Bryan’s House Gifted Dallas Property to Metrocare, Ensuring Organization’s Legacy of Service to Children Continues
(Featured photo: Diane Moten, Rachel Snyder and Steve Hoyl.)
Three-acre site with existing daycare building to support inclusive childcare and future programming for children with and without disabilities
Bryan’s House, a longtime Dallas nonprofit dedicated to caring for children with medical and developmental needs that closed its doors, has gifted its property to Metrocare, ensuring the site will continue serving children and families through inclusive programming.
Under an agreement, the property located at 3610 Pipestone Road in Dallas was gifted to Metrocare, the largest provider of mental health and disability-related services in Dallas County. The transaction reflects a shared commitment by both organizations to preserve the mission and legacy of Bryan’s House while expanding services that support children of all abilities.
Bryan’s House, which started in 1988 with Stefanie Held as founder, recently made the difficult decision to cease operations. In doing so, the organization sought a path forward that would allow its facility to remain dedicated to serving the community’s most vulnerable children and families.
“Bryan’s House has been a place of care, compassion, and inclusion for thousands of families in Dallas,” said Allison Shelton, Board Chair of Bryan’s House. “While this chapter is ending, we are deeply grateful that the facility will continue to serve children through Metrocare’s programs. In many ways, Bryan’s House lives on through this next chapter.”
The property is located only a mile from Metrocare’s new Hillside campus near North Westmoreland Road and Interstate 30. Metrocare intends to initially use the site to provide services for children with disabilities, and in the future will offer an inclusive childcare facility serving the children of Metrocare employees and possibly area partner employees.
Expanded disability services beginning this summer and fall include:
- Expanded early childhood intervention services
- Expanded autism therapy programming
- Summer camp for children with disabilities and their siblings
“Metrocare is honored to carry forward the legacy of Bryan’s House,” said Tate Ringer, Interim Chief Executive Officer of Metrocare. “Their work has been a vital part of Dallas’ support system for children with complex needs. This partnership ensures that the spirit of Bryan’s House—inclusive care for children and families—will continue to shape the services offered at this location for years to come.”
As part of the agreement, Metrocare will incorporate the Bryan’s House name into the property’s future identity as Bryan’s House powered by Metrocare. In addition, Metrocare will designate the playground at its nearby Hillside Campus as The Bryan’s House All Ability Playground in honor of the organization’s lasting impact.
The two organizations worked cooperatively on the property transfer through the support of the Rees-Jones Foundation. “Metrocare provides critical mental health, developmental disability and substance abuse services for children and youth throughout North Texas, so it made perfect sense for us to help facilitate this property transfer,” said Terese Stevenson, President of Rees-Jones Foundation. “That the Bryan’s House name will live on at Metrocare is a fitting legacy to the blessed work they did there for so many years.”
Eliza Solender, President of Solender/Hall Inc., added, “The property is ideally located to serve Metrocare’s employees and clients at its Hillside campus. It is a testament to the leadership of Bryan’s House, Metrocare and the Rees-Jones Foundation that they understood a gift of real estate must be go through the same process as a real estate transaction. Everyone maintained focus on how the property could continue to serve the needs of children in Dallas County.” Solender/Hall represented Metrocare in the transaction.
Together, the organizations emphasized a shared guiding principle for the transition: Bryan’s House lives on through Metrocare.
About Solender/Hall:
Since 1991, Solender/Hall has been assisting nonprofit organizations buy, sell and lease commercial real estate in the North Texas area. The firm has been highly successful in finding unique properties, often repurposing banks, stores, warehouses, bowling alleys and churches into new nonprofit locations. Find out more at www.solenderhall.com or by calling 214.215.0432.
About Metrocare:
Metrocare is the largest provider of mental health, developmental disability and permanent supported housing services in Dallas County serving over 50,000 children, teens, and adults annually. For over 59 years, Metrocare has provided a broad array of services from mental health care, intellectual developmental disability services, services for veterans and their loved ones, accessible pharmacies, homeless outreach, and supportive social services. Metrocare provides specialty mental health services to over 13,000 children and teens and has numerous programs for infants, children, and adults with disabilities, including Early Childhood Intervention, Cares Café, Flourishing Families, Nurturing Parenting, and two specialty autism clinics in Dallas and DeSoto.
Photos by Danny Campbell
(This Philanthropy Lifestyles eBuzz courtesy Bryan’s House.)
