaign to raise $4 million<\/a>:\u00a0<\/p>\n