"I've had a lot of rooms. None of them were mine."

That's the opening line of a short film we just made, and it's the true story of nearly every young person who walks through our doors at New Life Village. Youth aging out of foster care have had placements, group homes, couches, shelters. Rooms. But never a door with their own key. Never a table where somebody saved them a seat.

We want to help youth like this draw a different ending. It's 52 seconds, and I hope it moves you the way this work moves me every day:

▶️ [WATCH THE VIDEO]

Maya is a character, but the village she draws is real, and it's rising right now in Killeen. The land is cleared. Septic is complete. Electrical is underway. And the next thing we build is the very thing Maya draws at the center of her page:

The Table.

Phase 6 is the heart of the home, a commercial kitchen, dining room, laundry, and living space where our youth will cook their first real family dinner, learn food-industry job skills through our Living Kitchen enterprise, and discover what it feels like when somebody saves you a seat.

Will you help us raise it?

🧡 $25 buys lumber 🧡 $100 raises a wall 🧡 $250 helps equip the laundry 🧡 $1,000 puts a commercial stove in the kitchen 🧡 Any amount puts a chair at the table

👉 GIVE TO THE PHASE 6 KITCHEN BUILD

We don't say "we have to do this work." We say #WeGetTo because it's a privilege to be a voice for these young people. And the film says the rest: It takes a village. Today, you get to be part of ours.

With gratitude and hope,

Isamary Banks-Nieves Founder & Executive Director New Life Village newlifevillagectx.org | admin@newlifevillagectx.org | 254-383-5428

New Life Village is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 92-2686039). Your gift is tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowed by law.

P.S. — Can't give today? Sharing Maya's story is a gift too. Forward this email or share the video, every share puts a seat at the table in front of someone who's been waiting for a way to help.

New Life Village Community Kitchen

There's a seat saved at the table — for you

Team Members