We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Marsha Williamson. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Marsha below.

Marsha, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. We love heartwarming stories – do you have a heartwarming story from your career to share?

I absolutely do! I will never forget the first day that I met one of our residents, Tonia. I had heard about her – which usually doesn’t mean good news at Dallas 24 Hour Club – but in her case, it was! Her friend, Susan, introduced me to Tonia and there was an instant connection between us. She got in the habit of dropping by my office often and we started building a great relationship. When Tillman House, our Phase III sober living apartment complex, was getting ready to open last February our staff unanimously agreed that she would be the perfect Female Resident Staff Liaison – and she WAS! I was so proud of her and excited to see her excel in this new leadership role.

Tonia excelled in embracing long-term sobriety and shared the message of hope and strength to all that she met. My heart overflowed when she made amends to all of her family, and they welcomed her back into their lives. It was beautiful to see. Recently, I found a note that she had written to me. In part it says, “I want to take a minute to say ‘Thank You’ for all the support and help you have given me. I have such a beautiful life now. I am forever grateful to be a part of The 24. My life is wonderful!” I will always keep this note to read when there are tough days.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I am the CEO of Dallas 24 hour Club which, Since 1969, has provided safe, sober transitional living for homeless men and women seeking a brand new life away from drugs and alcohol. Dallas 24 Hour Club (also known as The 24) was founded to have a place open 24 hours per day for individuals suffering from alcoholism and drug addiction who were seeking help. Over the next 50 years, Dallas 24 Hour Club grew to offer housing, the first with 6 beds for homeless men only, to our current facility, which has 75 beds, services for both men and women, and hosts (37) 12-Step Recovery Meetings each week. Help is available for the suffering alcoholic or drug addict 24 hours each day, 365 days each year, thus the name Dallas 24 Hour Club. The public is welcome to attend recovery meetings, provide service to our residents and enjoy our full-service on-site restaurant, The Hubcap Cafe.

In March of 2021, Dallas 24 Hour Club acquired an 18-unit apartment complex from Reconciliation Outreach located at 1503 N. Peak Street. Named after Dallas 24 Hour Club’s Founder Lee Tillman, Tillman House provides affordable housing for up to 41 residents and is just 10 minutes walking distance from The 24’s Ross Ave. location. Successful graduates of The 24’s program are eligible for this affordable, sober living opportunity to allow them to practice critical life skills and establish an even stronger foundation of recovery.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I joined the staff of The 24 in the Spring of 2014, as the Executive Director. It was overwhelming because the 100-year old building was in grave disrepair, there was very little money in the bank and there was absolutely no structure. Further, I was not welcomed by some of our staff and residents because I was not a drug addict or alcoholic. It took a lot of fortitude to begin to address all of the problems The 24 was facing and also win over our staff and residents.

Shortly after coming on board, the Fire Marshall came for an inspection, which did not go well. We spent $25,000 to get the building up to code as best we could. I didn’t know which problem to tackle first. Thankfully, over the next two years, we produced Policies and Procedures, had our first two fundraisers which were successful and my relationship with everyone did a 180 degree turn around! Through some very special people, we solved the problem of our failing building. The construction community of Dallas banded together to build a $5.3 million, 14,000sf, state of the art new building for The 24! We moved in on February 28, 2018. It took a lot of resilience to not give up along the way with so many different types of issues to solve. I’m glad that I did!

Have you ever had to pivot?

My first introduction into The 24 was in November of 2013. I was hired as a consultant to support the fundraising efforts for their Capital Campaign. Fast forward to February of 2014, when the Board of Directors’ Treasurer shared that the Executive Director had resigned. He asked me to update him on my efforts. As we visited, he asked to see my resume. A few weeks later, the Board Chair asked me to be the Interim Executive Director based on my previous management experience. I had been a Business Consultant for 13 years and all of sudden, I had to quickly pivot to be the leader of a nonprofit organization which I had little knowledge about, and one which was under water financially and had many other significant issues which needed to be addressed. Instead of working from home in my sweat suit, I had to be professionally dressed and work in an office all day. This pivot taught me that God has a plan for me and I need to pay attention and be ready to take on new challenges that are presented, even if they are out of my comfort zone.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.dallas24hourclub.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/d24hourclub
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Dallas24HourClub
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/marsha-williamson-932007b3/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/D24HC