Meet Marsha Williamson | Grateful CEO of Dallas 24 Hour Club

We had the good fortune of connecting with Marsha Williamson and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Marsha, can you talk to us a bit about the social impact of your business?
Dallas 24 Hour Club provides safe, sober transitional living for homeless men and women seeking a brand new life away from drugs and alcohol. We provide the basic necessities for our people who come straight off the street, from jail, prison or a medical or mental health facility. They have burned all of their bridges with their family, friends and colleagues, so typically they don’t have a penny to their name. Our first priority is to get them stabilized physically, emotionally and mentally in order for them to start working a strong recovery program, secure a job, pay their service fees and begin the journey to establishing a life of sobriety and re-connecting with their families. This past March, The 24 opened the Tillman House which is sober, apartment-style living for our Successful 24 Graduates. We have on-site staff available to assist them in practicing their critical life skills and become contributing, self supporting members of society. This extension of The 24’s program is allowing our graduates a runway to successfully live independently. We look forward to seeing very positive results of this new initiative and stop the revolving door of relapse!

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I always like to say that I am a “jack of all trades, master of none”, which sometimes is exactly what is needed. I love to multi-task, network and take on large complex projects. Fortunately, I had opportunities in middle school, high school and college to practice these skills, which helped me translate them into the workforce. In 1998, I helped form Park Cities Presbyterian Church which was launched with 1500 people. We had no place to worship, no bank account, no pencils or pens and no staff. I ended up being the Coordinator of Ministries and Operations which was a complex job in itself. I helped lead the first capital campaign which was very successful and helped oversee the construction of a new wing of the building.. All of these experiences prepared me to lead Dallas 24 Hour Club which had a physically failing building, very little money in the bank, no database, no community support and we had never held a fundraiser. I think that I am most proud of the fact that The 24 is now a stable nonprofit with a new $5.3M, 14,000sf, state of the art building which was built by the construction community of Dallas and HKS on a 95% pro bono basis thanks in large part to Steve Van Amburgh of KDC. We have excellent well-trained staff who really care for our homeless, addicted residents. Our latest accomplishment is the opening of Tillman House, which provides sober, apartment-style living with on-site staff for our Successful 24 Graduates. We believe this is going to be a gamechanger in supporting our grads as they practice critical life skills, embrace long-term sobriety, prepare to live independently and become self-supporting, contributing members of society. I want our world to know that the homeless addict deserves a second chance WHEN they are ready to embrace a brand new life! I am so proud of them!!! The lessons I have learned is to not give up when challenges arrive on your doorstep and seek solutions by building relationships with people who you can partner with to solve your problems! People WANT to be asked to help!

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I love food and especially Mexican food! I would take my friend to ALL of the wonderful Mexican restaurants from Javiers to Miriam Latino Cocina to Mi Cocina to Rafas to Primos to Jaliscos to Meso Mayo, to Muchachos and Jose’s! Which ones am I missing! I would love for her to meet all of the chefs, many of whom support The 24!

When not eating, I would take her to the Arboretum, the DMN, the Sixth Floor Museum, the Holocaust Museum, the Kimball in Fort Worth, the Nasher, the Crow Asian Museum, White Rock Lake and the numerous, beautiful parks in Dallas, like Klye Warren Park!

I would love to introduce her to The 24 and her residents who are some of the most interesting people in the world! I learn something new from them every time we visit!

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I can’t think of anyone who has had more of a positive and glorious impact on my life than my husband, Steve. As an example, in 2000, I decided to open my own consulting firm. I had no clients and we had two in college. What was I thinking? Steve gave me the confidence that I could be successful and indeed it was the right call. I thrived in this new role of advising and guiding non profits. with his support and great advice! Then came along the request to consult with Dallas 24 Hour Club and soon thereafter join them as their Interim and eventually their permanent Executive Director. The challenges presented over the last seven years have been daunting at times, but Steve is always willing to listen, challenge me and encourage me. He deserves the BIGGEST Shout Out that I can think of!

Website: Dallas24HourClub.org

Instagram: @d24hourclub

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/dallas24hourclub/mycompany/?

Twitter: @d24hc

Facebook: www.Facebook.com/Dallas24HourClub.org

Youtube: https.www.youtube.com/channel/UCpEASRJQ1nvlc6yf_X1499g

Image Credits
Michael Carter – photographer – headshot Erik Carlson – Grand Opening