ORIX Americas employees have leveraged their expertise in sound investments to select the recipient of their foundation’s largest North Texas grant to date. Youth With Faces, an innovative nonprofit getting results with teens in the Dallas County juvenile system, is receiving a total of $360,000 in grants from ORIX Foundation, the employee-led charitable foundation of the Dallas-based financial services corporation.

The multi-year grant is funding several capital projects to help Youth With Faces to expand its programming. The nonprofit, previously known as Youth Village Resources of Dallas, uses a variety of innovative approaches, from therapeutic dog training to culinary instruction, to help incarcerated youth acquire skills to succeed when they return to the community. According to a study by the University of Texas at Dallas, fewer than 15 percent of teens who participate in Youth With Faces programming return to juvenile detention compared to a statewide recidivism rate of 66 percent.

“Youth With Faces has an impressive track record of empowering these kids to change the trajectory of their lives, which has a enormous impact not only for them individually, but also for their families and the community. ORIX Foundation’s goal with this grant is to provide a multi-year capital infusion to expand their programs and enhance the return on investment to the community,” said Jim Dunn, an ORIX Foundation board member who led the employee selection committee for the grant.

ORIX Foundation’s investment is underwriting the creation and equipment of four new learning labs where Youth With Faces will deliver training in work readiness skills, culinary arts/food handling, retail service, horticulture and more. These learning labs are located at the new Letot Girls Center serving young women, including victims of sex trafficking; the Youth Village and Medlock Residential Treatment Center facilities serving young men; and Café Momentum, the restaurant and social enterprise serving Youth With Faces graduates, which the nonprofit incubated and helped open this spring. The ORIX Foundation grant is also providing capital for building organizational capacity, including hiring new staff, upgrading technology and enhancing program tracking.

“ORIX Foundation’s commitment is a driving force behind Youth With Faces expanding its impact for youth and the community,” said Chris Quadri, chief executive officer of Youth With Faces. “We see first-hand, every day, the life-changing transformations that happen when you invest in a young person, and we are so grateful to the ORIX employees who saw the potential in these young men and women.”

The grant to Youth With Faces is the largest made by ORIX Foundation in North Texas since employees of the financial services company ORIX founded the nonprofit in 2009. It is a new strategic initiative to enhance the foundation’s diverse grant-making with a multi-year, high-impact partnership with one organization. Youth With Faces is the first recipient of the new focus grant from ORIX Foundation and has received grants from the corporate foundation over the last two years. Since it was founded in 2009, ORIX Foundation has committed $5.8 million to nonprofit organizations primarily in ORIX Americas’ headquarters region of North Texas.

ORIX Foundation is the employee-led charitable foundation of ORIX Americas, which exists to advance education, strengthen communities and improve lives. The foundation awards direct grants to not-for-profit organizations and matches the charitable contributions and fundraising of each ORIX Americas employee up to $10,000 each year. Since it was founded in 2009, ORIX Foundation has committed $5.8 million to nonprofit organizations primarily in ORIX Americas’ headquarters region of North Texas. For information, visit www.orixfoundation.org.

Youth With Faces (previously known as Youth Village Resources of Dallas) is a nonprofit organization that gives youth in the juvenile justice system the skills to break the cycle of incarceration and build positive futures. By creating opportunities for youth to learn and practice critical social, work and life skills, the organization gives them a second chance and new identities – as capable young people with something positive to contribute. Youth With Faces incubated and helped launch the social enterprise Café Momentum and is recognized for reducing juvenile recidivism through innovative programming including therapeutic dog training, culinary arts instruction and work readiness training. For information, visit www.youthwithfaces.org.