Dallas Giving And The Why

SPEAKER_01 0:01

Welcome to the Bubba Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson. Dallas is a city that loves to give back. And we're fortunate to have so many charities doing incredible things right here in our community. But I think sometimes we get so caught up in the events, the galas, the luncheons, and the fundraisers that we don't always stop to think about the case behind them. Who are we actually helping? Where does the money go? And what kind of difference are we making? Partner's card is a perfect example. It's been a Dallas tradition for 34 years, and most of us know it is a great opportunity to shop at our favorite stores and save some money and support a good cause. But how much do we really know about the family place and the life-changing work that they're doing right here in our community? That's what I wanted to explore in today's episode. I'm joined by Tiffany Tate, the CEO of the Family Place, and Courtney Kernonin, one of this year's Partners Card co-chairs. We're going to take a closer look at the mission behind the Family Place, the families they serve, and why the money raised through Partners Card is so important. And of course, we'll also talk about the shopping, the participating stores, and how we can get involved. Because when you understand the why behind a fundraiser, supporting it becomes that much more meaningful. Let's get into it.

unknown 1:18

Welcome to the Bubble Dow.

SPEAKER_01 1:21

Ladies, welcome to the show. Thank you. Thank you for having us. Yes. Well, let's start with you each introducing yourselves and tell us how you became involved with the Family Place.

SPEAKER_00 1:31

Well, my name is Tiffany Tate. I'm the CEO of the Family Place. I have been with the organization about 14 years. I've been in this role for almost three years. And I became involved with the Family Place just because of its reputation in the community. I've always been a social worker. And so I was so excited when there was an opportunity to join the staff.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

And my name is Courtney Carnoonen. I am serving as one of the co-chairs this year for 2026 for the Partners Card. I have been a shopper of Partners Card for the last 22 years since I've been in Dallas. And so it's just a very organic partnership for me to be able to not only help them spread the word about what Partners Card is, why these 10 days of shopping are so important to the DFW commun community, but to also get to talk about the family place and spread awareness about what they do for the communities of North Texas.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

Right. Well, I feel like so many times with organizations, philanthropies, and charities, we kind of know them by their events, or of course, the Partners Card. And I really want to get into more with what the Family

The Family Place Mission And Services

SPEAKER_01 2:30

Place does. Tephany, can you talk to us about that?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Sure. So the Family Place is one of the largest domestic violence services providers in the state of Texas. Our mission is to empower survivors by providing safe housing, counseling, and skills to help people really gain independence long term, right? We offer, I always call it wraparound services. So that services from the beginning until the end. We start with prevention, we have education, we have three shelters, two for women and children and one for men and children. We were the first shelter for men and children in the nation. We have case management, we have supervised visitation, we have battering intervention, we have two medical and dental clinics, and we have a pet kennel for people who cannot leave without taking their loved, beloved pet with them.

SPEAKER_01 3:13

Wow. Well, what are some of the biggest challenges that these families are facing?

SPEAKER_00 3:18

Um, one of the biggest challenges that we see is, you know, inability to access resources, be it systemic barriers or barriers just within their own environment. So oftentimes survivors experience offenders who controlled money. So they don't have access to money to be able to flee. They don't have access to money to put their children into daycare. So a lot of that really impacts their ability to leave and often impacts where they return or how quickly they return if they decide to. We see a lot of families that come in without basic needs. If they are fleeing in the middle of the night, they don't have clothing, they don't have shoes, they don't have, you know, food, haven't been to the doctor or to the dentist in many years. So a lot of that we see with survivors is what shapes our programming. And it's like the need for the medical and dental clinic, right? Those were formed because of a need identified by a survivor.

SPEAKER_01 4:06

Well, what do you think that people would be most surprised to know about our own community in regards to domestic violence?

SPEAKER_00 4:14

I think people would be surprised to know that how easily domestic violence can be hidden. I mean, domestic violence is everywhere. It is in every single community, even in Dallas, right? It's in every zip code. Statistics show that one in three women and one in seven men have experienced domestic violence. So if you look in the room that we're in, if there are six women, two of them have experienced domestic violence, right? So take that visual and put it in your neighborhood. Every third house, right? Someone has experienced domestic violence. So I think people are often looking for bruises or black eyes. And really, domestic violence can be religious abuse, it can be financial abuse, emotional abuse, things that you never see. People show up to work every single day and they function and they even excel in their jobs and could be living in fear at home.

SPEAKER_01 5:02

Okay. Okay. Well, I I always like to ask with organizations such as the Family Place if you can share any success stories. I always love to hear how you all have made a difference in an individual's life.

SPEAKER_00 5:15

Yeah. So for us, I want to start by saying that every individual who takes the risk of leaving a dangerous situation is a success story for us. So we applaud everyone who comes into our shelters or our counseling centers. We have a lot of really great community partnerships. We have partnerships that help people learn skills and find jobs. We have partnerships that help people with education. We have a survivor who started with us, lived in our shelter with her two children, came here as an immigrant from another country, was not English speaking at all, and is now actually on our staff, but obtained her college degree, her PhD, and was a principal in the Dallas School District for a long period of time. Um, and is now on our staff as our outreach director.

SPEAKER_01 5:58

Okay, that literally just gave me chills. That is an example of a success story. I love that. That really warms my heart. Well, how important is community support in regards to fundraising?

What $100 Actually Funds

SPEAKER_01 6:09

There's so many philanthropies around town to support, and how how important it is for us to support you?

SPEAKER_00 6:16

We could not operate our organization without fundraising. Um, the fundraising supports our shelters, like our direct services that we offer to survivors. Um, but also just to be clear, fundraising and the support goes beyond financial gifts. So we can have people that can come in and volunteer in different parts of the organization to give their time. We have people who mentor clients to show them that it's possible to live a life free from violence and be successful. But all of that funding, we could not do it without the support of the people in our wonderful community. Right, right.

SPEAKER_01 6:49

Well, the partner's card itself is $100. And can you just walk us through what exactly $100 can do?

SPEAKER_00 6:57

Well, for us, what $100 does is it provides a safe space for someone who might otherwise be in a dangerous situation. It gives a bed, one night of shelter for someone who needs to leave, um, being harmed in their home. And so you can come in, you can get a safe space, you can just have your brain relax and have some ability and time to plan for the rest of your life. Um, so it is just a really, really great opportunity to directly support a survivor.

Partners Card Basics And Big Goals

SPEAKER_01 7:23

Well, one of the ways our community has been supporting the family place is through this partner's card, which has been around for 34 years. That is a really, really long time. So congratulations on that. So, Courtney, I know you get asked to do a lot of things around Dallas. How did you get involved?

SPEAKER_02 7:39

Well, I originally got involved, like I said, 22 years ago when I moved to Dallas. And I remember having girlfriends go, okay, if you buy this card, you can use it anywhere and you get 20% off for 10 days. For me, who was a girl on a budget, I was like, well, this is a dream come true. Like shopping for 20% off at some of my favorite retailers for a week and a half. Like, talk about a a Shopaholics, like I said, drink. Drink, yeah. But it's not until I really realized what the Partners Card does for the North Texas and DFW community that I really decided that this is a, this is not only a this is not only something that I want to support and put my name to, but this is something that I know I can promote and we can make it the best year that Family Place and Partners Card has had.

SPEAKER_01 8:17

Oh, I love that. Well, so you're one of three chairs. I've been seeing your pictures everywhere. You've been all over all the media, and I love that so much. But tell us about your team.

SPEAKER_02 8:27

So when the Family Place and Partners Card originally came to me, they asked me to chair. I was like, no, I have two gals that I know I cannot do this without. One of them being Alex Snodgrass. A lot of people probably know her from her internet presence. Um, she is a cookbook author, um, recipe creator from the Define Dish. She is a four-time New York Times bestselling author who lives right here in Dallas, Texas. And so she's one of my best friends. And I knew we needed this community to basically have her support because she has such a huge reach. She has so many women that follow her for day-to-day recipes, inspiration, how to be a great mom. And so I knew that she was gonna really help us tap that um, that homemaker and that woman who loves to take care of her home and cook great recipes for them every day. Another person that I brought in is another good friend of mine, Meredith Counts. She works for the Dallas Cowboys as one of their vice presidents of marketing. And so having obviously the Cowboys support, they've been a huge supporter of Partners Card and Family Place for so many years, but she's been really helpful in getting us a lot of bigger brand partnerships and bringing on that recognition through her connections that she has with the Dallas Cowboys organization. Well, you definitely put together the dream team at Sounds. I did. I did, right? And because I do have this great dream team, um, the three of us, we we've set some lofty goals, and I really hope that the Dallas community shows up on October 23rd and really brings it.

SPEAKER_01 9:45

I wanted to give a personal thank you to our good friend and show sponsor, Kathy L. Wall State Farm Agency. We have known Kathy for more than 15 years, and there is no person we trust more when it comes to insurance than Kathy L. Wall. Kathy is always available to help you find the right insurance for your family needs, whether it's covering your home, auto, or providing a life insurance policy tailored to the unique needs of families in Highland Park. My family trusts Kathy with our insurance, and we hope you will too. Please visit Kathy Lwall.com to learn more and let her know that Martha from the Bubble Lounge sent you.

What’s New Including The Digital Card

SPEAKER_01 10:20

Well, I was gonna ask you both. I know every year you make a little bit of changes, improvements. It just keeps evolving, getting better, more merchants on there. What's new this year?

SPEAKER_02 10:29

Well, I mean, obviously the retailer list is phenomenal. Over 750 retailers here in North Texas. That doesn't include just clothing. That includes home stores, that includes your favorite dermatology office or med spa. That could also be the gym that you go to or the Pilates studio that you see. It could include places that you need to go to get all of your entertaining and hostess gifts for Thanksgiving and Christmas. It could include your favorite florist. I mean, there's children's stores, there's sporting goods stores that are right here in your neighborhood that you're probably shopping at already, getting ready for the holidays. So why not do it during Partner's Card and get that 20% off?

SPEAKER_00 11:04

This year marks $1 million in lifetime giving for our presenting sponsor, the Bank of Texas. And so that's really a phenomenal thing to have happen in support of the Partner's Card. Oh, wow. Well, shout out to them. Yeah, that's wonderful. Well, how's the easiest way for people to get a card? The easiest way to get the partner's card is to go on our website. We have a link where you can directly purchase the partner's card. There's also a link that shows each one of the list of retailers. So when you have your strategy for how you're going to attack stores, that's one of the ways you can do it. Um, but in addition, you can also buy partners' cards in the stores, the participating stores. You can go and do a point of sale transaction at the store and then purchase a card that way as well. The most exciting thing this year, Courtney will talk about is it is digital.

SPEAKER_02 11:49

Yes, the digital aspect, I think, is great as as we're all moving more to looking at our phones and being obsessed. We don't go any, I go a lot of places without my wallet, but I don't go many places without my phone. And so this year, your card, you don't have to carry around the partner's card pamphlet anymore and the book. You can now put the partner's card, your digital partner's card, into your Apple wallet and have it anywhere at your point of sale.

SPEAKER_01 12:10

Okay, I love that. That is so brilliant. It really is. Because we before we started recording, I was saying how in years past, I can't tell you how many times I've forgotten it. And you know, they're not gonna let you use it if you don't have it in person. So, oh my gosh, I love that. That's a huge change.

SPEAKER_02 12:23

Yes, it's a great, great, great opportunity for I think also reaching that younger crowd, that younger audience who is all attached to their phone. Now that's like they're like, I'm not gonna carry around this book everywhere. Now they can have it just right there in their Apple wallet.

SPEAKER_01 12:37

Oh, that's perfect. I'm so glad you made that change. Well, tell us how businesses have embraced the Partners Card over the years.

SPEAKER_00 12:44

Yeah, so local businesses have always been the core participants of the program. And we even have several who've been participants for the entire 34 years of the program. Um, not only have they been staunch supporters of the mission and part of the business model that makes Partners Card such a success every year, but there are so many unique and beautiful things you can find in our local boutiques and businesses. Their participation has been so strong over the years that they then attract attention for many of the national brands who are now participants in Partners Card. Oh, I love that.

SPEAKER_02 13:13

And I'm gonna piggyback on that real quickly, just to say it's not only a great opportunity to support the local small businesses here in whether it's Highland Park, Park Cities, in Wooden Lovers, all of those neighborhoods and all of those little villages. We all love shopping, but it's also a great opportunity, and I think a lot of people don't understand this, is that there's a ton of national chains that are also included. Like this isn't just your mom and pop shops here that are local to Dallas. These are also some, like Tiffany said, large national retailers that are included in this.

SPEAKER_01 13:40

Yeah, that's a really good point. Well, Courtney, you mentioned that you had some pretty lofty goals this year. Last year you guys raised 1.6 million. What are these big goals you have this time?

SPEAKER_02 13:49

Listen, I don't do anything small when it comes to me, my personality, how I live my life. And so when they said they did 1.6 last year, I was like, well, let's make it two. Let's make it two million dollars this year. I know my audience, I know the reach that the Dallas Cowboys has through Meredith's connections. I know that the reach that Alex Snodgrass has through her cookbooks and her community. And so I think that two million is I I I think it's totally possible.

SPEAKER_01 14:14

I believe in you. I don't know you very well, but I know that there's nothing that you do that is not big and over the top. I'll take that as a compliment. It is, it is for sure. Well, let's get to the fun part. I know everyone in our town loves to shop. Every, all the best stores are right there in that pamphlet. So let's talk about some of the places to go. So what are your favorites, Courtney?

SPEAKER_02 14:35

I mean, how do we narrow it down? How much time do we have here? Listen, here's what I'll say, and I'll repeat this again. There's every store that you're probably already shopping at, whether it's in Highland Park Village, whether it's in Highland Park Village, Mockingbird Station, North Park, Galleria, Inwood and Lovers, Snyder Plaza, they're probably on this list. Um, so I mean, if we're talking about North Park, you've got huge designer retailers like uh Gian Vito Rossi and Jimmy Chu, but you've also got national um chains like anthropology and J. Crew and the gap that you're probably going to.

SPEAKER_01 15:09

Well, what I really like about the book is you have it organized and sorted every which way. But one thing is by shopping area. So specifically Highland Park Village and Mockingbird Station, just like you said, is you can just easily look on there and know I'm going here today to North Park. So let me focus on these right here.

SPEAKER_00 15:26

And you can kind of check off which ones you want to visit. If you're a digital person, you can also search um the stores or the area, and it will populate the list in that way. Oh, I love this technology you guys are doing now.

SPEAKER_01 15:38

Getting your business in front of Park City's families is one thing. Getting them to pay attention is another. That takes time, consistency, and trust. I've spent more than eight years building that relationship through the Bubble Lounge, and today thousands of local listeners and followers tend to us for recommendations about what's happening in our community. What to put your business in front of them? Visit BubbleLounge.net and click work with us. Well, you mentioned that the list has grown over the years. Are there any new retailers that we should look for this year?

SPEAKER_02 16:11

I think one of the biggest retailers that a lot of people are excited about is Luke C, which is some of the best premium cowboy boots on the market that you can get. They're known for their cowboy boots, but they obviously sell beautiful leather pieces, handbags, wallets, tablescapes, furs, suedes, belts, hats, you name it. And especially being here in Texas, I know a lot of men probably have a new pair of cowboy boots or a new belt on their list. And so that is a premium new retailer that we are very excited about and that we could not have had joined without um Meredith and their Lou Casey being the official sponsor of the Dallas Cowboys. We were able to bring them on as a first-time partners card retailer. And we are very excited about it.

SPEAKER_01 16:51

Well, and as you should be, I mean, that's definitely one of my favorite boot brands, but they had a booth at Cattle Burns last weekend and I tried on a couple of coats that I literally fell in love with.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

So if you have your eye on them, wait till Friday.

Shopping Strategy Online Deals And Fine Print

SPEAKER_01 17:31

Okay. So with the retailers, we're looking at 20% off, but with restaurants, 10%. Yeah. Okay. Good to know. Well, let's talk about getting the most out of our partner's card. Is there any strategies we should follow? Because I feel like that this 10-day period, it really goes fast.

SPEAKER_02 17:46

So when it comes down for me and how I strategize, I will take this book and I will sit down with a highlighter and a glass of wine. I will highlight all of the shopping centers that I know I love shopping at. I'll also cross-reference that against my Christmas shopping list. Like, why would you not take advantage and get rid of all of your Christmas shopping in 10 days and be done by November 1st and save 20%? Like that's a happy wife, happy life formula, if you ask me. Like being done with Christmas shopping before Thanksgiving and doing it all at 20% off. Like that's a double whammy. That's a dream come true for me. So that's what I'll do. I'll look at kind of like what gifts do I need to buy? Also, what entertaining am I doing come Thanksgiving and Christmas? Like we've got retailers like Nicholson Hardy, Grange Hall, uh William Sonoma, Creighton Barrel, CB2, massive retailers that you're probably gonna need to, you know, jot into and get like a last-minute Lay Crusade or more things for entertaining. Even like when it comes to Nicholson Hardy, you're probably planning your Christmas decor. You might be thinking about getting wreaths and um, you know, florals done for your home or your Christmas trees, your ornaments. Why not do that during partner's card with 20% off?

SPEAKER_00 18:52

Yes. So my approach is a little bit um a little crazier. For some reason, I have to do the digital and the book. Okay. Okay. So the digital is where I actually go into each of the stores and I like earmark what I'm gonna purchase. Okay. Um, and then the book, just because I'm just an old-time partner's card person, I love the book. So it's also important to say that although we are digital, there are still the books available in stores for the people who love the paper. Um and you can pick one up at any of the participating retailers, but I have like a whole list. I mean, it's been like a two-week process. I'm not almost, I will be almost done by Friday. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_02 19:26

And I will say too, for people going on vacation, we talked about this um yesterday when we were on Fox News. St. Bernard Sports has been a great supporter of Partners Card for many, many years. If you have ski gear that you need to get or like Christmas gifts there, holiday party outfits, you can do it all there. Plus, we've got away luggage, which is a new retailer at North Park that's included this year on Partners Card. So if you need to pick up some new luggage, what a great time to do it as well.

SPEAKER_00 19:50

Okay. Yeah, I think one more point that I'd like to share with everyone is um we know everyone loves the family place and really wants to support the work we do, but you know, education always helps. Um, when you're in a group together, please have everyone purchase their own card. I think that there's an assumption that we receive a percentage of the sales from the stores and we don't. The $100 from the card is what goes to support the family place. So please just make sure you buy individual cards for each shopper. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 20:16

And I will say that was a that was an error on my, on my behalf that I thought that it was about how much I spent during Partners Card back in the day before I became so involved with them. Um, it wasn't until a couple years ago that I realized it's just the partner's card. That money, 100% for that $100 card, that's the only thing that goes directly to the family place. So we're not sharing cards this year, ladies. We're not like all going, let me borrow your card. No, we can afford a hundred dollar partner's card because if you're spending and you're shopping, it pays for itself. Right. And the most important thing is that it provides one night of shelter for one person. And they are housing hundreds of people every single night. And they need those partner's cards to be sold to fund what they have to do at the family place.

SPEAKER_01 20:54

Absolutely. Well, is there any exclusions we should know about? Can we shop online or does it have to be in person?

SPEAKER_02 21:00

We have tons of online retailers. One of my personal favorites being Leatherology, which is a great leather retailer. I have tons of their handbags, tons of their totes that I travel with constantly. They never go on sale. And if you have ever followed me on Instagram, you know I talk, everyone always asks me, I need a code for Leatherology. They don't give them. I've never had a code for Leatherology. And this is the only time of the year that they go 20%. They're actually a North Texas-owned and operated family business, um, but their online presence is a little bit bigger. So we are so excited that they're one of our premium online sponsors. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 21:30

Or not sponsors, but retailers. Right. That's so good to

Ways To Help Beyond Shopping

SPEAKER_01 21:33

know. Well, Tiffany, what would you want listeners to most understand about the work at the family place?

SPEAKER_00 21:38

I think it's really important for people to understand that the family place and their support of the family place literally saves lives. And we're, you know, we hear about people that come to counseling because they're in their situation or they may come to shelter. But think about those people who don't have the opportunity to access those resources. I mean, the ultimate outcome for domestic violence that's ongoing can be death, right? And so we're an organization. Organization that saves lives through support, through offering services, and also beyond shelter, beyond those services, following up with people when they're in the community. So that's what I'd like people to know the most.

SPEAKER_01 22:11

Well, I know most of us know the family place through the partner's card, but I'm sure there's other opportunities for us to be involved and help out throughout the year.

SPEAKER_00 22:19

Yes. So we always like to talk about time, talent, and treasure, right? You can donate your time, come and volunteer and adopt a family when we have the Christmas bagging of the gifts for children and for families. You can come and volunteer in one of our centers. You can read to children, you can rock babies that are in the daycare. You can mentor clients if we've talked, as we've talked about before. And then also financial contributions are always important to the organization, to the bottom line, but that's not the only way to be involved.

SPEAKER_01 22:47

Okay. Well, Courtney, what would you have to say to anyone out there that has never purchased a card before?

SPEAKER_02 22:52

Well, first things first, I want to say I had the privilege and honor of getting to see the family place facilities here in Dallas, and they are quite remarkable. These facilities they just opened, or the their new facility that they're in, um, it's been there, what, about 10 years? It is beautiful. It is stunning. These women are getting incredible care, whether it's um the centers that they have for the kids. Like they have these, they just opened these new child care centers, which are so beautiful where the kids can play while the maybe the mother goes into counseling. They have people taking care of your kids. They've got these gorgeous like playgrounds. The outdoor facilities are beautiful. Um, whether it's the healthcare that they provide, we got to see all of their medical facilities, which are phenomenal. What they do for these women and these kids and for the men also is incredible. The pet center, getting to like see all the pets that they take in. Um, they really have thought of everything there at the family place, but none of that is possible without the purchase of a partner's card. And so I think the most important thing I want people to take away is that yes, you're you're getting the 20% off, and that's so lovely. And that's that's a great, that's a great um reward for for people making a hundred dollar donation. But at the end of the day, that one purchase of that one card really does like I said this the other day. It's I know we're shopping like our life depends on it, but women's lives really do depend on it.

SPEAKER_01 24:01

And that's an excellent point. I love

Where To Learn More And Get Help

SPEAKER_01 24:03

that. Well, how can listeners learn more about the family place?

SPEAKER_00 24:06

Absolutely come to our website, www.familyplace.org. You can also call us at any time for more information. We provide education um services. We can come out and speak at any of your school events, church events, at your employment, your places of employment. So go to our website, reach out to us. Um, if you are in need of services, though, you can call our emergency hotline 214-941-1991. That is how you can get to any service that we have, whether it's residential or counseling or case management, any type of support you need, please call the hotline.

SPEAKER_01 24:38

Okay, perfect. Well, as always, I will include those links so you all don't have to remember everything. Well, ladies, thank you so much for joining me. This has been so informative. I'm super excited about shopping, but I'm even more excited to know more about the family place. And I actually want to come do a tour. Thank you. That would be great. We'd love to have you. That's been another episode of the Bubble Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson, and I'll see you next time.