Needs
Daughters of Zion Enterpryz has secured a lease on a warehouse and office space to house most of our programs with a projected move in date of May 2023.
This warehouse is where we will primarily operate our Food and Clothes Closet (FCC) which has now been in existence for over 10 years. Each year, and especially through the pandemic, we have witnessed the increase in food insecurity, and we have a need to secure additional funding for nutritious meals and for this additional storage space. We need basic operation essentials such as storage, transportation, and supplies for our pantry to be able to keep up with Sacramento's rise in food insecurity. In addition, we operate monthly and annual outreaches to our neighbors that are unhoused, and this funding will continue to support the expansion of this outreach.
We desire to expand our Food & Clothes Closet to include a hot soup kitchen that can feed neighborhoods and families. Our number of customers since the pandemic increased from a few hundred households per distribution to over 1100 families per week. Your donations will help us better serve our community and assist in the successful and efficient transition into our new building.
Each of our 3 programs need staff/mentors, administrators, trainers, and counselors. Our Space of Grace Youth Academy program has provided consistent services to youth throughout its existence; however, we are in constant need of full-time staff to continue to support our growth and efforts to impact a greater number of youths. We also need the tools to conduct assessments, increase our technology and data platforms, and offer ongoing enrichment activities and academic opportunities (e.g., each year we take the youth to Catalina Island and/or conduct an academic summer camp). In the past few years, we have had the opportunity to provide an internship and paid youth work experience and training to a number of youth ages 14-19 years old. Our goal and desire are to provide these opportunities year-round to more youth with the hopes of offering youth and young adults with a trade and skills that will set them on course for their future career.
Your help would ensure more youth can take advantage of these opportunities, attend these outings, gain more exposure beyond their neighborhood and environments, and show them a whole new world that releases stress, builds self-esteem, builds a network with other positive youth, and ultimately offers a life changing experience! Our programs continue to expand, and securing more stable staff positions will help us sustain and maintain that growth.
2022 proved to be another year of expansion and major growth for DOZ. Not only did we expand the number of people we served, but we secured additional partnerships with organizations like AmeriCorps and United Way. We expanded our cold storage area with a 18ft x 18ft Walk-in Cooler/Freezer Combo box, and we completed some necessary renovations to expand our storage area to better support our DOZ operations. These were just some of the major accomplishments throughout the year, and we could not have done it without our amazing donors and volunteers.
Once enough funding is secured, our goal is to bring on a full-time Program Director, Finance Director, and another Administrative Assistant. We also plan to provide more incentives and rewards to our volunteers to sustain their relentless commitment and support. Your funding will help us build a solid team of staff and sustainable programming. With your ongoing support, we are watching the impact of every dollar that comes through the organization, and it is helping us better serve our community and fulfill our mission of "Touching the heart of God by touching the heart of people."