Campaign News

For the Wachs family of Castle Hills, giving knows no boundaries.

Deb and Steve Wachs, residents of Castle Hills in Lewisville, have chosen to be part of the Metrocrest Services mission for more than 35 years and have made volunteering at Metrocrest Services one of their most-treasured family traditions.

“Back then, they only had nine staff members,” Deb remembers of her beginnings with the young agency. “I was chair of missions at my church, and that’s how I got introduced to Metrocrest Services. We did Easter baskets and the holiday family adoption program,” she said. “That’s how we got started.”

That involvement expanded into being part of the team running the agency’s holiday store, becoming involved in back-to-school shoe programs, winter coat drives, volunteering for the Sack Summer Hunger initiative and more. Deb also has served on the Metrocrest Services Board of Directors, and Steve joined Deb in chairing the Metrocrest Services 50^th Anniversary Golden Gala in the fall of 2021.

Introducing Their Children to Volunteerism

Throughout their service, Deb and Steve have not only benefited families in need, but also have brought new traditions and perspectives to their own family.

“It was important to us to introduce our kids to giving back. Metrocrest Services provided that environment in which to learn, and it’s something our children carry with them throughout their lives,” Steve said.

“As our children grew old enough to be involved, they would just come with me,” Deb said of her daughter Stephanie and son Jeremy. The kids would spend hours helping Deb arrange the toys in the holiday store for families in need to come and select during the holiday season, or gather and organize coats for the winter coat drive, for example.

“Even when they would come home from college, they would bring friends to introduce them to the Metrocrest Services mission,” Deb, a clothing stylist with Cabi, said. “We’ve done a wide range of things, but we’ve always tried to integrate others into everything we do.

“We have gained so much from volunteering and for people new to Metrocrest Services. The best way to learn about it is to volunteer.”

Steve, owner and partner of Legacy Consulting Group, a wealth management firm in Plano, is committed to the idea of creating sustainable change that will far outlive any of us.

“Volunteering through Metrocrest Services is a way to introduce a generational change in your kids in giving back – not just with money but also with your time.” It develops a different person, Steve explained, one who is more conscious of those around them and how one person’s philanthropy – via time or money given – can help someone in need.

“We just really encourage our friends to teach their kids the art of giving,” Deb explained.

Steve and Deb’s daughter Stephanie turned her commitment to giving into a career, now serving as a licensed clinical social worker in Atlanta, Georgia. The Wachs’ son Jeremy lives in Justin and works in the audio/visual field. He recently put his specialized skills to work for Metrocrest Services, volunteering to run the A/V for the Golden Gala that the Wachs chaired.

When asked how both of their children ended up incorporating philanthropy into their lives – and in their own unique ways — Deb and Steve shrug and shake their heads. “They both just came out with the same heart for Metrocrest,” Deb said with a smile.

When asked what advice they might have for parents wanting to get their own children involved with volunteerism and philanthropy, Steve had words of wisdom to share: “Friends and food are two things I would suggest. There are times when our kids brought friends with them to Metrocrest. Bring them in packs, tell them that there’s going to be time to hang out, and feed them – take them out to eat after they volunteer.”

“For us, serving just evolved into our family tradition,” Deb said. “Even when they would come home from college, Stephanie and Jeremy would often go straight to Metrocrest Services to do a volunteer shift before heading home. As adults, they continue to volunteer, so we have seen the fruits of those efforts and their evolution as they have grown. They always looked forward to volunteering.”

Making a Generational Difference

In addition to helping grow and foster a new generation of volunteers, Deb and Steve also have chosen to support a new home for Metrocrest Services by supporting the Building Our Future capital campaign. The goal of the campaign is to raise the funding needed for a new facility for the agency in the heart of the Metrocrest Services’ service area. In addition to personally supporting the campaign, Deb and Steve Wachs also volunteer their time on the capital campaign committee.

“We’ve always talked about the perfect location of Belt Line and Josey roads in Carrollton would be — the fact that we’re in that location now was truly meant to be,” Deb said. “It’s been a dream for many for a long, long time.”

Because of her experience as a volunteer and board member, Deb is intimately familiar with the need for a larger facility to house the services required to help provide for the communities served.

“Because of that exposure to the inner workings of Metrocrest Services, I always knew we needed a better location and a better facility – and I also knew we wouldn’t find an existing facility,” Deb said. The new home for Metrocrest Services, slated to open in 2023, will combine all of the agency’s many services into one efficient, custom-built space that will provide convenient access for clients and also a great place to work and serve for volunteers and staff.

“The dream was always to have our own space where we could offer these programs and have space to add other services and programs,” Deb said. “Now we can see it.”

“Facilities like this allow you to have more people on hand, and the need is always there,” Steve said.

“At Metrocrest Services, it’s a hand up rather than simply a hand out, so Metrocrest provides job training, interview skills and other support services that will empower families to move on to that next step of self-sufficiency.” Steve points to wrap-around services like these and others that support clients as they better their lives for themselves and their families. Helping individuals as they learn and grow to meet their own family’s needs often opens up doors for their children they might have always assumed to be impossible to open.

“This building will provide that – and that’s something that will make a generational difference in people’s lives,” Steve said.

While the Wachs continue to add to their family’s tradition of giving back, they also help mentor others in how to create a legacy for themselves through volunteerism and philanthropy.

“It’s all about building it out to make a generational difference in people’s lives,” Steve said. Deb agreed and added, “If there’s any heart of giving in there, if they do it once, they’ll do it again.”

Vari Elevates Work of Metrocrest Services

Workspace innovation company shares innovation and dedication with non-profit.

To unlock the potential of an organization’s space and people, Vari provides expertise to companies across many different industries. Through a unique and inspiring partnership, that expertise will also make a difference for individuals, families and seniors striving to achieve self-sufficiency, as Vari provides volunteer time, professional support and exceptional products to Metrocrest Services.

In 2016, Vari CEO Jason McCann came across a sign-up sheet for volunteers helping deliver meals with a non-profit organization called Metrocrest Services. A Vari employee had signed up to help, and that led McCann to find out more about Metrocrest Services.

“After seeing his photos from the event, I wanted to learn more about what Metrocrest was doing,” McCann said. The Vari CEO decided to donate to Metrocrest Services and then took his support a step further by touring the non-profit and speaking with Tracy Eubanks, CEO of Metrocrest Services. “After personally volunteering with my team at Metrocrest and seeing the impact it was making in people’s lives, I was immediately hooked and wanted to do more,” McCann said.

McCann learned that Metrocrest Services was in the process of building a new facility to better serve the organization’s growing clientele through a larger, dedicated space that would allow the combining of several different facilities. A lightbulb went off as McCann discovered an additional way that he and other Vari employees could support the mission of Metrocrest Services: Vari “leaned in,” McCann said, and provided an in-kind donation of more than $500,000 to help Metrocrest Services create a flexible workspace to best serve clients and to be a fantastic place for employees to work.

Vari has worked with more than 1,000 organizations helping to create spaces that foster collaboration and engagement. Vari’s workspace design team works closely with organizations to understand their needs and determine how their spaces can best be outfitted with workstations, soft seating, moveable walls and more that enhance collaboration. At Metrocrest Services, Vari products will outfit a welcome center, workstations, offices and multipurpose rooms, and they were carefully chosen to best meet the needs of the growing non-profit.

“Metrocrest Services benefits not only in terms of receiving this generous donation, but most importantly, from the expertise Vari has offered to us,” Eubanks said. “As we continue to grow to meet the demand, we maintain a focus on this also being a place where talented people can do their best work, their life’s work, and in doing so, positively impact those in our community who depend on us.”

Vari and Metrocrest have collaborated to create an environment that will empower Metrocrest Services and its employees with flexible workspaces that encourage productivity and collaboration. “We can’t wait for the new facility to open and see what Metrocrest has in store next for DFW!” McCann said.

In addition to its expansive work with companies across the country, Vari also has first-hand experience in designing, building and outfitting spaces that best meet the need of a growing organization. Vari recently moved into its own new headquarters, VariSpace Coppell – an accomplishment that also served to commemorates Vari’s 10-year anniversary.

Vari has brought significant value to Metrocrest Services and, in turn, the non-profit has served in a unique role for Vari – as the foundation for a corporate giving program that will continue to help those in need as Vari employees dedicate themselves to bettering their communities.

“Our involvement with Metrocrest Services became the catalyst for Vari Community Giving and the Volunteer Time Off (VTO) investments that we make for our teams and the surrounding communities,” McCann said. Like Metrocrest Services, Vari’s dedication to giving back remains an important part of the Vari mission and core values. By partnering with nonprofits in key markets, Vari is able to provide in-kind donations and outfit workspaces for these organizations, allowing these nonprofits to use their resources where they matter most.

“Working alongside Vari – whether that’s while they help us serve those in need, or while they are pouring expertise into our new home – has been rewarding on many levels,” Eubanks said. “For Metrocrest to serve as some sort of inspiration for their philanthropic efforts is tremendously rewarding.”

On Friday, October 7, 2022, the tilt walls began going up. Check out the progress below.

On Monday, August 1, 2022, before dawn, Metrocrest CEO Tracy Eubanks and COO Nicole Binkley stopped by the site of our new building to watch the slab being poured. In total, 500 cubic yards (52 truck loads) of concrete were poured in five hours.

NDBT’s collaboration with Metrocrest Services pays dividends for non-profit clientele as well as for employees of growing bank

The leadership and staff of North Dallas Bank & Trust Co. (NDBT) know how important solid footing is for people: For a community to thrive, people need to have security and stability in many different aspects of their lives. That’s one of the many reasons NDBT got involved with Metrocrest Services in a decades-long commitment to serve that has helped Metrocrest Services clients with financial literacy and food on the table, and a new facility that will help the non-profit serve its mission for many decades to come.

“It’s not just a Band-Aid: it’s helping the community get back on their feet, giving them all the tools so they can be independent,” Megly Wester, Addison banking center manager for NDBT, said of the many ways in which Metrocrest Services helps its clients. Wester and her team have been involved with Metrocrest Services for many years, following a lead set by Jay Henry, the NDBT market president who began volunteering for Metrocrest Services almost 30 years ago.

The team at NDBT feels so strongly about the positive results Metrocrest Services is able to achieve that the company recently made a significant investment in the Metrocrest Services Building Our Future capital campaign. The initiative will bring all of Metrocrest Services’ abilities under one roof in an efficient new home in the heart of need for the community.

Hands-on volunteering, teaching financial literacy classes, and contributing to the capital campaign are all ways in which NDBT has dedicated time, expertise and funding to Metrocrest Services. But the bank has found another way to leverage its deep experience to help the non-profit, too: “We’re helping them achieve favorable financing for the construction of the new facility,” Henry said. “That’s part of our heart and what we do here at NDBT for non-profits.”

The pandemic did not slow NDBT from meeting its mission of caring for the community: In 2021, the company’s non-profit initiative, NDBT Cares, recorded more than 130 service hours and $487,000 pledged to 80 organizations making change in the community, including Metrocrest Services.

“They give us the tools to serve our community; it’s amazing,” Wester said of NDBT Cares and the opportunities she has through her employment at NDBT.

The way in which the employees of NDBT interact with Metrocrest Services serves as a best-practice model for how other companies can get involved with non-profit organizations. The collaboration is meaningful for both the bank and the non-profit.

“They really have been the model of what we hope to achieve with the NDBT Cares program,” noted Lisa Rushing, director of community engagement for NDBT.

When asked how other businesses or individuals could create a meaningful relationship with a non-profit, the team at NDBT had a few tips:

Organize staff to volunteer their time together. “People react to experiences,” Henry said, “Being there, working in the food pantry or delivering a sack full of food to a family because their kids can’t get their food during summertime from school, is powerful. Experiences speak more to encourage people to get involved than anything else. Schedule a volunteer opportunity somewhere to get to know their mission.”

Get to know leadership at the non-profit. “Get to know the people who work there, and their leadership. Tracy [Eubanks] and Nicole [Binkley] at Metrocrest have servants’ hearts,” Henry said. Understanding how the non-profit is governed and how the mission is met is important, he emphasized.

Just start! “Sometimes, people spend a lot of time trying to figure something out,” Henry said. He recommended learning by volunteering. “You will not regret it, and I promise, you will come back for more,” he said. Service is one of the core values of NDBT, he explained: “A statement we use often at NDBT says it all: ‘Treat others the way you would want to be treated.’”

Wester has volunteered in many different capacities for Metrocrest Services. When she began, she thought she would just be called on to help teach the financial literacy class that Metrocrest offers to help clients understand budgeting and money management. The class is part of the “wrap-around” services that Metrocrest offers, including rent and utility assistance, job placement, transportation for seniors and many more, in addition to serving as a food pantry – but Wester has stepped up and served in many different parts of the organization, growing her commitment while sharpening her own skills.

“One thing that I really want is to be a change-maker and the way I can do that is by donating my time to share with everyone else what I know,” she said. “If that helps someone to get a job or be in a better place than they were before, then it’s all worth it.”

With summer coming, Henry and his team of NDBT volunteers expect to help with the Metrocrest Services Sack Summer Hunger program, which gets nutritious meals to children who might not otherwise have access to food because of school being out of session for the summer. There will also be work to do in the food pantry as the need continues to increase across North Texas. In addition to that, NDBT is excited to see the new home for Metrocrest Services rise from the ground.

Henry looks forward to the building’s opening. “I want to see a very busy facility, with a lot of activity coming in and out,” he said. “I want to see Metrocrest Services thrive in a building that’s larger with more square footage and more services than they have ever had before.”

“Seeing that building and knowing that it will be there for years and year to come, serving the community, and saying that we had a small part in it, will be incredible,” Rushing echoed.

“It is partnerships, such as the one with NDBT, that allows Metrocrest Services to achieve its objective of serving our neighbors with dignity and respect, and being able to say yes in their time of need,” said Tracy Eubanks, CEO of Metrocrest Services. “We applaud NDBT for its unwavering commitment to the communities it serves.”

Wester sums up why employees of NDBT feel strongly about working with Metrocrest Services: “The success of a community is measured by the compassion given by its members,” she said.