Community Highlight: Project Transformation North Texas

In order to highlight our lovely community partners, we interviewed them about their purpose and how UNT students can further help them be successful. We interviewed Jenna Babbitt from Project Transformation North Texas this week!

1.Your name and title?

Jenna Babbitt, Director of Volunteer and Partner Church Engagement  

2.What is your organization and what does it do?

Project Transformation North Texas is a non-profit that makes space for the community to create mutual relationships between the three C’s: churches, college-age young adults, and children. We employ college-age young adults through AmeriCorps to run afterschool and summer programs at churches in the Dallas area. Our programs focus on social-emotional learning, literacy, and spiritual formation. While the college-age young adults are running the programs, they are gaining valuable leadership experience, and go through spiritual formation and vocational discernment programs.  

3.What is your organization’s mission?

Our mission is to transform communities by engaging children, college-age young adults, and churches in purposeful relationships.

4. Why did you choose to work in this field?

Before working at Project Transformation North Texas, I worked for a church and after that, I worked at a non-faith-based organization. I was looking to combine my love of non-profit work with my faith, and found Project Transformation North Texas. I truly enjoy working in the faith-based non-profit sector because it allows me to be a part of seeing the goodness of this city come alive. Getting to be a part of communities and neighbors rally behind each other in support, and see people’s lives transformed is my favorite part of my work.  

5. What led you to work with the Center for Leadership and Service?

We love the Center for Leadership and Service because it is so closely aligned with our mission at PT. Our program provides college-age young adults with the opportunity to intern in a service-oriented position each summer and/or school year. We believe that taking time out to develop your leadership skills and serve your community is never a waste of time, whether through our internship or volunteering.

6. What is your favorite initiative that you have worked on so far?

I started with Project Transformation North Texas in February 2020, right before the pandemic hit. As everything started to shut down, we started surveying our community and our neighbors to see what their biggest needs were. We knew we wouldn’t run our normal in-person summer program because of Covid-19. Instead, we wanted to run a program that would most benefit our community and neighbors during these times. In response to Covid, we created an online summer camp and an in-person food and supply distribution for our community. It was so much fun and an honor to be a part of the team of college-age young adults and our staff that created these new programs. We ended up handing out over 40,000 meals and various supplies to the families in our community. I am so proud to be a part of such a creative, innovative, and community-centered team. 

7.What would you say to students who want to get involved?

Are you looking to build your leadership skills in a service-oriented environment? We would love to have you join our group of Americorps young adults who run our summer camp! It’s a great time to build friendships, learn more about yourself and your faith, live

in the community, and build your non-profit work experience! And bonus, it’s paid! If you don’t have an entire summer to commit to the internship, but you are still interested in being a part of our work of seeing community transformation happen through building relationships between churches, college-age young adults, and children then come volunteer with us! You can volunteer as little as one hour in the afternoon after-school program or as much as every day during the summer.

If you are interested in volunteering or interning with us please

email me at babbitt@ptnorthtexas.org