Open Arms, Inc. dba Bryans House
Every child deserves to thrive, no matter what.
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
In a world where special needs children face limited options in life, Bryan’s House is the only organization that empowers their families by removing barriers to care in order to serve these children through education, health, advocacy and social services because we believe that every child has a right to thrive, no matter what.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Direct Onsite Child Care
Direct Onsite Child Care integrates on-site nursing with high-quality education, therapy, and developmental care geared to each child’s needs through:
-Early Childhood Education Program
- Respite Care
- After School, Summer & Holiday Programs
-Collaborative Therapy
Social Services Program
The Bryan's House Social Services Program provides resources that stabilize families in crisis. The program immediately provides for basic needs and financial assistance, and Individual Service Plans help clients set and meet goals to achieve self-sufficiency.
Case Management: Provides individualized strategic intervention and planning designed to promote increased knowledge, skills and behaviors that will enable families with special-needs children to manage emergencies, sustain basic needs, achieve their goals and expand their opportunities for long-term success.
Family Support Services: This crucial program helps prevent homelessness and provides basic needs assistance for families of children with special needs.
Beyond Breaking Barriers: Beyond Breaking Barriers is a new Bryan's House program to provide support, advocacy, mentorship, and friendship for single mothers of children with special needs who live in South and West Dallas. Through Beyond Breaking Barriers, participants will have a platform to build a community of support as they strive to overcome obstacles common to parents of special needs children, including a lack of resources, financial instability, potential homelessness, and food insecurity.
Where we work
Accreditations
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) - 3 Year Accreditation 2016
National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC)- 3 Yr Accreditation 2019
External reviews

Photos
Videos
Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Number of service recipients who are employed
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Immigrants and migrants, People with disabilities
Related Program
Social Services Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Increasing
Context Notes
99% of the families we served (with special needs children) graduated from our program with a job and steady income.
Number of households that obtain/retain permanent housing for at least 6 months
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
Economically disadvantaged people, Immigrants and migrants, People with disabilities
Related Program
Social Services Program
Type of Metric
Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
99% of the families we served (with special needs children) established a permanent home.
Number of educational screenings
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Population(s) Served
People with disabilities
Related Program
Direct Onsite Child Care
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Holding steady
Context Notes
100% of the children with special needs were screened for development issues.
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
Today, with the capacity to serve 1,000 children and adults per year, our goal is to provide services to comfort and support families of children with special needs through:
Medically Managed Childcare
Early Childhood Education
Respite Care
Social Services
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
Through a focus on two-generational programming, including early intervention services, early childhood education, family support, parent training, emergency financial assistance, and more, Bryan's House helps families with medically-fragile and special needs children thrive and rise out of poverty.
1) SOCIAL SERVICES PROGRAM: Provides financial planning, homeless prevention, employment-related services, and access to health care services to families with special needs children. The goal of the program is to provide families with the tools needed to achieve self-sufficiency and long-term stability. Through the Social Services program, our families learn the tools necessary to provide for themselves without relying on public assistance and government programs. Emergency financial assistance supports families who are in crisis and in need of immediate and intensive help.
2) CHILD DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Bryan's House offers children's programming that addresses the unique medical, health and educational barriers of at-risk children with special needs as well as the comprehensive needs of their families. Early Childhood Education (ECE) integrates academics with social-emotional learning, physical development, and creative thinking. Children ages 0-5 with special health needs, and their siblings experience an active-learning environment tailored to accommodate individual needs and educational goals. A full-time, on-site registered nurse ensures that the children receive necessary medications and medical assistance, including tube feeds and emergency care, throughout the day. Children receive daily occupational, physical, and speech therapies on-site, eliminating the need for parents to take their children to these vital therapies multiple times per week.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
Founded in 1988, Bryan's House is the first non-profit organization in the country to provide comprehensive 24/7 medical and social services in a home-like setting for children living with HIV/AIDS at the peak of the epidemic. Today, we have evolved to provide onsite and in-home services for at-risk children who are medically fragile or have social, emotional, or physical challenges AND their families.
Bryan's House addresses the diverse needs of children with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, seizures, heart conditions, Down Syndrome, Leukemia, hearing or vision loss, rare diagnoses, and more in an inclusive, holistic manner in North Texas.
Language barriers and financial situations compound the already challenging landscape of caring for a child with special needs. In 2020-2021, 97% of our families lived below 250% of the poverty line., with our average family earning just over $19,000 per year, often with both parents working outside the home.
The benefits of Bryan's House services and programs are seen daily in the clients we serve, such as Zabrina and her mom. Doctors told Zabrina's family that she would never walk. At age 2, she couldn't move or walk on her own and needed help with feeding. A year later, Zabrina started to use a walker with support from staff, and after only a few months, she was able to walk on her own. Through Bryan's House Case Management services, Zabrina's mom was also able to overcome significant personal issues. The family is now stable and thriving.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
During 2021-2022, we provided:
12,167 hours of case management
26,355 hours of child development programming
Provided 10, 068 meals and snacks
1,236 onsite therapy sessions
Served clients across 82 zip codes in six counties
2021-2022 GOALS
Serve 800 unduplicated children and adults
Provide Case Management Assistance for families who have children with special needs
Provide onsite Child Development programs for children with special needs (birth to age 13)
Provide rent/utility and other emergency assistance to prevent homelessness and provide for basic needs
Continue piloting the Beyond Breaking Barriers group to find systemic ways to improve collaboration, understanding, and access.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Bryan's House serves medically-fragile children and those with social, emotional, and physical challenges and their families.
-
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Paper surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes, Suggestion box/email,
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
-
What significant change resulted from feedback?
Several single mothers of children with special needs indicated they could benefit from one-on-one mentoring from professional women with similar backgrounds and experiences. As a result of this feedback, Bryan's House developed the Beyond Breaking Barriers program. Through this program, mothers of children with special needs participate in group and one-on-one mentoring sessions. As a result, these women are able to overcome issues common to caregivers of children with special needs.
-
With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
-
How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
The families we serve feel that Bryan's House values their opinions and always have their best interest in mind.
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,
Financials
Unlock nonprofit financial insights that will help you make more informed decisions. Try our monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights?
Learn more
about GuideStar Pro.
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Open Arms, Inc. dba Bryans House
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Ms. Nicole Blythe
Grant Thornton
Term: 2021 - 2024
Steven Upchurch
Gensler
Craig Lashley
Valiant Residential
Allison Shelton
Citi
Nicole Blythe
Grant Thornton
Mercedes Owens
Community Volunteer
Rosvinder Kaur
Jester & Genius
Paula Feinberg
Raymond James
Sarah Lamb
The Retail Connection
Martha Lumatete
McKesson
Dipu Mukherjee
Geometry Global
Laura Ramirez
Invitation Homes
Belinda Rodriguez
Community Volunteer
David Wagner
Michaels Companies
Maricel Cross
Michaels Companies
George Armstrong
Target
Christina Pettibone
Pepsico
Peja Krstic
Chef/Owner
Lola Olley
JP Morgan Chase
Keith Mankin
Doctor/Retired
Biegel Macaraeg
HarolKyn Advisors
Ryan McCuller
UBS Wealth Mgmt.
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
-
Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
No data
No data
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/19/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We disaggregate data by demographics, including race, in every policy and program measured.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.