ABOUT
US
Mission & Background.
All in the Family Services provides connections to relationships and resources for vulnerable families to develop support networks and build capacity for stability.
Belinda Long has been serving people in need for all her teenage and adult life, whether in Louisiana, where she is originally from or now in the Collin County area, where she has lived since 2014. She has been blessed with a servant's heart to reach out to others and she lives out her calling at every opportunity.
Over the years, she taught her children to be of service to others so they have served together as a lifestyle. She has experienced the impact that a single family can make by serving together so she encourages other families to serve as well. "Our families are serving yours".
Growing up, her family struggled with extreme poverty, including homelessness. She knows firsthand how those experiences can impact a child's emotional and spiritual well-being and the toll it takes on the parent. She also knows how much of a difference it makes when someone offers a hand-up, not a handout.
As Belinda, along with her family and friends, had been serving families in need, she realized the amount and type of need was more than her resources as an individual could manage so she started a nonprofit to better leverage community resources and formalize services. In 2017, she established All in the Family Services Inc. ("AFS"), and in 2019, she began targeted services in Allen, TX, at Chaparral Townhomes.
Our Service Model.
AFS develops partnerships with property managers of apartment complexes and motels with lower-income residents to offer services to the families at the site. By doing, the common difficulties of accessing services due to transportation, being a latch-key kid, and child care are removed.
It creates a unique opportunity for property managers, in partnership with AFS, to offer support services to their residents on the premises of the apartment complex. This allows children and parents to participate in programs in an easily accessible environment.
While individual families' needs, of course, will vary, we seek to prioritize the well-being of the children, especially those who are "latch-key kids" (kids who come home from school before their parents are home from work and are left alone). Families with limited incomes are often not able to afford extracurricular or after-school activities for their children. Through after-school activities such as homework support and youth development programs for older youth, the children will develop a sense of connection and community and no longer feel isolation or loneliness.
AFS seeks to come alongside the parents to get to know them, introduce them to others outside of their normal circles, and connect them to people and resources. While parents may express needs for material items such as clothing or food, often the need is also for social or emotional support. Just having someone listen to them and be their cheerleader gives them the motivation to keep on trying.
AFS will support the families by referring them to community resources or, whenever possible, will provide the resources directly. When appropriate, efforts are coordinated with schools, churches, other nonprofits, ministries, or community agencies that may also touch the lives of these families. Together, we create "resource teams" so that families can serve families.