The Step Onward Foundation partners with many different organizations to further our reach in keeping a diversified candidate community, as well as, the aid types offered to each of them. Only after in-depth discussions with referring organizations and the young candidate can we determine what resources and aid needs to be provided.
Long-term, trusting, and active partnerships allow the Foundation to expand services that reduce or eliminate the risks of homelessness for our candidates.
We have worked with Lifeworks as our longest partnership due to their excellence in adult and youth counseling, emergency shelter, education and transitional living programs. We work with Lifeworks of Austin partnering in managing funds we grant to Lifeworks to further the programming they are providing and to help young adult survivors of homelessness transition out into independence and higher education.
We work with Star of Hope of Houston for their outstanding service to faith based families in need of emergency shelter services and excellence in their Teen programs. Star of Hope is a faith based community dedicated to meeting the needs of homeless men, women and their children. Positive life changes are encouraged through structured programs which focus on spiritual growth, education, employment, life management and recovery from substance abuse.
We have granted money to the Strongheart Group due to their excellence and emphasis on international aid to outstanding individuals for education and to partner with them with one of our recipients. For nearly a decade, the Strongheart Fellows Program, a program of the US 501(c)(3) organization The Strongheart Group, facilitated extraordinary opportunity and intensive education for people with exceptional promise from difficult life circumstances such as refugees, targets of extremism, and survivors of war, poverty, or disaster. These resourceful individuals were scouted from refugee camps, war or post-conflict zones, or areas of extreme poverty and had suffered tremendous loss or deprivation in their lives while at the same time living with enormous resilience and wisdom.
We have worked with One Voice Texas to educate young adults in finance and sustainability. We have also partnered with One Voice Texas to influence and educate Texas Congressional sub committees which resulted in successfully changing policy for young adults and transitioning teens to apply for safe and affordable housing. One Voice Texas is an excellent collaborative for Health and Human Services.
We have worked with the Texas Council of Child Welfare Boards because of their outstanding service in honoring and supporting the most dedicated Foster Parents and Young Adult Survivors of Homelessness originating from the foster care system.
DePelchin Children’s Center supports and sustains children and the families who care for them. They provide comprehensive services focused on ensuring all children are part of safe, caring homes. They deploy evidence-based practices and strategies to prevent maltreatment, preserve healthy families, and bring healing to children who have experienced trauma by enhancing their physical health and mental well-being. Founded in 1892, DePelchin is a nonprofit organization with locations throughout Houston and across Texas and gratefully receives support from individuals, foundations, corporations, and government grants.