40 Years of Hope
Dayspring is a place in Indianapolis where a family in crisis can walk through the door and stay together.
Dayspring Center has been shaped by the people who walked through its doors. Staff who stayed. Volunteers who kept showing up. Families who rebuilt their lives. Partners who believed in the work.
This year, we are honoring 40 of them. Their words, their story, their connection to Dayspring. Come back often and be inspired as each new story unfolds. You won’t want to miss a single one.
These are the faces behind 40 years of hope.
40 Faces of Hope
40 Faces of Hope: Talesha Palmore
Former Resident
Seventeen years ago, Talesha Palmore came to Dayspring with her two young children, Brandon and Ar’hianna. At the time, Ar’hianna was just one year old.
Talesha had no family she could depend on and had been staying with her children at another homeless shelter. When her family reached the maximum length of stay, the shelter referred her to Dayspring Center.
At Dayspring, Talesha found more than a safe place for her family to stay. Staff helped her connect with resources, find employment, and move toward transitional housing. She remembers the structure and expectations, including curfews that were not always easy at the time. Looking back, she recognizes how the experience taught her discipline and gave her space to focus on rebuilding.
During her stay, Talesha found work as a server at TGI Fridays. There, an unexpected connection introduced her to possibilities she had never considered. One of her regular customers exposed her to the corporate world, opening her eyes to a professional path outside of what she had known.
Talesha kept moving forward.
Today, she has been with Capital Group for seven years, working as a Customer Service Coordinator and coordinating work across two regions. She has built a life that once felt out of reach, including making her home in Carmel. Coming from the neighborhood and circumstances she knew 17 years ago, she never imagined she would one day live somewhere like Carmel.
And she is still building. Talesha returned to school and is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in Business with a minor in Finance.
Ar’hianna, the one year old who came to Dayspring with her mother, is now 17 and in her senior year of high school, with plans to pursue dentistry. Brandon recently graduated from North Central High School and is pursuing an internship in information technology. He is currently traveling in France.
For Talesha, seeing where her children are today adds another dimension to how far their family has come. The stability she was working toward 17 years ago was not only about changing her own circumstances. It helped create a foundation from which her children could begin building futures of their own.
Looking back, Talesha understands how important it is for families to have somewhere to turn. Her own experience showed her the difference that resources, support, and community can make when someone is trying to get back on their feet.
Seventeen years later, Talesha’s story is a reminder that homelessness can be one chapter in a much larger life. For Talesha and her children, Dayspring was a safe place to land and a bridge toward what came next.
40 Faces of Hope: Deont’a
Deont’a first came to Dayspring in 2008, when he was just eleven years old and in the fifth grade. He arrived with his younger sister, staying with their grandfather during a difficult season when their family needed a safe place to stay together.
They were at Dayspring for less than a year. By the time Deont’a entered middle school, his family had found a home of their own in Washington Township. But although his time at Dayspring was brief, one experience there would stay with him for years to come.
At Camp Discovery, Dayspring’s summer program, Deont’a met Deborah Asante, who led theater workshops for the campers. She introduced him to acting, and Deont’a quickly discovered something he had never known about himself: he had a gift for the stage.
“That was a full circle moment. That’s where I started my journey with acting.”
From that summer on, Deont’a never stopped acting. He continued through high school and college, eventually performing in a production that toured universities in Vietnam. Years later, his journey brought him back to Deborah Asante, the woman who had first introduced him to theater at Dayspring.
As an adult, Deont’a played Oscar Robertson in A Touch of Glory, a production telling the story of Indianapolis’s first all Black state championship basketball team. The performance was especially meaningful because it was shared with some of the very players and families whose story was being told.
Looking back, Deont’a recognizes how much that summer at Dayspring shaped the person he would become.
Today, he works at Eli Lilly, coaches at Irvington Elementary, plays in a summer basketball league, and is preparing to start a family of his own. The boy who once discovered his voice on a stage at Camp Discovery has grown into a man who now helps young people discover their own potential.
His connection to Dayspring also gave him a perspective on what it means to need help.
“Not everyone has the means or resources to provide for their family. My grandfather needed help and a restart. Some people do. I’m a witness to that myself, even as an adult. Life happens. You have to roll with the punches, keep going, and stay prayed up. God always makes a way. We just can’t always see it in the moment.”
Deont’a’s story is a reminder that the impact of Dayspring does not end when someone leaves the shelter. Sometimes, a safe place becomes the beginning of something much bigger. A summer camp can uncover a lifelong passion. A moment of support can become part of someone’s foundation. And years later, that child can look back and recognize just how much one season of hope changed the course of his life.
From a boy discovering the stage at Camp Discovery to a man building a life of his own, Deont’a carries a piece of Dayspring with him. And every day, through the children he coaches, the stories he tells, and the family he is building, he carries that impact forward.
Charles Young: Past Board Member and Longtime Supporter
Charles Young first learned about Dayspring through a colleague and friend who had been involved with the organization for years. She shared that Dayspring was more than a homeless shelter. It was a place committed to keeping families together and preparing them for long term housing stability. That mission resonated with Charles immediately.
Not long after, the board chair approached Charles about joining the Dayspring Center Board of Directors. During his time on the board, he gained a deeper understanding of homelessness and saw firsthand how quickly circumstances can change for a family.
What struck him most was the number of children experiencing homelessness in a major metropolitan city.
“It was eye opening and, frankly, heartbreaking.”
That experience stayed with Charles long after his board service ended. He continued to volunteer and support Dayspring with his time, talents, and resources.
“The mission, the families, and the urgency of the work made it impossible for me to simply walk away.”
For Charles, Dayspring’s impact reaches beyond providing a safe place to sleep. It gives families the opportunity to remain together while receiving the support and resources they need to move toward stability. His years of involvement also changed the way he understood homelessness, replacing assumptions with a clearer picture of the families behind the statistics.
When he talks with others about Dayspring, Charles encourages them to experience the organization for themselves. Read the mission. Visit Dayspring. Meet the staff and see the work happening every day.
“Form your own opinion.”
Years after his board service, Charles continues to champion Dayspring and the families it serves. His story reflects the kind of connection that does not end when a board term does. Once he saw the need, met the families, and understood the urgency of the work, Dayspring became a mission he could not simply leave behind.
Joy Jamison: Current Staff, Shelter Program Manager
Joy Jamison’s connection to Dayspring is rooted in the families she walks alongside every day.
Often one of the first people families encounter when they arrive at Dayspring in crisis, Joy meets parents during some of the most difficult moments of their lives. She listens, helps them identify what stands between their family and stability, and begins the work of helping them find a way forward.
Her days can include everything from morning check ins with families to advocating on their behalf and making the calls that help keep doors open. She works alongside residents, staff members, and community partners to connect families with housing, employment, healthcare, transportation, childcare, and other essential resources.
“I am grateful to be part of a team committed to serving families with compassion, dignity, and respect.”
For Joy, case management is not simply about connecting someone to a resource. Every family arrives with different circumstances, barriers, strengths, and goals. Supporting them means meeting people where they are and continuing to advocate through systems that can be difficult to navigate, particularly as access to affordable housing and other basic resources becomes increasingly limited.
That work has shaped Joy, too.
“Dayspring has strengthened me both personally and professionally. The families we serve continually remind me of the importance of resilience, hope, compassion, and meeting people where they are.”
Through her years at Dayspring, Joy says she has grown as a leader, communicator, problem solver, and advocate. The work can be challenging, but she sees what can happen when a family has someone willing to walk beside them through a difficult season.
“It is rewarding to know that my work can help create a safer and more supportive environment for families during a difficult season of their lives.”
Joy also sees firsthand why Dayspring must be more than a place for families to sleep. Housing instability rarely exists by itself. A parent may also be navigating employment, transportation, childcare, healthcare, or other challenges that affect the family’s ability to move forward.
Dayspring gives families a safe place to stay together while they begin addressing those barriers. Through case management, children’s services, family programming, community partnerships, and continued support, families can work toward permanent housing and greater long term stability.
But when Joy describes what Dayspring provides, she names something that cannot be measured as easily.
Hope.
The reassurance that a family facing a crisis does not have to navigate it alone.
For forty years, Dayspring’s work has depended on people willing to sit with families in difficult moments and help them see what comes next. Joy is one of those people. Through every conversation, connection, phone call, and act of advocacy, she helps families move from the uncertainty of arriving at Dayspring toward the possibility of what comes after.
And in walking alongside them, she has been changed by their resilience, too.
Episcopal Church of All Saints: Church Partner
The Episcopal Church of All Saints has built a longstanding relationship with Dayspring through shared meals, donations, fundraising, and service. For the parishioners who continue to show up, that relationship has become about more than giving. It has become a way of experiencing community.
Catherine Crouch helps coordinate donations and the church’s Thursday dinner service at Dayspring. For her, serving families has always been rooted in joy.
“Volunteering to serve those in need has always been a joy for me. The work done by Dayspring is an inspiration and it has been an honor to coordinate donations to their important ministry.”
Linda Ferreira has experienced the relationship between All Saints and Dayspring in many ways over the years. Lori Casson joined an All Saints committee exploring how the church could expand the use of its building to benefit the wider community. Dayspring children joined All Saints children for Easter egg hunts, and Linda participated in fundraising through the walkathon.
But she says her understanding of community deepened when she said yes to Catherine’s invitation to help with the monthly dinners.
The All Saints team serves dinner on the second Thursday of each month. Linda remembers the best evenings as the ones when the meal is a hit, conversations with residents begin to flow, and friendships can be seen forming across families.
“Dayspring reminds me that when I answer the call to serve, I will be woven into the fabric of that community. It doesn’t make me feel proud. It makes me feel humble, the good version of not getting above myself.”
Manolo Santalla is also part of the monthly dinner team. For him, the experience is both practical and communal: parishioners working side by side on something that directly supports Dayspring residents. He describes Dayspring as a much needed temporary refuge for families who need shelter and food.
Tricia Clark sees the impact in several directions. Serving at Dayspring has strengthened her connection with fellow parishioners while also widening her understanding of lives different from her own. The experience has deepened her gratitude and reminded her how much circumstance can shape a person’s path.
“I am reminded that so much of life is chance and luck, and that, but for my own good fortune things could be very different for me. This increases my sense of community with the Dayspring residents.”
Across their different experiences, the members of All Saints return to the same idea: serving at Dayspring brings people into community with one another.
Through meals, donations, conversations, fundraising, and simply showing up, All Saints has become woven into the life of Dayspring. And in the process, its members have found that service does more than meet an immediate need. It can deepen relationships, widen perspectives, and remind us how closely our lives are connected.
Every Story
Select a name below to jump directly to their story. Check back throughout 2026 as we continue adding new Faces of Hope in celebration of Dayspring Center’s 40th Anniversary.
Dayspring in 2026
The need is growing. The funding landscape has shifted. And the families showing up at the door look a lot like you, me, and everyone else.
Who We Serve
The average family arriving at Dayspring consists of a mother with two children under age five. 50-60% of families at Dayspring are working – their jobs simply don’t pay enough.
Families come because of job loss, domestic violence, medical crisis, and eviction. Lori Casson, MSW, and Executive Director of Dayspring, calls them ‘the hidden homeless’. They are undereducated, underemployed, and underserved. Most homeless families are afraid to be seen or found because they believe someone will come and take their children away from them, because the family doesn’t have a place to stay.
The Need is Growing
- The 2025 point-in-time count found 1,815 people experiencing homelessness in Marion County – a 7% increase from last year and the highest since 2021.
- 316 children under 18 were experiencing homelessness, a 14% increase.
- Families with children make up more than a quarter of the total homeless population.
- More families sleep in vehicles. More families are trying to get access to shelters, but can’t.
- Black residents are increasingly overrepresented in the homeless population.
- On any given night, more than 3,000 children are homeless in Indianapolis.
The Funding Reality
Federal funding cuts in 2025 eliminated government support for Dayspring’s operations. The organization now relies almost entirely on individual donors, foundations, and corporate partners. This makes the 40th anniversary year not just a celebration – it’s a survival strategy. Every event, every donation matters even more.
You can help turn 40 years into many more to come.
