As you walk into room C105 at CHS9, you are greeted by the sound of students planning how they can help Coppell and its surrounding community.

Hopes for Homeless is a new club started by a group of CHS9 students. This group includes founders Saadhvi Thatipally, Gargi Thakur, Varneeka Vijaykumar, Sriaadhya Voora and Shivangi Chaudhary.

The club meets every Thursday for 30 minutes during Hour Block Lunch and discusses topics such as its purpose, goals and ideas for future events and group fundraisers.

The creation for the club was not planned, however.

“It was really just a spontaneous thing,” Thakur said. “We’ve been planning this for a few months because we want to make a difference in the community.”

The five founders started the club in August, originally planning for it to be a small local club. While maintaining their local focus, they plan a big picture impact. Their overarching goal motivates others to join the cause of giving back to the community.

Homelessness is increasing nationwide. In 2023, Texas experienced an increase in the number of unhoused veterans by 19%, the number of unhoused families with children by 4.9%  and homelessness grew by 12% in total according to The Texas Tribune. This is due to the rise of housing prices following the pandemic as federal rent relief funds went away, increasing the amount of families who cannot pay rent and evictions. This rise influenced the creation of this club.

“It’s super important to give back to the community despite their condition,” club member Akshata Ghosh said. “Everything you do, even if it is small, has a bigger domino effect at the end. All of my beliefs align perfectly with those of Hopes for Homeless which convinced me into joining the club.”

The club plans fundraisers to collect funds and donations, in addition to volunteering as a group for larger organizations, such as Dallas Life and The Stew Pot, local Dallas-based associations giving back directly to the homeless.

The club plans bigger projects such as holiday themed toy drives or spring related canned food drives.

Hopes for Homeless aims to set itself apart from others trying to fulfill the same community service goal.

“We have a new approach to homelessness that most clubs that kids our age don’t start,” Thatipally said. “We are going to acknowledge factors like undesirable living conditions and shelters and take that into consideration to help the community.”

Though they hope to have a unique impact on the community, not just the community impacted by the club, but members as well.

“Joining this club has made me realize several issues going on within the country,” Ghosh said.

“At first, I thought that homeless shelters were the best answer to help homeless people, but I have realized that there are several better and more effective solutions and Hopes for Homeless works to do their best to enforce these solutions.”

The members help the community through hands-on experiences, which teaches skills and fuel desires to do more on their own. The idea of making a difference influences peers and fellow classmates.

The leaders plan on expanding Hopes for Homeless and eventually creating a nonprofit organization. This organization would create a Coppell-wide community not limited to CHS9.

To the co-founders, volunteering is something they find gratifying. They meet new people and understand their struggles.

“The founders have worked really hard to start the club with a great mindset,” Ghosh said. “They’re all extremely positive and passionate about giving back and I hope other people in the club feel the same way.”

This story was originally published on Coppell Student Media on October 9, 2024.